Microwave sintering of silver nanoink for radio frequency applications

Microwave sintering is a promising method for low-temperature processes, as it provides advantages such as uniform, fast, and volumetric heating. In this study, we investigated the electrical characteristics of inkjet-printed silver (Ag) circuits sintered by microwaves. The microstructural evolutions of inkjet-printed Ag circuits sintered at various temperatures for different durations were observed with a field emission scanning electron microscope. The electrical properties of the inkjet-printed Ag circuits were analysed by electrical resistivity measurements and radio frequency properties including scattering-parameters in the frequency range of 20 MHz to 20 GHz. The experimental results show that the signal losses of the Ag circuits sintered by microwave heating were lower than those sintered by conventional heating as microwave heating led to granular films which were nearly fully sintered without pores on the surfaces. When the inkjet-printed Ag circuits were sintered by microwaves at 300 °C for 4 min, their electrical resistivity was 5.1 μΩ cm, which is 3.2 times larger than that of bulk Ag. Furthermore, microwave sintering at 150 °C for 4 min achieved much lower signal losses (1.1 dB at 20 GHz) than conventional sintering under the same conditions.