| AVS 56th International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Inkjet Technology: Printing, Materials Processing, and Microfluidics Fundamentals Topical Conference | Thursday Sessions |
| Session IJ+BI+MN+SE+AS-ThM |
| Session: | Inkjet Technology: Novel and Emerging Applications |
| Presenter: | J.A. Kubby, University of California, Santa Cruz |
| Authors: | J.A. Kubby, University of California, Santa Cruz O. Azucena, University of California, Santa Cruz C.L. Goldsmith, MEMTronics Corporation D. Scarbrough, MEMtronics Corporation A.S. Mangalam, Tao of Systems Integration, Inc. |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
In this presentation we will review the use of inkjet printing to fabricate Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS). We are investigating the use of sintered silver nanoparticle inks for the structural layer and polymers for the sacrificial layer in printed MEMS fabrication. As an example, inkjet printing technology has been used to fabricate microwave transmission lines for an RF MEMS switch on a glass substrate (with MEMTronics Corporation). 50 mm resolution was obtained using 10 pL drop volumes on a Corning 7740 glass substrate. The conductivity of the sintered silver structures were 1/6 that of bulk silver after sintering at a temperature much lower than the melting point of bulk silver. A comparison of the DC resistance of the sintered silver shows that it can match the performance for electroplated and etched copper. Printed coplanar lines demonstrated losses of 1.62 dB/cm at 10 GHZ and 2.65 dB/cm at 20 GHz. We will also discuss printing MEMS hot-wire anemometer sensors for use in aeronautical applications (with Tao of Systems Integration).