Pulsed light for photonic sintering of nanoparticle inks on low-temperature substrates

The printed electronics market is in a transition as developments in new materials drive applications from R&D toward production. Functionally conductive inks and coatings are being manufactured with nanoparticles for use with low-temperature, low cost substrates such as paper, PET and polyethylene films. Silver, gold and more recently, lower-cost copper nanoparticle inks are available on the market for applications in inkjets and screen printers. Printing on flexible substrates such as printed circuit boards, at room temperature, is becoming a reality. The challenge facing producers of evolving nanoparticle inks is how to sinter or anneal these inks at substrate temperatures typically below 160 C°. Pulsed light technology from Xenon offers the solution! The high peak pulse, delivered in milliseconds, quickly heats the inks and not the substrate. The high energy removes the solvent and leaves just the metal flakes which are sintered or annealed. The substrate is not affected by the pulsed light. One advantage of the speed by which the sintering occurs is that copper ink is cured so quickly it does not develop an oxide layer that can typically form on the surface, thus improving conductivity. The flexibility of Xenon’s RC-800 series offers the ability to customize a system to match the curing needs of a range of nanoparticle inks. Looking for help? Just send your material samples to our lab in Wilmington for evaluation and our equipment recommendation.

For technical information on the SINTERON™2000 which is ideal for R&D work click: Photonic Curing R&D System. Systems are available to evaluate the efficiency of pulsed light with substrates, including paper, PET and polyethylene films.

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