Two-Stage Silver Sintering Process Improves Sheet Resistance, Film Uniformity, and Layering Properties via Electrohydrodynamic Jet Printing

Abstract

Abstract The evolution of rapid solution-based deposition and 3D printing has promoted the exploitation of a number of forces to produce micro- and nanoscale-printed conductive materials that can be used for electrical connections and device electrodes, among other things. Electrohydrodynamic jet (e-jet) printing affords the opportunity to create nano-scale features with heterogeneous inks that can integrate metallic, polymer, and biological components. Though the resistivity of these printed metallic forms has continued to improve and approaches bulk resistivity in many cases, the adaptability to print vertical layers by using these deposition methodologies is lacking. Through the use of a fabricated heated vacuum chuck e-jet printing system, a two-stage curing process has been developed wherein a vertical layering of silver is demonstrated, with resultant resistivity (5.238 ± 1.650 μΩ-cm) approaching that of bulk silver (1.59 μΩ-cm). Both these stages are required to reduce the resistivity to this point...