Transient variation of a cross-sectional area of inkjet-printed silver nanoparticle ink during furnace sintering

In this work, the transient variation of a cross-sectional area of inkjet-printed silver nanoparticle ink was monitored as a function of temperature. The ink was composed of 34 wt% silver nanoparticles with an average grain size of 50 nm. In order to determine the relationship between shrinkage and electrical properties, the cross-sectional area and specific resistance change were measured with various sintering temperatures and times. The samples were sintered at 150, 200, and 250 °C for 60, 120, 300, 600, 1200, and 3000 s. The cross-sectional profile was investigated in order to calculate the cross-sectional area of the ink using a surface profiler. To examine the mass transfer in a conductive line with various sintering temperatures and times, the surface morphology was investigated via field-emission scanning electron microscopy. As the temperature increased, the shrinkage ratio of the ink's cross-sectional area increased. By investigating the relationship between specific resistance and shrinkage, the sintering mechanisms can be determined.