Multi-objective optimization of intense pulsed light sintering process for aerosol jet printed thin film

Abstract

The sintering of printed nanoparticle films is a necessary processing step for most nanoparticle inks to make the printed film functional. The sintering of nanoparticle is usually performed through thermal sintering, photonic sintering, induction sintering, etc. Intense pulsed light (IPL) sintering method is one of the most popular sintering methods for nanoparticle inks due to the fast and effective process, but it may yield mediocre performance if improper sintering parameters are used. In this work, we investigate the correlation between the two factors which are the print passes of aerosol jet printing and the sintering distance of the samples on the effect of the surface morphology and sheet resistance. A contradictory correlation between the two factors was observed and a multi-objective optimization was carried out using machine learning method to identify the most optimum conditions for both factors. We found that multi-objective optimization approach is effective in reducing the conflicting responses, thus the sintered thin film can have low sheet resistance and low surface roughness. This work provides an essential guide for achieving conductive films with electrical conductivity and low surface roughness using IPL sintering process for fast fabrication of multi-layered electronics such as electrochemical electrodes.