Large-scale roll-to-roll photonic sintering of flexo printed silver nanoparticle electrodes

Abstract

In this report we employ static and roll-to-roll (R2R) photonic sintering processes on flexo printed silver nanoparticle-based electrode structures with a heat-sensitive 60 μm thin barrier foil as a substrate. We use large area electrode structures to visualize the increased optical footprint of single and quadruple flashes, and the R2R challenges in the form of overlapping exposures. It is shown that single flash exposure is enough to significantly increase the conductivity and adhesion without damaging the foil or build-up of cracks in the silver layer. Additional flash exposures or increased energies above the threshold level have only minor impact on the conductivity but lead to cracks and substrate deformation. A second silver nanoparticle ink was printed, which was already optimized for low-temperature drying. Here we show that photonic sintering has only a minor impact on the conductivity as the nanoparticles are already sintered. The advantage of single exposure is the ability to produce higher R2R processing speeds without overlapping, which is shown in the form of theoretical calculations.