Abstract
Otherwise attractive substrate materials for printed electronics may have such surface characteristics that make patterning challenging. This article focuses on the printability and performance characterization of conductive patterns on a low surface energy substrate. Surface characteristics of a hydrophobic polyphenylene ether (PPE) substrate and the effects of surface modification using chemical and physical pre-treatments were studied. In addition, silver ink performance and its reliability on this substrate were evaluated. The surface was characterized by surface energy measurements and surface profile analysis. Screen-printed test patterns were characterized to evaluate print quality and electrical and mechanical performance. A further inspection of substrate-ink interactions was conducted using environmental reliability tests. It was observed that ink adhesion could be significantly promoted by choosing a suitable surface pre-treatment method. Low sheet resistances were obtained, and thus, suitable inks for further characterization were found. In addition, it was observed that environmental stress has a significant impact on ink-substrate interactions.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 54-65 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Microelectronics Reliability |
| Volume | 86 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jul 2018 |
| Publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Funding
R.M. designed and performed the experiments related to substrate surface analysis and characterization of the printed structures. In addition, R.M. analyzed the measurement data. M.M. supervised the research and participated in experiment design and data analysis. The manuscript and figures were prepared by R.M. Both authors reviewed the manuscript. This work was supported by the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation ( Tekes ) [grant number 2742/31/2016 .] M.M. is supported by the Academy of Finland [grant numbers 288945 and 294119 ]. We greatly thank Juha Pippola and Janne Kiilunen for their contributions to the design and performance of the environmental stress tests. In addition, we would like to thank the Premix company for providing the test substrates. Appendix A
Keywords
- Adhesion
- Environmental stress
- PPE
- Printed electronics
- Reliability
- Surface modification
Publication forum classification
- Publication forum level 1
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality
- Surfaces, Coatings and Films
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering
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