Silver metal patterns onto plastic substrates have been obtained by inkjet printing with commercial ink based on silver nanoscale particles. Morphological characterization by scanning electron microscopy of spin-coating processed films indicates that a sintering treatment at 250• C for 30 min is enough to sinterize the silver metal nanoparticles. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterization of sintered metal films shows that the sinterization is accompanied by a reduction of carbon surface concentration coming from carbon-containing chemical compounds present in the ink formulation. After sintering at 250• C for 30 min, the material shows typical electrical resistivity of 4.6 × 10 −6 cm (i.e. about three times the value of bulk silver).Printed test structures show typical resistivity after sintering at 250• C for 30 min in the range of 5-7 × 10 −6 cm. Copyright
This article describes the fabrication and characterisation of tantalum nitride (TaN) thin film for applications in plastic electronics. Thin films of comparable thickness (50-60 nm) have been deposited by RF-magnetron-reactive sputtering at low temperature (100• C) and their structure and physical (electrical and mechanical) properties have been correlated by using sheet resistance, stress measurements, atomic force microscopy (AFM), XPS, and SIMS. Different film compositions have been obtained by varying the argon to nitrogen flow ratio in the sputtering chamber. XPS showed that 5 : 1, 2 : 1 and 1 : 1 Ar : N 2 ratios gives Ta 2 N, TaN and Ta 3 N 5 phases, respectively. Sheet resistance revealed an increase in resistivity ongoing from the Ta 2 N phase to the Ta 3 N 5 one. The electrical properties of these films are comparable to those obtained by high temperature deposition process already reported in literature. Furthermore, a roughness and grain size modulation of the above films can be obtained by applying an RF negative bias during deposition without affecting the electrical resistivity.
Patterned thin film electrodes of platinum and silver have been obtained by printing techniques onto sodium perfluorosulphonate membranes to prepare ionic polymer-metal composite actuators. Metal adhesion has been improved by oxygen plasma activation of perfluorosulphonate. Plasma treatment produces oxygen-containing functional groups at surfaces. Platinum-patterned electrodes have been obtained by two methods: (i) ink-jet printing solution of [Pt(NH 3 ) 4 ] ++ 2Cl À followed by chemical reduction and (ii) carbon black complementary mask printing followed by platinum complex adsorption and reduction. Silver-patterned electrodes have been obtained by ink-jet printing of silver-based nanoparticles ink sintered at 150 C, ambient pressure for 1 h. The typical surface resistivity values of patterned electrodes are 5 Ω sq À1 for platinum and 0.5-1 Ω sq À1 for sintered silver, respectively. Perfluorosulphonate with platinum-and silver-patterned electrodes shows electrical stimuli responsivity.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.