Jaewon Chung

Conductor microstructures by laser curing of printed gold nanoparticle ink

The laser-based curing of printed nanoparticle ink to create microlines (resistors) of electrical resistivity approaching that of bulk gold was investigated. The present work relies on laser absorption in both the nanoparticle ink and the sintered gold layer, as well as the transport of thermal energy in the substrate and the resulting solvent vaporization and nanoparticle deposition and sintering. The morphology and electrical properties of the gold line can be controlled by modulating the spatial distribution of the laser beam intensity. Based on the understanding of the underlying physics, a process that circumvents a serious drawback on the functionality of cured gold microlines is produced. Microconductors with resistivity approaching that of bulk gold are produced, while loss of gold nanoparticles and cross sectional nonuniformities are avoided.

Microstructuring by printing and laser curing of nanoparticle solutions

In this letter, the process of printing and laser curing of nanoparticle solutions is presented. A liquid solvent is employed as the carrier of gold nanoparticles (the material of interest in this study) possessing a low melting temperature compared to that of bulk gold. Using a specifically designed printing system, the gold nanoparticle solution is deposited on a substrate and cured with laser radiation. In this manner, the potential of writing gold structures on temperature sensitive substrates is demonstrated. The interaction between the laser radiation and nanoparticles drives the solvent evaporation and controls the quality of the microstructures printing process. The latter is also affected by thermocapillary flow at the free surface, developing during the curing process. An optical method for estimating the curing times is also developed and discussed.

Metal nanoparticle direct inkjet printing for low-temperature 3D micro metal structure fabrication

Inkjet printing of functional materials is a key technology toward ultra-low-cost, large-area electronics. We demonstrate low-temperature 3D micro metal structure fabrication by direct inkjet printing of metal nanoparticles (NPs) as a versatile, direct 3D metal structuring approach representing an alternative to conventional vacuum deposition and photolithographic methods. Metal NP ink was inkjet-printed to exploit the large melting temperature drop of the nanomaterial and the ease of the NP ink formulation. Parametric studies on the basic conditions for stable 3D inkjet printing of NP ink were carried out. Furthermore, diverse 3D metal microstructures, including micro metal pillar arrays, helices, zigzag and micro bridges were demonstrated and electrical characterization was performed. Since the process requires low temperature, it carries substantial potential for fabrication of electronics on a plastic substrate.

NANOSECOND LASER ABLATION OF GOLD NANOPARTICLE FILMS

Ablation of self-assembled monolayer protected gold nanoparticle films on polyimide was explored using a nanosecond laser. When the nanoparticle film was ablated and subsequently thermally sintered to a continuous film, the elevated rim structure by the expulsion of molten pool could be avoided and the ablation threshold fluence was reduced to a value at least ten times lower than the reported threshold for the gold film. This could be explained by the unusual properties of nanoparticle film such as low melting temperature, weak bonding between nanoparticles, efficient laser energy deposition, and reduced heat loss. Finally, submicron lines were demonstrated.

Damage-Free Low Temperature Pulsed Laser Printing of Gold Nanoinks On Polymers

In this study, pulsed laser based curing of a printed nanoink (nanoparticle ink) combined with moderate and controlled substrate heating was investigated to create microconductors at low enough temperatures appropriate for polymeric substrates. The present work relies on (1) the melting temperature depression of nanoparticles smaller than a critical size, (2) DOD (drop on demand) jettability of nanoparticle ink, and (3) control of the heat affected zone induced by pulsed laser heating. In the experiments, gold nanoparticles of 3–7 nmdiameter dissolved in toluene solvent were used as ink. This nanoink was printed on a polymeric substrate that was heated to evaporate the solvent during or after printing. The overall morphology of the gold microline was determined by the printing process and controlled by changing the substrate temperature during jetting. In addition, the printed line width of about 140 m at the room temperature decreased to 70– 80 m when the substrate is heated at 90° C. By employing a microsecond pulsed laser, the nanoparticles were melted and coalesced at low temperature to form a conductive microline which had just 3–4 times higher resistivity than the bulk value without damaging the temperature sensitive polymeric substrate. This gold film also survived after Scotch tape test. These are remarkable results, considering the fact that the melting temperature of bulk gold is 1064° C and the polymeric substrate can be thermally damaged at temperatures as low as 500° C. DOI: 10.1115/1.1924627

High resolution selective multilayer laser processing by nanosecond laser ablation of metal nanoparticle films

Ablation of gold nanoparticle films on polymer was explored using a nanosecond pulsed laser, with the goal to achieve feature size reduction and functionality not amenable with inkjet printing. The ablation threshold fluence for the unsintered nanoparticle deposit was at least ten times lower than the reported threshold for the bulk film. This could be explained by the combined effects of melting temperature depression, lower conductive heat transfer loss, strong absorption of the incident laser beam, and the relatively weak bonding between nanoparticles. The ablation physics were verified by the nanoparticle sintering characterization, ablation threshold measurement, time resolved ablation plume shadowgraphs, analysis of ablation ejecta, and the measurement and calculation of optical properties. High resolution and clean feature fabrication with small energy and selective multilayer processing are demonstrated.

Organic thin film transistors with ink-jet printed metal nanoparticle electrodes of a reduced channel length by laser ablation

The authors have demonstrated organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) based on the ink-jet printed electrodes in which a reduced channel length is accomplished by laser ablation. Laser ablation on the dried silver nanoparticle electrode formed by ink-jet printing effectively shortened the channel length down to 5μm, which is difficult to achieve by ink-jet printing alone. Reducing the channel length using this hybrid technique also allows them to observe the contact resistance effect in the OTFTs, which involves the printed silver nanoparticle electrode of a lower work function with respect to the ionization energy of the organic semiconductor.

Onset condition of pulsating cone-jet mode of electrohydrodynamic jetting for plane, hole, and pin type electrodes

In this work, electrohydrodynamic (EHD) jetting phenomena were observed for three different types of bottom electrode (plane, hole, pin) at constant back pressure condition of the reservoir. Especially, we have focused on the measurement and numerical prediction of the onset voltage for pulsating Taylor cone jetting, changing glass capillary nozzle diameter (outer diameter: 16–47 μm), hydrostatic back pressure head in the reservoir, and the distance between the nozzle and the bottom electrode to provide design information on the EHD multinozzle head.

Infrared thermal velocimetry in MEMS-based fluidic devices

Most MEMS (microelectromechanical system) devices are made of silicon which is transparent at infrared wavelengths. Utilizing this infrared transparency of silicon, infrared thermal velocimetry was developed to measure the velocity in MEMS based fluidic devices. The method uses an infrared laser to generate a short heating pulse in a flowing liquid. An infrared camera records the radiative images from the heated flowing liquid and the steady flow velocity is obtained from consecutive radiative images. A wide range of the velocity (1 cm/s-1 m/s or higher) in silicon (or other materials that are transparent to infrared radiation) microchannels can be measured. Numerical simulations have been carried out and are in good agreement with the experiments. Parametric studies have been carried out for different channel dimensions and laser characteristics.

Compressible flow of liquid in a standing wave tube

Particle image velocimetry (PIV) has been applied to the study of acoustic flow of liquid in a standing wave tube. Even though liquid compressibility is very small, the liquid must be treated as compressible in this case. With the finite compressibility of liquid in mind, a series of different standing wave modes can be formed by pressure waves emanated at specific driving frequencies from a bimorph piezo disk at the end of the tube. In this paper, the first three natural standing wave modes were visualized using 1 μm diameter fluorescent microspheres seeded in the liquid. The variation of the flow field in the acoustic boundary layer near the wall was measured using PIV. Water was first used as a working fluid. Experiments were then carried out with a glycerol-water mixture (50%-50% by volume) to examine the effect of viscosity change on the wave propagation and flow structure inside the tube. The experimental results are compared with theoretical model predictions.