Commercial-Grade Dielectrics Surface Metallization by Direct Laser Deposition from Deep Eutectic Solvents

Abstract

In this study, we explore the feasibility of a promising approach to fabricate conductive copper patterns with arbitrary topology on various dielectric substrates using direct laser metallization from deep eutectic solvents. We demonstrate the capability to print on industrially relevant dielectric materials, including polyimide, fiberglass plastic, and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) substrates. We investigate the geometric and electrical characteristics of the resulting patterns and their composition. Our findings highlight the significant influence of the substrate material on both the formation rate of structures and their final properties. The characteristic resistance of the fabricated copper patterns is in the range from 0.23 to 1.64 Ω × mm2/m. The rate of pattern formation varied from 0.5 to 3.5 mm/s, depending on the substrate used.