This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2005-0097647 filed on Oct. 17, 2005 with the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the contents of which are incorporated here by reference in their entirety.
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method and device for forming a wiring and more especially, to a method and device to form a fine wiring.
2. Description of the Related Art
A method for forming a fine wiring on a substrate by an ink-jet method has been introduced recently. This method can produce a fine wiring selectively, so that it provides merits in saving time and costs by simplifying a process. In the meantime, needs for a fine wiring is increasing in response to demands for electronic devices with smaller sizes. But there is a problem with resolution of printing techniques by this method, so that the size of the wiring and the width between the wirings do not meet the needs of light weight and small size. The resolution is determined by a diameter, a surface tension and an inter-facial tension of the ink. Metal nanoparticles must be included in the droplet to form a conductive wiring, so that there is a limit of reducing the ink-jet head size and the ejected droplet diameter.
In addition when the ink is ejected by the ink-jet method, poor spread of the ink on a substrate hinders forming a fine wiring. The degree of spread depends on an ink ejection speed, a viscosity of the ink, an ink drying speed, a weight ratio of the metal particles in the ink and a surface property of a substrate. In addition when ink droplets dry, the transmissible flow caused by the difference of the ink droplet drying speed makes metal nanoparticles move to the edge of the droplet, so that a phenomenon of coffee stain occurs. The coffee stain decreases an electrical conductivity and causes a migration of the metal, so that it eventually deteriorates the reliability of products.
So a variety of efforts by the ink-jet method are made to form a fine pattern and to produce a wiring with an excellent electrical reliability.
As a solution to the forgoing problems of prior art, the present invention provides a method for forming rapidly a fine wiring by using magnetic ink.
The present invention provides a wiring forming method with a good electrical reliability that allows a uniform distribution of metal nanoparticles in an ink droplet, so that it prevents coffee stain or migration.
The present invention also provides a fine wiring forming device with rapidity by using magnetic ink.
The present invention also provides a wiring forming device which shows distinguished electrical reliability without generating the coffee stain and the migration.
The present invention also provides a substrate with distinguished electrical conductivity and reliability.
Additional aspects and advantages of the present general inventive concept will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the general inventive concept.
One aspect of the present invention may provide a method for forming a wiring comprising, (a) forming a wiring by ejecting magnetic ink on one side of a substrate with a magnetic field applied on the magnetic ink; and (b) curing the formed wiring.
Here, the magnetic field may be generated by a magnetic field generating unit located at the other side of the substrate in correspondence with a position where the magnetic ink is ejected and the magnetic field generating unit may be moved in correspondence with the movement of an ink-jet head which ejects the magnetic ink.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the magnetic field generating unit may comprise a plurality of magnetic field sources.
Another embodiment of the present invention may provide a method for forming a wiring comprising, (a) forming the wiring by ejecting magnetic ink on one side of a substrate with a magnetic field applied on the magnetic ink; and (b) curing the formed wiring with a magnetic field applied on the formed wiring.
Here the magnetic field may be generated by a magnetic field generating unit at the other side of the substrate, which comprises an ink magnetic field generating unit which is located in correspondence with a portion where the magnetic ink is ejected; and a wiring magnetic field generating unit which is located in correspondence with the formed wiring. Here the step (b) may be performed by a curing unit which is located at the other side of the substrate.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the wiring magnetic field generating unit may be positioned to be entirely or partially overlapped with the curing unit. Also the ink magnetic field generating unit may move in correspondence with the movement of an ink-jet head which ejects the magnetic ink, and the wiring magnetic field generating unit may move in correspondence with the movement of the formed wiring.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the ink magnetic generating unit and the wiring magnetic field generating unit may comprise a plurality of magnetic field sources, respectively, and each of these plurality of magnetic field sources may move independently in correspondence with different movement control signals.
Here the magnetic field sources may comprise a magnet or a source of electricity and a coil which generates a magnetic field with electric current supplied by the source of electricity. Here the magnetic field may be applied parallel with the ejecting direction of the magnetic ink and the magnetic ink may comprise at least one metal nanoparticle selected from the group consisting of Fe, Co, Ni, Mn, and an alloy thereof.
Another aspect of the present invention may provide a substrate comprising a wiring produced by the method for forming a wiring
Another aspect of the present invention may provide a device for forming a wiring comprising an ink-jet head which ejects magnetic ink on one side of a substrate; and a magnetic field generating unit located at the other side of the substrate in correspondence with the ink-jet head, and configured to generate a magnetic field on the magnetic ink when the magnetic ink is ejected to form a wiring.
Here the device for forming the wiring may further comprise a curing unit configured to heat the formed wiring, and according to one embodiment of the present invention, the curing unit may be located at the other side of the substrate.
Here the magnetic field generating unit may be positioned not to overlap with the curing unit or positioned entirely or partially to overlap with the curing unit so that the magnetic field may be generated on the formed wiring for curing.
Here the magnetic field generating unit may move in correspondence with the movement of the ink-jet head and may comprise a plurality of magnetic field sources.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, each of the plurality of magnetic field sources may move independently in correspondence with different movement control signals, may comprise a magnet, or a source of electricity and a coil which generates a magnetic field by being supplied electric current from the source of electricity.
Here the magnetic field may be applied parallel to an ejecting direction of the magnetic ink, and the magnetic ink may comprise at least one metal nanoparticle selected from the group consisting of Fe, Co, Ni, Mn and an alloy thereof.
Hereinafter, preferable embodiments of the wiring forming method and device of the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The phenomena which may occur in the ejected ink will first be explained before the preferred embodiments are described in detail.
This causes phenomena of pinning or the coffee stain since metal nanoparticles 11 dispersed in the ink move toward the edge of the ink droplet due to forming a transmissible flow in the inner part of the droplet. This eventually deteriorates electrical flowability of the wiring and electrical reliability of a product when the unevenly dispersed nanoparticles are treated by a curing process.
The metal nanoparticles are concentrated at the position between the ink droplets or at the inner part of a formed wiring unit, which causes a migration that the metal is precipitated at a cathode with ionization of the metal. The migration not only decreases the electrical reliability of products but also increases defect rate.
The present invention provides a wiring forming method and device which give a uniform distribution of metal nanoparticles in the ink without generating coffee stains and migration by employing a magnetic field.
In the present invention, magnetic ink is referred to as the ink 31 which may be influenced by a magnetic field. The ink to form a wiring with electrical conductivity comprises metal nanoparticles, and any ink may be used if the ink possesses magnetic property. Examples of the metal nanoparticles included in the ink to form a wiring by an ink-jet method include Au, Ag, Cu, Ni, Zn, Pt, Pd, Rh, Ru, Ir, Os, W, Ta, Ti, Al, Co, Fe and an alloy thereof.
Here, the ink comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of Fe, Co, Ni, Mn and an alloy thereof, which has ferromagnetism, is preferable. Also to exhibit a good electrical conductivity, the ink further comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of Ag, Cu, Au, Pt, Al and an alloy thereof, which has a distinguished electrical conductivity, is more preferable.
Core-cell structured nanoparticles comprising a soft magnetic core such as Au and a ferromagnetic cell such as Fe is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,773,823 filed on Apr. 9, 2001. The ink including the above nanoparticles may preferably be used to form the wiring of the present invention. The ink including core-cell structured metal nanoparticles including a core with ferromagnetism such as Fe and a cell with a distinguished electrical conductivity can also be an embodiment of the present invention. It is also apparent that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments of the ink set forth above.
The present invention provides a wiring forming method and device which produce a fine wiring by improving the spread of the ink employing the magnetic filed and allow a rapid process by increasing an ejecting speed of the ink.
Here, Curing is carried out by a curing method designed easily by those skilled in the art without departing from the principle and spirit of the present invention and there is no limit about it. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a curing unit 39 is located at the other side of a substrate, namely at the same side to magnetic field generating unit 37, so that it cures the substrate with the formed wiring by moving the substrate to the same plane direction thereof.
The ink is ejected with a stronger force than the gravity by the applied magnetic field, so that a printing speed may increase.
The method and device for forming a wiring has been explained above with the drawings which are illustrated generally; hereinafter embodiments for wiring forming method and device of the present invention will be given in a greater detail with specific examples with reference to the accompanying drawings. The method for forming a wiring of the present invention provides two kinds of examples in correspondence with whether the magnetic field is applied on the substrate or not.
Referring to
A magnetic field strength provided by the magnetic field generating unit is determined by the magnetic property of the ink such as type, size or content of the metal nanoparticles contained in the ink. However it is also apparent that the present invention is not limited to these examples and a magnetic field generating unit is formed with the magnetic field strength with a range of 10 to 50 gauss, preferably 20 to 30 gauss. This is because if the strength of the magnetic field is within the mentioned range, the ink with straightness can be ejected on the substrate by the ink-jet method. Also the straightness of the ink may be improved by generating a magnetic field parallel to the ejecting direction of the ink.
Also, the size of the magnetic field region generated by the magnetic field generating unit may be equal to or greater than that of the substrate, but it is preferable that the range of the magnetic field strength be determined to be within a range that is advantageous to forming a fine wiring and that does not impose a heavy load on the ink-jet head or other metal constituents due to a magnetic field. For example if the width of a magnetic field is equal to or smaller than that of the wiring, a contact angle between an ink droplet and a substrate increases when the ink is ejected on the substrate, so that a fine wiring may be formed.
Here, the curing is carried out by a curing method designed easily by those skilled in the art without departing from the principle and spirit of the present invention and there is no limit about it.
Curing is demanded to remove organic ingredients in the ink and to bond between metal particles, and a wiring formed with the ink prepared by such processes shows an electrical conductivity. A curing temperature varies with a wiring width or ink ingredients, for examples, additives such as metal nanoparticles, capping molecules, dispersing agents. Also the curing temperature depends on a used substrate such as a substrate with a low melting point like polymeric substrates. The curing may be carried out, but not limited to these, at a temperature range of 120° C. to 350° C. for several seconds to 1 hour, preferably at 200° C. and for 30 minutes.
Here, the ink magnetic field generating unit may move in correspondence with a movement of an ink-jet head which ejects the magnetic ink, and the wiring magnetic field generating unit may move in correspondence with a movement of a wiring which is cured. The ink magnetic field generating unit and the wiring magnetic field generating unit independently comprise a plurality of magnetic field sources, respectively, and these magnetic field sources also independently move in correspondence with different movement control signals, and such movements may be controlled by a magnetic field control unit 379 of the magnetic field generating unit. Also the ink-jet head 36 is controlled by a programmed ink-jet printer control unit 378 to form a wiring with a desirable wiring pattern. The ink-jet printer control unit 378 and the magnetic field control unit 379, which controls a magnetic field generating unit 37, may be controlled to move in correspondence with each other by a programmed integrated control unit 374.
The constituents of the magnetic field sources are the same as mentioned above. The wiring magnetic field generating unit may further compose a curing unit between substrates and, to apply a magnetic field on a wiring without disturbing a preferable work of the curing unit, it may generate a magnetic field with different strength from that of the ink magnetic field generating unit.
The curing may be performed with the method which is made by those skilled in the art without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the curing unit 39 may be located at the other side of the substrate, namely at the same side of the magnetic field generating unit 37, so that it allows the substrate, on which a wiring is formed, to move along the same plane to cure the wiring-formed substrate. At this time, the curing unit may be entirely or partially overlapped with the wiring magnetic field generating unit.
The substrate comprising the wiring produced by the wiring forming method of the present invention may exhibit excellent electrical conductivity and reliability since there is no coffee stain or migration problem. The substrate including the wiring produced by this method may be used as single, double or multi layer substrate and may be used as printed circuit boards or boards for mounting semiconductor.
The method for forming a wiring has been explained with a detailed description above and hereinafter a device for forming a wiring will be described in detail.
Referring to
At this time the magnetic field generating unit may comprise a plurality of magnetic field sources and each of the plurality of magnetic field sources moves independently in correspondence with different movement control signals. The magnetic field source comprises a magnet, or a source of electricity and a coil which generates a magnetic field by being supplied with the electric current from the source of electricity. Referring to
Referring to
It goes without saying that the magnetic field generating unit, as mentioned above, may be applied to not only a case that it generates a magnetic field on the magnetic ink but also a case that it generates a magnetic field on the formed wiring. At this time, the magnetic field generating unit for a wiring is faced to the formed wiring to move in correspondence with the wiring movement.
The device for forming a wiring by ejecting the ink with the ink-jet method has been described above but in addition it is apparent that the device of the present invention may be applied to a variety of methods for ejecting the ink.
Also, it is apparent that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments set forth above and many of applications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the principle and spirit of the present invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.
As described above, the present invention provides the method for forming a fine wiring quickly by using magnetic ink. Also the present invention provides a wiring forming method and device by which the coffee stain and the migration are not caused due to uniformly dispersed metal nanoparticles, so that the wiring with distinguished electrical reliability is obtained. Also the present invention provides a substrate with excellent electrical conductivity and reliability.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2005-0097647 | Oct 2005 | KR | national |