Laser based hybrid inkjet printing of nanoink for flexible electronics

Many applications require delivery of small quantities of functional materials into locations on a substrate in the form of liquid solution. Consequently, interest in nongraphical inkjet printing is growing. In addition, higher resolution for printing flexible electronics is becoming more critical to enhance the performance of printing electronics. Since the resolution of inkjet process is limited by the nozzle size and the statistical variation of droplet flight and spreading phenomena, hybrid inkjet printing has emerged as an attractive processing method. In this work, surface monolayer protected gold nanoparticle was printed in a liquid solution form and cured by laser irradiation to fabricate electrically conductive microlines on glass or polymer substrate at a reduced temperature. Continuous laser curing enabled local heating and the morphology could be controlled as well. Thermal penetration into the substrate could be minimized by using pulsed laser beam. Nanoparticle film was effectively removed by applying femtosecond laser, so that small feature size was obtained. Printing on a heated substrate has advantages over room temperature printing. The solvent evaporates soon after contact, so that a thick layer can be deposited with high jetting frequency. The rapid liquid evaporation also eliminated uneven wetting problems and the smaller feature size was obtained.