Fabrication and Electrical Characterization of Printed Microresistors of Silver Nanoparticles Using Microcantilever-Based Printing Technology

Abstract

In this article, we report the fabrication of printed microresistors (PMRs) of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) based on microcantilever-based printing technology (MCPT). The PMRs have been fabricated using three different printing techniques based on MCPT, namely spot overwrite printing (SOP), dip-ink printing with SOP (DIPSOP), and surface-patterning tool drag printing (SDP). The fabrication process has been carried out over substrates such as glass, silicon, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). A postprinting analysis has been carried out based on the electrical characterization of the PMRs, which shows SOP as the most preferred, DIPSOP as the most reliable, and SDP as the fastest printing technique having the highest uniformity of thickness. The electrical characterization of the PMRs shows that their average resistance varies from few ohms to kiloohms based on the print thickness. The printed resistors are single-material electronic devices (SMEDs) as we have used only AgNP ink for the complete fabrication of the device to avoid any interfacial mismatch and irregularities at the nanoscale. Moreover, the fabricated PMRs are smaller in size, have lower fabrication cost, and consume less power as compared to the standard surface-mount device (SMD) chip resistors and hence offer an effective alternative to be used as microchip resistors on printed circuit boards (PCBs).