Sung-Jun Joo

Highly conductive copper nano/microparticles ink via flash light sintering for printed electronics

In this study, the size effect of copper particles on the flash light sintering of copper (Cu) ink was investigated using Cu nanoparticles (20-50 nm diameter) and microparticles (2 μm diameter). Also, the mixed Cu nano-/micro-inks were fabricated, and the synergetic effects between the Cu nano-ink and micro-ink on flash light sintering were assessed. The ratio of nanoparticles to microparticles in Cu ink and the several flash light irradiation conditions (irradiation energy density, pulse number, on-time, and off-time) were optimized to obtain high conductivity of Cu films. In order to precisely monitor the milliseconds-long flash light sintering process, in situ monitoring of electrical resistance and temperature changes of Cu films was conducted during the flash light irradiation using a real-time Wheatstone bridge electrical circuit, thermocouple-based circuit, and a high-rate data acquisition system. Also, several microscopic and spectroscopic characterization techniques such as scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to characterize the flash light sintered Cu nano-/micro-films. In addition, the sheet resistance of Cu film was measured using a four-point probe method. This work revealed that the optimal ratio of nanoparticles to microparticles is 50:50 wt%, and the optimally fabricated and flash light sintered Cu nano-/micro-ink films have the lowest resistivity (80 μΩ cm) among nano-ink, micro-ink, or nano-micro mixed films.

A Highly Reliable Copper Nanowire/Nanoparticle Ink Pattern with High Conductivity on Flexible Substrate Prepared via a Flash Light-Sintering Technique

In this work, copper nanowires (NWs) and Cu nanoparticles (NPs) were employed to increase the reliability of a printed electrode pattern under mechanical bending fatigue. The fabricated Cu NW/NP inks with different weight fractions of Cu NWs were printed on a polyimide substrate and flash light-sintered within a few milliseconds at room temperature under ambient conditions. Then, 1000 cycles of outer and inner bending fatigue tests were performed using a lab-made fatigue tester. The flash light-sintered Cu NW/NP ink film with 5 wt % Cu NWs prepared under the flash light-sintering conditions (12.5 J·cm–2 irradiation energy, 10 ms pulse duration, and one pulse) showed a lower resistivity (22.77 μΩ·cm) than those of the only Cu NPs and Cu NWs ink (94.01 μΩ·cm and 104.15 μΩ·cm, respectively). In addition, the resistance change (ΔR·R0(–1)) of the 5 wt % Cu NWs Cu NW/NP film was greatly enhanced to 4.19 compared to the 92.75 of the Cu NPs film obtained under mechanical fatigue conditions over 1000 cycles and an outer bending radius of 7 mm. These results were obtained by the densification and enhanced mechanical flexibility of flash light-sintered Cu NW/NP network, which resulted in prevention of crack initiation and propagation. To characterize the Cu NW/NP ink film, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy were used.

Copper Nanoparticle/Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Composite Films with High Electrical Conductivity and Fatigue Resistance Fabricated via Flash Light Sintering

In this work, multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were employed to improve the conductivity and fatigue resistance of flash light sintered copper nanoparticle (NP) ink films. The effect of CNT weight fraction on the flash light sintering and the fatigue characteristics of Cu NP/CNT composite films were investigated. The effect of carbon nanotube length was also studied with regard to enhancing the conductivity and fatigue resistance of flash light sintered Cu NP/CNT composite films. The flash light irradiation energy was optimized to obtain high conductivity Cu NP/CNT composite films. Cu NP/CNT composite films fabricated via optimized flash light irradiation had the lowest resistivity (7.86 μΩ·cm), which was only 4.6 times higher than that of bulk Cu films (1.68 μΩ·cm). It was also demonstrated that Cu NP/CNT composite films had better durability and environmental stability than those of Cu NPs only.

Multi-pulse flash light sintering of bimodal Cu nanoparticle-ink for highly conductive printed Cu electrodes

In this work, bimodal Cu nano-inks composed of two different sizes of Cu nanoparticles (NPs) (40 and 100 nm in diameter) were successfully sintered with a multi-pulse flashlight sintering technique. Bimodal Cu nano-inks were fabricated and printed with various mixing ratios and subsequently sintered by a flash light sintering method. The effects of the flashlight sintering conditions, including irradiation energy and pulse number, were investigated to optimize the sintering conditions. A detailed mechanism of the sintering of bimodal Cu nano-ink was also studied via real-time resistance measurement during the sintering process. The sintered Cu nano-ink films were characterized using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. From these results, it was found that the optimal ratio of 40-100 nm NPs was found to be 25:75 wt%, and the optimal multi-pulse flash light sintering condition (irradiation energy: 6 J cm-2, and pulse duration: 1 ms, off-time: 4 ms, and pulse number: 5) was found. The optimally sintered Cu nano-ink film exhibited the lowest resistivity of 5.68 μΩ cm and 5B adhesion level.

Anisotropic viscoelastic shell modeling technique of copper patterns/photoimageable solder resist composite for warpage simulation of multi-layer printed circuit boards

In this study, the warpage simulation of a multi-layer printed circuit board (PCB) was performed as a function of various copper (Cu) patterns/photoimageable solder resist (PSR) composite patterns and their anisotropic viscoelastic properties. The thermo-mechanical properties of Cu/PSR patterns were obtained from finite element analysis (virtual test) and homogenized with anisotropic composite shell models that considered the viscoelastic properties. The multi-layer PCB model was simplified based on the unit Cu/PSR patterns and the warpage simulation during the reflow process was performed by using ABAQUS combined with a user-defined subroutine. From these results, it was demonstrated that the proposed anisotropic viscoelastic composite shell simulation technique can be successfully used to predict warpage of multi-layer PCBs during the reflow process.

UV-assisted flash light welding process to fabricate silver nanowire/graphene on a PET substrate for transparent electrodes

Graphene oxide and silver nanowires were bar coated onto PET substrates and then welded using an ultraviolet (UV)-assisted flash light irradiation process to achieve both high electrical conductivity and low haze. The irradiation process connected adjacent silver nanowires by welding, while simultaneously reducing the graphene oxide to graphene. This process was performed using a custom UV-assisted flash light welding system at room temperature under ambient conditions and was extremely rapid, with processing time of several milliseconds. The effects of varying the weight fractions of the silver nanowires and graphene oxide and of varying the UV-assisted flash light welding conditions (light energy and pulse duration) were investigated. The surface morphologies of the welded silver nanowire/graphene films were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy. Optical characterizations, including transmittance and haze measurements, were also conducted using a spectrophotometer. To test their resistance to oxidation, the welded silver nanowire/graphene films were subjected to high temperature in a furnace (100 °C), and their sheet resistances were measured every hour. The flash light welding process was found to yield silver nanowire/graphene films with high oxidation resistance, high conductivity (14.35 Ω·sq–1), high transmittance (93.46%), and low haze (0.9%). This material showed uniform temperature distribution when applied as a resistive heating film.

Warpage Simulation of a Multilayer Printed Circuit Board and Microelectronic Package Using the Anisotropic Viscoelastic Shell Modeling Technique That Considers the Initial Warpage

In this paper, the warpage simulation of a high-density multilayer printed circuit board (PCB) for solid-state disk drive (SSD) and microelectronic package was performed using the anisotropic viscoelastic shell modeling technique. The thermomechanical properties of various copper patterns were homogenized with the anisotropic shell model, which considered their viscoelastic properties. Then, warpage simulations of an SSD PCB unit/array and a full microelectronic package were performed; these simulations accounted for the initial warpage that occurred during fabrication using ABAQUS combined with a user-defined subroutine. Finally, it was demonstrated that both the maximum warpage and the remaining residual warpage of the full microelectronic package can be accurately predicted.

Bi-directional homogenization equivalent modeling for the prediction of thermo-mechanical properties of a multi-layered printed circuit board (PCB)

Warpage of multi-layered printed circuit boards (PCB) during the reflow process is a serious problem which affects the reliability of solder ball connections between the PCB and the mounted semi-conductor packages in electronic devices. It is essential to predict the warpage of the PCB accurately; however, the complicated copper patterns in multi-layered PCBs render a full modeling analysis impossible due to the excessive computing time required. To overcome this problem, we have developed analytical equations of three Cu patterns (line, square, and grid) for the application of thermo-mechanical properties simply by equivalent modeling of Cu patterns. In the proposed equations, the effect of thermo-viscoelastic properties as well as the influence of surrounding layers such as woven glass fabric/BT (bismaleimide triazine), composite laminate (BT core), and photoimageable solder resist (PSR) were considered. To verify the developed equations, vibration tests based on the wave propagation approach were performed at various temperatures. Good agreement was observed between the equivalent model and the experimental results.