Effect of Sintering Time and Sintering Temperature on the Mechanical and Electrical Properties of Aerosol-Jet Additively Printed Electronics

The demand for multifunctional, customizable, fine feature electronics producible by the Aerosol Jet Printing technology is growing at a fast pace. The AJP manufacturing process requires selection of several parameters that influence the quality of the printed line. Specific to the application of the electronics, the process parameters can be varied to obtain optimal required mechanical and electrical properties of the printed lines. Amongst several influencing process parameters, Sintering time and sintering temperature of the nano-particle based ink have much influence on the mechanical and electrical performance of the final printed electronics. Little literature exists that addresses the effect of varying sintering time and temperature on the shear strength and resistivity of the printed lines. Researchers have evaluated the effect of varying sintering time and temperature on resistance of the printed lines [Goth 2011]. Stoukatch and Kreminsky have reported on influence of process parameters on printed interconnects and printed pads respectively [Stoukatch 2012] [Kreminsky 2017]. Kreminsky has also reported on the shear strength of the soldered joint. Several studies are done that address the process optimization and interdependency of various parameters [Veerhecke 2012] [Gupta 2016]. In this study we have addressed the resultant mechanical and electrical properties like resistance and shear load to failure of the printed electrical line as a function of varying sintering time and varying sintering temperature. In this study we have addressed the resultant mechanical and electrical properties like resistance and shear load to failure of the printed electrical line as a function of varying sintering time and varying sintering temperature. We have used Optomec AJ300 machine and used the Ultrasonic atomizer to print a silver nano-particle ink on glass as a substrate. We have printed various samples and sintered them at 4 different sintering times and temperature. We then reported the resistance and shear load to failure of these printed lines. The root cause of the resultant trend was then investigated and reported with SEM imagery of the printed samples. A detailed analysis of the effect of sintering time and sintering temperature on the AJP process was reported on.