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Printing design (Fig. 1) - set of meander line resistors that were used for both printability
evaluation and DC resistance testing. Test structure line (trace) widths were designed to
range from 50 m to 500 m. In order to evaluate directionality effects of gravure printing,
traces were designed at three different angles with respect to the print direction (0, 45 and
90°). For the evaluation of printed gaps, a group of 500 µm wide lines with different spacing
was included.
Gravure cylinder preparation - indirect laser method - laser ablation of a protective mask on
a copper surface, followed by a chemical etching of the copper layer. After etching, the
cylinder is chromium plated and finished using traditional methods.
Sample evaluation:
Quality of printed lines and gaps - ImageXpert Image Analysis System.
Ink film thickness - vertical scanning interferometry (VSI) using a WYKO RST-Plus microscope.
Electrical DC resistance - 2 point probe local measurement with standard ohm-meter settings on the Keithley 2602.
Line and Gap Quality
Electrical Properties
0.6
0.6
0.7
0.7
1200
1200
0.5
0.5
0.6
0.6
1000
1000
0.4
0.4
0.3
0.3
0.2
0.2
Silver Nanoparticle Ink
Silver Nanoparticle Ink
Silver Flake Ink
Silver Flake Ink
0.1
0.1
00
00
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
Nominal Line Width [mm]
Nominal Line Width [mm]
0.5
0.5
0.6
0.6
Fig. 4 Comparison of printed vs. nominal
line width in print direction for two
conductive inks printed on glass
substrate.
DC Resistance [Ω/mm]
DC Resistance [Ω/mm]
EXPERIMENTAL
RESULTS
Printed Line Width [mm]
Printed Line Width [mm]
sheet fed presses. Gravure printing typically employs flexible and compressible substrates such as various papers and polymer films. In
electronics, glass substrates are a common, if not preferred, substrate in many applications, particularly displays and photovoltaics. In
combining printing with glass substrates, challenges exist in adapting contact-based printing methods such as gravure to the mechanical
properties of the more rigid substrates. In this work, sheet-fed gravure printing has been successfully used to print silver-based conductive
inks on glass substrates. Various features were designed and printed to evaluate conductive layers in terms of their printability and
electrical performance. The independent variables include gravure cell dimensions, trace orientation with respect to printing direction
and ink type. Results from this work provide an insight into the science of gravure printing on glass by correlating the independent
variables to printed feature quality and electrical performance.
Sean Garner, Gary Merz, John Tosch, Robert Boudreau
Corning Incorporated, Corning, NY
Printed Line Width [mm]
Printed Line Width [mm]
Erika Hrehorova, Marian Rebros, Alexandra Pekarovicova, Bradley Bazuin,
Amrith Ranganathan
Center for the Advancement of Printed Electronics, Western Michigan University,
ABSTRACT
Kalamazoo, MI
In graphics, gravure printing is the preferred method for printing high quality, fine dimension graphics using high-speed roll-to-roll or
0.5
0.5
0.4
0.4
0.3
0.3
0°
0°
45°
45°
0.2
0.2
0.1
0.1
00
90°
90°
00
0.1
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
Nominal Line Width [mm]
Nominal Line Width [mm]
600
600
400
400
200
200
00
0.6
0.6
Fig. 5 Printed vs. nominal line width for
nanosilver ink printed on glass at three
different angles to print direction.
Nanosilver Ink
Nanosilver Ink
Silver Flake Ink
Silver Flake Ink
800
800
0.075
0.075
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.1
0.15
0.2
Nominal Line Width [mm]
Nominal Line Width [mm]
0.5
0.5
Fig. 8 DC resistance values for resistors
with different nominal line widths for two
conductive inks printed (lines printed in
parallel to print direction, 0°).
Fig. 1 Section of printing design (meander
lines and lines with different spacing (gaps)
at 0, 45, 90° to print).
DC Resistance [Ω/mm]
DC Resistance [Ω/mm]
2000
2000
0°
0°
45°
45°
1500
1500
100 µm
150 µm
200 µm
Fig. 6 Comparison of gap quality of 50 µm nominal gap for nanosilver
ink printed at three different angles to print direction.
Fig. 2 Engraving for traces with different nominal width.
(Images taken with ImageXpert Image Analysis System at 40x magnification)
Fig. 3 Basic principle and arrangement of the components for
gravure printing.
Printing trial - sheet-fed gravure proofer, Prüfbau Rotogravure
Printability Tester (by Prüfbau, Germany); printing speed of 250
fpm (1.27 m/s).
Two silver-based conductive inks - silver flakes and silver
nanoparticles as the conductive filler (solids content of silver flake
and silver nanoparticle inks - 80 wt.% and 40 wt.%).
Printed inks were initially cured using a heat-gun for 1 minute
followed by post-curing treatment in a convection oven at 120 °C
for 10 min.
Substrate - Glass substrates were supplied by Corning Incorporated (Corning, NY). Dimensions of were 110 mm x 310 mm and 0.7 mm
thick. A UV curable acrylate coating (<10 m thick) was applied to the substrate surface to ensure ink adhesion (Ra roughness 1 nm,
Surface energy 50 mN/m).
90°
90°
1000
1000
500
500
00
0.075
0.075
0.1
0.1
0.15
0.15
0.2
0.2
0.5
0.5
Nominal Line Width [mm]
Nominal Line Width [mm]
moat cell
Fig. 9 DC resistance values for resistors
with different nominal line widths for
nanosilver ink printed at three different
angles to print direction.
Fig. 7 Comparison of printability of 200 µm nominal line by using two different
engraving approaches.
Ink Film Thickness
CONCLUSIONS
qThe nanosilver ink tends to spread more resulting in wider lines than silver flake ink (Fig. 4). Lines printed with nanosilver ink also
showed much lower ink film thicknesses than those printed with silver flake ink (Fig. 11).
qThere was more ink transferred for 100 µm (single row of gravure cells) than for 150 µm (two rows of smaller cells) nominal lines (Fig. 2).
This was supported by line width, line thickness, and resistance measurements.
qIf moat surrounding the pattern to be printed is connected to the main gravure cells (Fig. 7), improved printability can be achieved as
opposed to when the moat is separated from the main cells.
qThe highest line spreading was found for 90° then for 45° lines, and the narrowest lines were printed at 0° to the print direction (Fig. 5).
qAmong printed and measurable gaps, the narrowest gaps printed with nanosilver ink on glass were measured as 36 ± 8 µm.
qSilver flake ink consistently provided lower DC resistance values than nanosilver ink (Fig. 8).
qWhen considering the thickness of printed lines, nanosilver ink has better applicability since it printed more than 4 times thinner and
smoother ink film than silver flake ink (Fig. 10).
Fig. 10 The 3D images of 100 µm nominal line printed with nanosilver ink (left)
and silver flake ink (right) on glass substrate (measured by a vertical scanning
interferometry (VSI) using a WYKO RST-Plus microscope).
Fig. 11 Comparison of line thickness range for
different nominal line widths for the two
conductive inks.
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