Approaching the Practical Conductivity Limits of Aerosol Jet Printed Silver
Abstract
Previous efforts to directly write conductive metals have been narrowly focused on nanoparticle ink suspensions that require aggressive sintering (>200°C) and result in low-density, small-grained agglomerates with electrical conductivities <25% of bulk metal. Here, we demonstrate aerosol jet printing of a reactive ink solution and characterize high-density (93%) printed silver traces having near-bulk conductivity and grain sizes greater than the electron mean free path, while only requiring low temperature (80°C) treatment. We have developed a predictive electronic transport model which correlates the microstructure to the measured conductivity and identifies a strategy to approach the practical conductivity limit for printed metals. Our analysis of how grain boundaries and tortuosity contribute to electrical resistivity provides insight into the basic materials science that governs how an ink formulator or process developer might approach improving the conductivity. Transmission line measurements validate that electrical properties are preserved up to 20GHz, which demonstrates the utility of this technique for printed RF components. Finally, this work reveals a new method of producing robust printed electronics that retain the advantages of rapid prototyping and three-dimensional fabrication while achieving the performance necessary for success within the aerospace and communications industries.
- Authors:
-
[1];
[4];
- Northrop Grumman Corporation, Redondo Beach, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
- Northrop Grumman Corporation, Redondo Beach, CA (United States)
- Northrop Grumman Corporation, Redondo Beach, CA (United States); Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
- Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
- Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities Division
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1661639
- Report Number(s):
- BNL-217530-2020-JAAM
Journal ID: ISSN 1944-8244
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0012704
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 12; Journal Issue: 26; Journal ID: ISSN 1944-8244
- Publisher:
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY; aerosol jet printing; reactive metal ink; nanoparticle ink; printed electronics; electrical conductivity
Citation Formats
Rosker, Eva S., Barako, Michael T., Nguyen, Evan, DiMarzio, Don, Kisslinger, Kim, Duan, Dah-Weih, Sandhu, Rajinder, Goorsky, Mark S., and Tice, Jesse. Approaching the Practical Conductivity Limits of Aerosol Jet Printed Silver. United States: N. p., 2020.
Web. doi:10.1021/acsami.0c06959.
Rosker, Eva S., Barako, Michael T., Nguyen, Evan, DiMarzio, Don, Kisslinger, Kim, Duan, Dah-Weih, Sandhu, Rajinder, Goorsky, Mark S., & Tice, Jesse. Approaching the Practical Conductivity Limits of Aerosol Jet Printed Silver. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.0c06959
Rosker, Eva S., Barako, Michael T., Nguyen, Evan, DiMarzio, Don, Kisslinger, Kim, Duan, Dah-Weih, Sandhu, Rajinder, Goorsky, Mark S., and Tice, Jesse. Thu .
"Approaching the Practical Conductivity Limits of Aerosol Jet Printed Silver". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.0c06959. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1661639.
@article{osti_1661639,
title = {Approaching the Practical Conductivity Limits of Aerosol Jet Printed Silver},
author = {Rosker, Eva S. and Barako, Michael T. and Nguyen, Evan and DiMarzio, Don and Kisslinger, Kim and Duan, Dah-Weih and Sandhu, Rajinder and Goorsky, Mark S. and Tice, Jesse},
abstractNote = {Previous efforts to directly write conductive metals have been narrowly focused on nanoparticle ink suspensions that require aggressive sintering (>200°C) and result in low-density, small-grained agglomerates with electrical conductivities <25% of bulk metal. Here, we demonstrate aerosol jet printing of a reactive ink solution and characterize high-density (93%) printed silver traces having near-bulk conductivity and grain sizes greater than the electron mean free path, while only requiring low temperature (80°C) treatment. We have developed a predictive electronic transport model which correlates the microstructure to the measured conductivity and identifies a strategy to approach the practical conductivity limit for printed metals. Our analysis of how grain boundaries and tortuosity contribute to electrical resistivity provides insight into the basic materials science that governs how an ink formulator or process developer might approach improving the conductivity. Transmission line measurements validate that electrical properties are preserved up to 20GHz, which demonstrates the utility of this technique for printed RF components. Finally, this work reveals a new method of producing robust printed electronics that retain the advantages of rapid prototyping and three-dimensional fabrication while achieving the performance necessary for success within the aerospace and communications industries.},
doi = {10.1021/acsami.0c06959},
journal = {ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces},
number = 26,
volume = 12,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Jun 04 00:00:00 EDT 2020},
month = {Thu Jun 04 00:00:00 EDT 2020}
}
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