Open AccessEffect of processing parameters on laser sintering of silver MOD inks for inkjet printing
Author(s) -
Yang Yupeng,
Liu Dachuan,
Zhao Pengbing,
Huang Jin
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
iet collaborative intelligent manufacturing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2516-8398
DOI - 10.1049/iet-cim.2018.0015
Subject(s) - sintering , selective laser sintering , materials science , inkwell , laser , composite material , optics , physics
Sintering is essential for inkjet printing and laser sintering is a promising sintering technology. In this study, the effect of laser sintering processing parameters on the sintering quality of silver content metal‐organic‐decomposition (MOD) inks is studied. A novel mathematic model is developed to reveal the temperature evolutions in MOD inks and the substrates during laser sintering. In the novel model, the change of thermal conductivity of MOD inks is taken into consideration for the first time to improve simulation accuracy. The simulation results agree well with the experiments, showing the advantages of the mathematic model. The surface morphology of the sintered MOD inks are also observed through experiments. The simulation and experimental results show that the laser sintering processing parameters have significant effects on the sintering quality. With authors’ optimised laser sintering processing parameters, the printed pattern can be sufficiently sintered and its electronic conductivity can reach 1.56 × 10 –7 S/m. Thus, a sintering optimisation strategy is proposed based on the results. Finally, a microstrip antenna is fabricated with the optimised sintering strategy. The performance of the antenna agree well with the simulation results, indicating authors’ optimising strategy is useful for industrial production.