Direct Printing and Electrical Characterization of Conductive Micro-Silver Tracks by Alternating Current-Pulse Modulated Electrohydrodynamic Jet Printing

Abstract

In this paper, a rapid prototyping method for fabrication of highly conductive micropatterns on insulating substrates was developed and evaluated. Sub-20 μm microstructures were printed on flexible insulating substrates using alternating current (AC) modulated electrohydrodynamic jet (e-jet) printing. The presented technique resolved the challenge of current rapid prototyping methods in terms of limited resolution and conductivity for microelectronic components for flexible electronics. Significant variables of fabrication process, including voltage, plotting speeds, curing temperature, and multilayer effect, were investigated to achieve reliable printing of silver tracks. Sub-20 μm silver tracks were successfully fabricated with resistivity about three times than bulk silver on flexible substrates, which indicates the potential applications of electrohydrodynamic printing in flexible electronics and medical applications, such as lab-on-chip systems.