CC BY
20HiLASE-I-8 (Keynote)
High speed Laser Induced Forward Transfer for flexible electronics applications
I. Zergioti1
1National Technical University of Athens, Physics Department, Athens, Greece
Over the past decade, printed electronics technology has evolved and is now used in applications such as flexible screens, intelligent labels and packaging. Among the printing techniques, Laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) technique is capable of printing electrical circuits quite inexpensively and quickly. At the same time, this technique is environmentally friendly and has no restrictions in terms of viscosity. In this work we highlight the newest trends of LIFT manufacturing for the development of a variety of components with electronic, optoelectronic and sensing functionality such as RFID antennas, RF transmission lines, organic thin-film transistors, metallic interconnects, circuits defects repairing and chemical sensors.
Novel printing methods, such as non-contact and "direct-write" printing techniques, represent a class of emerging technologies over the past decade, with respect to micro patterning of electronic circuitry. Laser-induced forward transfer technique in particular, has been widely investigated, because it is relatively fast, environmentally friendly and has no restrictions in terms of viscosity. In this work, we employ a high-speed imaging set up in order to investigate the liquid jet's propagation formed during the printing procedure. Different Ag nanoparticle inks are studied and compared, over a wide range of viscosities and two different cases of surface tension. The initial phases of the spreading process are largely influenced by the impact speed, the jet diameter just before impact and the break time during the wetting phase, the rheological properties of the ink, especially surface tension, combined with the wetting properties of the receiver substrate will determine the final spreading and shape of the printed droplet. Following the printing process analysis, a systematic experimental and theoretical investigation of the laser sintering was conducted on printed micro-patterns comprising Ag and Cu viscous nanoparticle inks. The main goal of this investigation is the determination of the optimal processing parameters for the fabrication of highly conductive Ag and Cu patterns on polymeric substrates with current applications in organic and large area electronics.
In this work we highlight the newest trends of LIFT manufacturing for the development of a variety of components with electronic, optoelectronic and sensing functionality such as RFID antennas, RF transmission lines, organic thin-film transistors, metallic interconnects, circuits defects repairing and chemical sensors.
