Inkjet printed electronics enables deposition of functional materials accurately in both placement and volume. Decreased line widths and usage of conductive nanoparticle metal inks opens possibilities for electronics integration. For example, printed multilayer microstructures can be used to integrate chip scale electronic applications. At Tampere University of Technology evaluation of inkjet printed microstructures and their ability in electronics integration has been studied. The technology evaluation towards prototype and pilot series has followed a technology maturity study from subparts to whole system. The subsystem blocks of the system are first examined individually using dummy structures. Gathered data is utilized in manufacturing process to create functional integrated system. This technology evaluation study comprises of material and process research. The material study includes the initial material jetting study and material compatibility issues. Material evaluation enables the process study, which includes the study of the process to meet the structure requirement, e.g. size and performance. In addition, process parameters for application specific materials and features are defined with initial optimization in speed and quality issues.
Ville Pekkanen, Katja Laine, Kimmo Kaija, Matti Mäntysalo, Pauliina Mansikkamäki, "Studies Towards the Inkjet Printed Electronics Prototype Series" in Proc. IS&T Int'l Conf. on Digital Printing Technologies and Digital Fabrication (NIP24), 2008, pp 714 - 719, https://doi.org/10.2352/ISSN.2169-4451.2008.24.1.art00065_2