Page 10
www.us-tech.com
TechWaTch Has Success with
Silver Nanoparticle Inks Finally Arrived?
By Khasha Ghaffarzadeh, Ph.D., Research Director, IDTechEx
decade now. In this time, however, commercial success has proved elusive time and again. Despite its clear value propositions, this technology regularly failed against the strength of the in- cumbent traditional pastes in per- formance, scale and cost. This analysis is drawn from
S
IDTechEx’s report “Conductive Ink Markets 2018-2028: Forecasts, Tech- nologies, Players.” It provides a com- prehensive and authoritative view of the 2,370 tpa conductive inks and paste market, giving detailed, 10- year market forecasts segmented by more than 25 applications. The mar- ket forecasts are given in tonnage and value at the ink level.
Metal Mesh Transparent Conductors
Transparent conductive layers are employed in diverse applications,
e
ilver nanoparticle technology has been in semi- or full-commercial- ization mode for well over a
such as touch displays, OLED light- ing and various thin-film photo- voltaics. ITO (on film or glass) is cur- rently the dominant technology, but for years other technologies have sought to replace or complement it to address issues, such as price fluctua- tions, limited conductivity and flexi- bility. Metal mesh is one option. It can be produced through methods that include etching, embossing or direct printing. Embossing or direct printing re-
quire conductive inks. In the emboss- ing approach, a drum embosses trench- es into the film substrate that are sub- sequently filled using nano or sub-mi- cron conductive paste. This approach has been in commercialization mode (using nano inks) for several years, al- though sales became lukewarm as em- bedded touch rose in prominence and as ITO film prices were slashed to pro- tect their share in add-on touch. Given their high conductivity, this approach is now also in use for small-sized trans-
Page 1
parent antenna production for con- sumer electronics. The other approach is based on
direct printing. Despite its attrac- tiveness on paper, it failed to gain traction mainly because it could not reliably achieve sufficiently narrow line widths. Direct printing however is making a comeback with multiple approaches, such as gravure offset, inkjet printing, etc. In particular, gravure offset printing is often used to create fine-line metal meshes down to 0.2 mil (5 µm). Printed metal mesh has long
targeted non-touch applications. It sought adoption in reel-to-reel (R2R) produced flexible OLED light- ing panels. Its purpose was to boost the conductivity of the transparent conducting layer. It needed high conductivity at low annealing temperatures, but line width was not such an issue. The challenge is that R2R production of OLED light- ing has proved complex and it has yet to enter the market. Playing a similar role, printed Ag nano-based metal mesh is on the cusp of multi-tonne success in thin film photovoltaics.
tered at temperatures of around 482 to 572°F (250 to 300°C) and under the application of external pressure. New pastes based on nanomate-
rials or hybrids are being developed. These materials have the advantage of low sintering temperatures and no need for external pressure. These ma- terials are now in the final qualifica- tion phases for use in electric vehicles.
Conformal Coating On-chip conformal EMI shield-
ing has already been adopted by leading smartphone makers. A metal line is coated directly on the chip to minimize EMI interference from
For on-chip conformal EMI shielding, pure or hybrid nano inks can offer higher
performance than micron-sized pastes, thus helping narrow the performance gap with sputtering.
tightly packed components. The cur- rent method is based on sputtering. Ink-based sprayable solutions
PCB Printing Desktop amateur and profes-
MODEL 802 TABLE TOP HOT/COLD TEST HANDLER
Optional-55°C to +155°C minimum working range.
Handles all device types, 1.6mm x 1.6mm – 60mm x 60mm.
Near zero changeover kits.
Base price under 30K$
sional PCB printers are emerging. Hobbyist models can often do one or two layered PCBs. The professional ones are capable of creating multi- layer PCBs. Both approaches are slow, but they are well-suited to low- volume, in-house prototypes. The professional ones are based on inkjet printers and are employing nanopar- ticle inks. The machines have now moved beyond beta versions and full industrial versions have already been launched. At the same time, lower-cost and lower-spec versions are also emerging. These develop- ments will also benefit silver nano ink sales, although the volumes and revenue will likely remain small.
High-Temp Die-Attach Paste The field of power electronics is
growing, riding the rise of smart grid and electric vehicles. This creates new demand across the material sup- ply chain for thermal management materials. This is because these de- vices generate and handle high cur- rents (thus high heat) and often oper- ate in high temperatures. A particular need is around die-
www.exatron.com 1-800-EXA-TRON 1-408-629-7600
attach materials. These materials must provide strong adhesion as well as high electrical and thermal conduc- tivity. A high-performing option is sin- tered silver-based die attach pastes. Traditional versions are composed of micron-sized particles. They are sin-
are emerging with a compelling proposition — non-vacuum deposi- tion, low capital expenditure, and high-throughput equipment over large areas, with excellent side-wall coverage. However, conductive inks are not as conductive and not as thin as sputtered coatings. This is where pure or hybrid
nano inks come in. They can offer higher performance compared with micron-sized pastes, thus helping narrow the performance gap with sputtering. Suppliers are addressing sedimentation and adhesion issues, and end users are now actively test- ing sprayed EMI shielding, seeking to find that optimal ink and particle size composition and the sweet spot in cost and performance. Aerosol deposition has also
opened the door to sales of nano inks. This is because the number of in- stalled industrial-scale printers has increased, particularly in Asia, for such applications as antenna printing for consumer electronics devices. This technology enables 3D conformal dep- osition using digitally-controlled, low- footprint equipment. The role of nano- materials here is to ensure com- putability with the nozzle, achieve high conductivity at low annealing temperatures on the substrates, and create uniform coatings when jetted
out, due to their near monodispersity. Contact: IDTechEx, One Boston
Place, Suite 2600, Boston, MA 02108 % 617-577-7890 fax: 617-577-7810 E-mail:
info@idtechex.com Web:
www.idtechex.com r
June, 2018
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104
