Dual Regime Spray Deposition Based Laser Direct Writing of Metal Patterns on Polymer Substrates

Abstract

In recent years, the metallization of polymers has been intensely studied as it takes advantage of both plastics and metals. Laser direct writing (LDW) is one of the most widely used technologies to obtain metal patterns on polymer substrates. In LDW technology, different methods including injection-molding, drop-casting, dip coating, and spin coating are utilized for surface preparation of polymer materials prior to the laser activation process. In this study, an atomization based dual regime spray coating system is introduced as a novel method to prepare the surface of the materials for LDW of metal patterns. Copper micropatterns on the polymer surface were achieved with a minimum feature size of 30 μm, having a strong adhesion and excellent conductivity. The results show that the dual regime spray deposition system can be potentially used to obtain uniform thin film coating with relatively less material consumption on the substrates for surface preparation of laser direct metallization of polymers.

Selective preparation of high-performance Cu metal micropatterns based on laser direct writing technology

“…At the same time, laser direct writing technology can also realize contactless processing. Laser direct writing technology can recognize the preparation of material structure processing on different orders of magnitude length scales from nanometer to millimeter [23]. This enables laser-direct writing to fabricate specific structures that other fabrication techniques cannot manufacture.…”

Dynamic Simulation-Guided Design of Tumbling Magnetic Microrobots

“…Lastly, the thin film is removed from the glass, cut in the shape of the microrobots using a laser system, and then magnetized using the same process as the SU-8 microrobots (with a constant 9T magnetic field). For the cutting procedure, we utilize a custom laser cutter system consisting of a femtosecond laser (CARBIDE, 04-1000), beam expander (Thorlabs, BE02-050B), attenuator (Altechna, Watt Pilot), a waveplate, Brewster type polarizer, and a 20X objective lens (Mitutoyo, 0.42NA) [40].…”

Selective Surface Metallization of 3D-Printed Polymers by Cold-Spray-Assisted Electroless Deposition

“…2−4 Conventional approaches used in polymer metallization mainly involve lithography, 5 vapor deposition, 6 screen printing, 7 inkjet printing, 8 and laserinduced metallization. 9,10 Despite their own great promises, rapid custom prototyping of conductive patterns on polymers in a facile, eco-friendly, and cost-effective manner remains challenging.…”

“…Metallization on polymer materials is becoming attractive for the rational replacement of metals by recyclable and lightweight polymers in various applications as to facilitate energy savings while eliminating or alleviating environmental impacts . In particular, selective metallization on polymer surfaces is of particular interest in the fields of electronics, energy harvesting, sensing, military equipment, automotive industry, aerospace industry, and aesthetic decoration owing to many intrinsic advantages of polymers including their durability, lightweight, impact resistance, design flexibility, and low-cost manufacturing. − Conventional approaches used in polymer metallization mainly involve lithography, vapor deposition, screen printing, inkjet printing, and laser-induced metallization. , Despite their own great promises, rapid custom prototyping of conductive patterns on polymers in a facile, eco-friendly, and cost-effective manner remains challenging.…”