Impact of ink synthesis on processing of inkjet-printed silicon nanoparticle thin films: A comparison of Rapid Thermal Annealing and photonic sintering

Inkjet printing has a high potential for cost reduction in solar cell and thermoelectric industry. This study demonstrates that silicon thin films can be produced by inkjet-printing of silicon nanoparticles followed by subsequent drying and annealing steps. Ink formulation is crucial for the sintering of the silicon nanoparticles and control of the microstructure at low temperature. Upon heating, the microstructure is modified from porous layer made of juxtaposed silicon nanoparticles to denser layer with coarser grains. This evolution is monitored by scanning electron microscopy and by micro-Raman spectroscopy, which offer a fast and precise characterization of the microstructure and chemical composition of thin films. Above a threshold temperature of 800 °C cracks appear within thin film and substrate because of the stress induced by the oxidation of the surface. An innovative sintering method, photonic annealing, is studied in order to reduce both oxidation and stress in the thin films as well as reducing processing time. Evolution of the thermal conductivity is performed by micro-Raman spectroscopy and can be tailored in a large range between ~ 1 and ~ 100 W·m− 1·K− 1 depending on the sintering method and atmosphere. Therefore control of the microstructure evolution with applied annealing process allows tailoring of both microstructure and thermal conductivity of the silicon thin films.