© IML 2012
© IML 2012
Making a Material Difference …
MasterClass – Future of Conductive Printing November 27 - Belgium
© IML 2012
© IML 2012
• Introduction • Technical Background – IML • Main factors • Principle of Photonic Curing • Process Options – Broadband Flash or Laser • New Developments • Examples • Summary
© IML 2012
© IML 2012
• Founded as a QinetiQ corporate investment in January 2002 – QinetiQ Nanomaterials Ltd
• Spun out in 2007 • Locations:
• Farnborough, UK (R&D, Production and BD Europe)
• Rochester, NYS, USA (Development and Production)
• Team of 30 - 80% technical/scientific
• Technology Platform • Fabrication of Inorganic Nanoparticles
© IML 2012
© IML 2012
© IML 2012
© IML 2012
© IML 2012
© IML 2012
• Major difference between conventional inks and PE • Functionality of the ink and the track it produces
• Must be capable of joining / folding / flexibility / survive environmental issues / multilayers / post processing / packaging
• Must be capable of integration with other technologies • Will stretch the capabilities of print technology
• screen printing and Inkjet lead at this point • And stretch to other applications - many and varied • Conversion from a track to a conductive track is a key issue
© IML 2012
© IML 2012
Materials Design / Integration
Print Technology Application
• CuO • Coated Copper • Silver
Substrate
© IML 2012
© IML 2012
Materials Design / Integration
Print Technology Application
• CuO • Coated Copper • Silver
Substrate
Suite of Sintering Technologies are required to address the issues
© IML 2012
© IML 2012
Per
form
ance
*
Temperature
Nano enabled
Inks
Low Temp Screen
Typical Screen
Huge impact on low temperature substrates with corresponding cost implications
Cos
t
* More than conductivity – adhesion, surface roughness etc
© IML 2012
© IML 2012
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Per
form
ance
*
Temperature
Nano enabled
Inks
Low Temp Screen
Typical Screen
Huge impact on low temperature substrates with corresponding cost implications
Cos
t
* More than conductivity – adhesion, surface roughness etc
© IML 2012
© IML 2012
Requirement • Conversion of printed ink to a conductive track • High Performance • Fast – suit R2R speeds • No damage to substrate • Flexible – multiple print types (inkjet, screen etc) • Large area / thin tracks / large area + thin tracks • Various substrate (glass, paper, ceramic, composites, high
thermal mass) • Compatible with industry standard practices
Materials Formulation Printing Drying Sintering Device
© IML 2012
© IML 2012
• Ovens • Standard practice / conventional approach - Silver • Uniformity • Wide area of processing / • Substrate limited to temperature • Long residence time -> inert atmosphere
• UV Curing • Wide area of processing • Standard practice • Lower intensity, continuous output
Widely adopted proven technology
© IML 2012
© IML 2012
• Broadband flash • High power densities / wide area of
processing • Less substrate limited and curing times short • Adjustable spectrum / tunable pulse lengths • High capital cost for some systems / beam
not uniform • Laser
• High Power densities • Exposure area smaller / • Fixed wavelength but targeted wavelength to
match ink requirements / uniform across the beam / Spatial selectivity - targeted
• Cost / rastering
Pho
toni
c C
urin
g
© IML 2012
© IML 2012
• High energy pulse - broadband or specific wavelength
• Targeted Rapid thermal heating of surface layers
• Solvent / coating escape • Converts nanomaterial into highly linked
structure • Careful control of energy levels gives:-
• High conductivity • No surface damage to substrate • Compatibility with low temperature
substrates
Ene
rgy
Wavelength
© IML 2012
© IML 2012
Broadband Laser
Pulsed Pulsed or continuous
Broadband – can be modified - different lamp options for modified output
Fixed narrow wavelength
Output varies by wavelength
Precision control of output
Energy delivered is not consistent
Coherent beam therefore ease of focus, pointing and control
Ene
rgy
Wavelength
sintered
unsintered
© IML 2012
© IML 2012
• Example – Sinteron™ 2000 • Features
• Selectable pulse duration – 100 to 2000 µm
• Adjustable Pulse energy 27 to 2000 Joules
• Multiple modes – single, double, burst, continuous
• Sintering area 1.9 x 30.5cm • www.xenoncorp.com
© IML 2012
© IML 2012
• Example - Pulseforge™ 3300 • For development and production –
R2R • Features
• Broad spectrum 200nm to 1000nm • Max peak power 100kW/cm2
• Sustained peak greater than 5MW on 15cm wide
• Exposures down to 30 µsec • Pulse repetition rate >1kHz
• www.novacentrix.com
© IML 2012
© IML 2012
• Limited commercial offering at this point
• Wide range of lasers and generic expertise available
• Some developments underway • Commercial • Government sponsored
• IML developing a range of approaches in response to customer demand
Laboratory System
LAPS 60 System
© IML 2012
© IML 2012
• LOPE-C Conference Dusseldorf
2 m/min – nano copper ink deposited by a new Fuji-Dimatix ink jet head, then dried & sintered using broadband flash
© IML 2012
© IML 2012
RFID on paper or PET / laser
Test lines 75µm, on PET / laser
4µm lines / laser
Test on Kapton / laser Automotive sensor on composite panel / laser
© IML 2012
© IML 2012
PROCID • Antibody based disease detection
programme • Developed on gold/glass • Not economical / difficult to take to
product • PROCID programme developing
copper electrodes • Screen / inkjet printed • Laser / Broadband flash
processed
CEMLED • Combination of IM ink and
Cambridge Nanotherm high performance substrates for LED’s
© IML 2012
© IML 2012
• Broadband Flash • Novacentrix – software
development • Enhanced Modelling & Control
• Laser • LAPS60 supplied to customers
for R&D development • LAP1200 system in
development • Scale up of LAPS 60 • High power laser screen to
process wider images
© IML 2012
© IML 2012
• To increase speed of adoption of low cost conductive inks, cost effective sintering processes are needed
• Current sintering technologies achieve the required performance • High performance tracks manufactured
• Sintering tools are available in both oven / broad band flash • Barrier to uptake is lack of cost effective sintering systems at the
R&D stage • Growing interest in laser application • IML has set out to support our customer base with a range of
validated laser sintering tools • These are now available ….
© IML 2012
© IML 2012
Thank you!
Contact: Dr Paul Reip
Director, Government and Strategic Programmes [email protected]
mobile: +44 (0)7785 382 293