Thin Film Processing › Electronics
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Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are the backbone of countless electrical and computer applications. The average home in the United States contains over 100 PCBs and the global market for printed circuits exceeds $38 billion. However, the majority of circuit boards are manufactured using outdated multi-step patterning and deposition processes that generate substantial amounts of chemical waste. The future generation of electronics will be defined by flexible printed circuits (FPCs), similar to PCBs, but built on a flexible substrate such as paper or plastic.
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An attractive technique for making FPCs is “direct write” manufacturing using inkjet, slot-dye, or screen printing technology along with a conductive ink. ORNL is working to develop appropriate materials for conductive inks as well as innovative techniques for large area deposition. After printing, the conductive particles in the inks must have excellent particle connectivity in order to function as a conductive circuit. ORNL is investigating the use of pulse thermal annealing to instantly sinter the nanoparticle ink on top of temperature sensitive substrates such as PET or polyimide. Toward this end, ORNL has teamed with NovaCentrix to use the PulseForge 3300 heat the printed media to sinter the inks and to drive away the volatile solvent carriers, such as water, alcohols, or even ethylene glycol.
Contacts:
| DUTY, Chad E. | dutyc@ornl.gov | 865.574.5059 |
| MURALIDHARAN, Govindarajan | muralidhargn@ornl.gov | 865.574.4281 |
| SABAU, Adrian S. | sabaua@ornl.gov | 865.241.5145 |
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