Ink Jet Printed Silver Lines Formed in Microchannels Exhibit Lower Resistance Than Their Unstructured Counterparts

This article reports on a number of experiments that have been performed, which show that the resistance of silver lines formed in channels is lower than silver lines that have been formed on unstructured surfaces. Channels were formed either by being cut into polyimide (Kapton) using a laser or by hot embossing a polycarbonate blend (Bayfol). An ink jet printer was used to dispense silver-containing ink over the embossed channels, the laser cut channels and over unstructured Kapton and Bayfol to allow comparison. Two types of silver-containing ink were used, one was a nanoparticle (NP) ink and the other was a metallo-organic decomposition (MOD) ink. For the NP ink, a decrease in resistance was seen for the lines formed in hot embossed channels. For the MOD ink, the resistance decrease was seen for lines formed in both the embossed and the laser cut channels.