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Real‐Time Optical Process Monitoring for Structure and Property Control of Aerosol Jet Printed Functional Materials
Author(s) -
Tafoya Rebecca R.,
Cook Adam W.,
Kaehr Bryan,
Downing Julia R.,
Hersam Mark C.,
Secor Ethan B.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
advanced materials technologies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.184
H-Index - 42
ISSN - 2365-709X
DOI - 10.1002/admt.202000781
Subject(s) - aerosol , electronics , rendering (computer graphics) , process (computing) , process control , process engineering , materials science , computer science , engineering , electrical engineering , computer graphics (images) , meteorology , physics , operating system
Aerosol jet printing is a popular digital additive manufacturing method for flexible and hybrid electronics, but it lacks sophisticated real‐time process control schemes that would enable more widespread adoption in manufacturing environments. Here, an optical measurement system is introduced to track the aerosol density upstream of the printhead. The measured optical extinction, combined with the aerosol flow rate, is directly related to deposition rate and accurately predicts functional materials properties such as the electrical resistance of printed graphene films. This real‐time system offers a compelling solution for process drift and batch‐to‐batch variability, rendering it a valuable tool for both real‐time control of aerosol jet printing and fundamental studies of the underlying process science.