Roll-to-Roll Compatible Sintering of Inkjet Printed Features by Photonic and Microwave Exposure: From Non-Conductive Ink to 40% Bulk Silver Conductivity in Less Than 15 Seconds

A combination of photonic and microwave flash exposure is used to sinter inkjet printed silver nanoparticles. This approach leads to conductive features on polymer substrates in short times that are compatible with roll-to-roll production. The sequential process of sintering the as-printed features revealed a final conductivity of 40% of bulk silver, in less than 15 seconds.