Interaction of Photonic Curing Process Parameters on Additively Printed Copper Circuits

3D printing, as an emerging method, has been utilized to manufacture complex and high-precision items in a wide range of areas. Much of the work on flexible electronics that uses direct digital printing is done with silver ink. Copper ink is a viable alternative to silver ink; however, development of manufacturing process recipes has faced impediments owing to the requirement for controlled heat curing. Photonic curing is a method that may be used to immediately sinter copper ink after it has been printed. The technique uses high-energy light to instantly sinter metal particles while keeping the substrate temperature low. Copper requires a controlled environment during the thermal chamber curing which may be overcome with the photo sintering system, thus studying the effect of photocuring on mechanical and electrical properties of the printed conductive traces is of utmost importance in Flexible Hybrid Electronics(FHE). In this paper, we have studied the effect of various curing setup parameters such as stage speed and Flash height on the shear strength and resistivity of printed traces. The temperature exposure for curing utilizing photonic sintering is also investigated to compare it to conventional thermal oven cure methods. In previous work, we reported on numerous setup factors such as flash frequency, flash modes, and the influence of preheat treatment techniques; this information provides us with a solid knowledge of the copper trace behavior as well as a good mechanical and electrical characteristics process recipe. Line width and height were investigated using white light interferometry analysis for resistivity calculations. Copper ink is a good and economical alternative to silver ink, but its use has been delayed because of an increased oxidation propensity. In the course of this problem, after various curing conditions, we have carried out elemental analysis using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis for the material composition behavior and examined possible trace oxidation.