Pulsed Laser Ablation Characteristics of Light-Absorbing Mask Layer Based on Coating Thicknesses under Laser Lift-Off Patterning Process.

Thin transparent oxide layers are typically patterned for use in electronic products including semiconductors, displays, and solar cells for applications such as transparent electrodes, insulating films, and encapsulation films. Conventional patterning methods have traditionally been used in photolithography and lift-off processes. Photolithography employs the wet development process, which has disadvantages such as potential undercut effects, swelling, chemical contamination, and high process costs. On the other hand, laser ablation, which has the advantages of high accuracy, high speed, a noncontact nature, and selective processing, can be used to pattern thin films. However, absorption in transparent oxide films is usually low. In this study, experiments were conducted to determine the ablation characteristics of mask layers. The factors affecting ablation, including beam radii, fluences, overlap ratios, and coating thicknesses, were examined; and the parameters characteristic of residue-free ablation, namely the ablation threshold, minimum fluence, and minimum ablation linewidth, were also examined. The experimental results revealed that the beam radius was an important parameter in determining the resolutions of transparent films and substrates.

Physical Characteristics of Sintered Silver Nanoparticle Inks with Different Sizes during Furnace Sintering.

The influence of nanoparticle (NP) size on the physical characteristics of sintered silver NP ink was studied using four different types of inks. The Ag NP inks were spin-coated on glass substrates with an average thickness of 300 nm. Each sample was sintered for 30 min, with temperatures from 50 °C to 400 °C by an interval of 50 °C. After sintering, the specific resistance of each case was obtained using the resistance and surface profile measurements. The minimum specific resistance obtained by the experiment was 2.6 µΩ·cm in the case in which 50 nm-sized Ag NP ink was sintered at 350 °C. The transformed surface morphology and grain size of each case were observed using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The results of this study can be a reference for future manufacturers in selecting the Ag NP size and the sintering temperature.

Measurement of inkjet droplet size based on Fraunhofer diffraction.

Inkjet printers have started to manufacture OLED/QLED pixel arrays for the display industry, and the precise measurement and control of ink droplet volume during the printing process has become important. We investigated the feasibility of Fraunhofer diffraction analysis as a volume measurement tool for fast-moving inkjet droplets. To confirm the basic idea, two Fraunhofer diffraction-based methods were used to calculate the wire diameters of well-known sized and steady-positioned metal wires. The first method was to curve-fit the whole measured diffraction intensity curve with the extensive Fraunhofer diffraction equation. The second one was to use the simple approximate diameter calculation equation with the measured position data of minimum diffraction intensity. The metal wire diameters calculated by the two methods showed less than 1.17% error. For the size measurement of fast-moving inkjet droplets, the first method showed 24.5 µm diameter and 7.7 pL volume, while the second method showed 25.4 µm diameter and 8.58 pL volume. We found that the second method was more suitable for real-time inkjet monitoring because its average computer calculation time was 33 ms, and the first method took an average of 34 ms, about 1000 times more CPU time. Hence, Fraunhofer diffraction analysis as an inkjet droplet volume measurement tool was feasible with a good balance of measurement time and measurement accuracy.

The Effect of Pre-Stretched Substrate on the Electrical Resistance of Printed Ag Nanowires.

One-dimensional nanomaterials have drawn attention as an alternative electrode material for stretchable electronics. In particular, silver nanowires (Ag NWs) have been studied as stretchable electrodes for strain sensors, 3D electronics, and freeform-shaped electronic circuits. In this study, Ag NWs ink was printed on the pre-stretched silicone rubber film up to 40% in length using a drop-on-demand dispenser. After printing, silicone rubber film was released and stretched up to 20% as a cyclic test with 10-time repetition, and the ratios of the resistance of the stretched state to that of the released state (Rstretched/Rreleased) were measured at each cycle. For Ag NWs electrode printed on the pre-stretched silicone rubber at 30%, Rstretched/Rreleased at 10% and 20% strain was 1.05, and 1.57, respectively, which is significantly less than about 7 for Ag NWs at the 10% strain without pre-stretched substrate. In the case of 10% strain on the 30% pre-stretched substrate, the substrate is stretched and the contact points with Ag NWs were not changed much as the silicone rubber film stretched, which meant that Ag NWs may slide between other Ag NWs. Ag NWs electrode on the 40% pre-stretched substrate was stretched, strain was concentrated on the Ag NWs electrode and failure of electrode occurred, because cracks occurred at the surface of silicone rubber film when it was pre-stretched to 40%. We confirmed that printed Ag NWs on the pre-stretched film showed more contact points and less electric resistance compared to printed Ag NWs on the film without pre-stretching.

Effect of laser intensity on the characteristic of inkjet-printed silver nanoparticles during continuous laser sintering.

The variation in electric conductivity was examined for laser irradiation with various beam intensities. A 532-nm continuous wave laser was irradiated onto inkjet-printed silver lines on a glass substrate and the electrical resistance was measured in situ during the irradiation. The results demonstrate that electrical conductivity varies nonlinearly with laser intensity, and has a minimum specific resistance of 3.1 x 10(-8) Ωm at 4 kW/cm2 irradiation. These results are interesting because the specific resistance achieved by the present laser irradiation was approximately 1.9 times lower than the best value obtainable by oven heating, even though it was still higher by 1.9 times than that of bulk silver. It is also demonstrated that the irradiation time required to complete the sintering process decreases with laser intensity. The numerical simulation of laser heating shows that the heating temperature could be as high as 250 degrees C for laser sintering, while it is limited to 250 degrees C for oven sintering. The characteristics of sintering with laser intensity based on the results of field emission scanning electron microscope images are discussed.

Estimation of the properties of silver nanoparticle ink during laser sintering via in-situ electrical resistance measurement.

In this work, the in-situ properties of silver nanoparticle ink were estimated during laser sintering process. The silver nanoparticle ink was composed of 34 wt% silver nanoparticles with an average size of approximately 50 nm, and was deposited on a glass substrate via inkjet printing technology. A 532 nm continuous-wave laser was irradiated to the printed ink for 60 s under various laser intensities. During the laser irradiation, the in-situ electrical conductance of the sintered ink was measured to obtain the transient thermal conductivity of the silver nanoparticle ink using the Wiedemann Franz law. The 2-dimensional, transient heat-conduction equation was calculated to obtain the transient temperature of the silver nanoparticle ink. By coupling the calculated temperature with the measured, transient electrical conductance, the transient thermal conductivity of the ink during the laser sintering process was derived in the calculation. The calculated thermal conductivity of the ink sintered at a laser intensity of 467.9 W/cm2 with 598 K is 355.5 W/mK, which is 86.4% of the thermal conductivity of bulk silver, 411.4 W/mK, at that tempearture. The difference resulting from the porosity of the sintered ink has an effect on the thermal conductivity of the sintered ink.

Neuropsychological correlates of the P300 in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

OBJECTIVES: The P300 is a useful psychophysiological index that reflects cognitive functions; however, the relationship between P300 indices and neuropsychological tests in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients is unclear. METHODS: Thirty-one AD patients and 31 elderly normal control (NC) subjects were recruited. Age and education level were matched between the two groups. The relationship between the P300 and the Korean version of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's disease (CERAD-K) assessment packet (including 11 neuropsychological tests) was examined in AD patients. RESULTS: Compared to the NC subjects, the AD patients exhibited significantly decreased P300 amplitudes; however, there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of P300 latency. After a permutation-based correction for multiple tests, P300 amplitudes at the Cz and Pz electrodes were significantly correlated with performance on the word list recognition, constructional praxis, and word fluency neuropsychological tests in the AD patients. Additionally, P300 latencies at the Pz and C6 electrodes were also significantly correlated with performance on the Mini-Mental State Examination, CERAD-K version (MMSE-K), and Trail Making Test part A (TMT-A) neuropsychological tests in the AD patients. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the P300 is responsive to the deterioration of language, memory, and executive functions observed in AD patients. Although there was no significant difference between the AD patients and NC subjects in the P300 latency, P300 latency has been shown to reflect impaired global cognition and attention deficits associated with AD. Our results suggest that P300 indices could be used as biological markers that indicate impaired neuropsychological functions in AD patients.