1

NanoCopper Ink and Paste Conductors Printed on Flexible Substrates

Don NovotnyVice President, Business Development, NAIntrinsiq MaterialsRochester, NY(619) 517-0710DNovotny@intrinsiqmaterials.com

2

AgendaWhy Use Copper?Corporate Overview and Business ModelNano Copper Technical OverviewPrinting on TextilesPrinting on Flexible SubstratesPrinting and Sintering EquipmentAdditional ProcessesConclusions

3

Why Use Copper?The World is Tooled to Process Copper Based

Electronics – ALL CM and PCB houses• Lower Cost than Silver.• Copper solution to electromigration. • Antimicrobial – wide use in hospital products /safe

for touch/wearable applications.• Demonstrated Printing: Fabrics/Textiles other woven

materials, Paper, Kapton, PET - creating functional parts that were normally static.

4

Intrinsiq Materials, Inc. (U.S. Corporation)• Rochester, NY and is Corp. HQ with ink and

paste formulation and development. Pre-production of inks and pastes. Commercial activities outside Europe.– 6,000 square foot facility with room to

expand

Intrinsiq Materials Ltd.• Located in Farnborough, U.K. and leads

nanoparticle research activity and pre-production of nanoparticles. Ink and Paste development for commercial activities in Europeo 12,000 square foot facility

Rochester NY

Farnborough, UK

5

Intrinsiq Formed in 2007– Technology Spin-out from Qinetiq (from UK Ministry of Defense)– 2010: Business redirected from Health & Wellness to Printed Electronics, first ink product

introduced– 2011: New management team hired, US operations established– 2012: US laboratory opens and US ink manufacturing starts

Intrinsiq Structure– Intrinsiq Inc. in US - Headquarters, Business Operations, Manufacturing, and Research &

Development– Intrinsiq Ltd in UK - Research & Development and European Commercial focus– 50% PhD/Advanced Degreed Staff– 20% Staff > 9 year nano material experience – University Staff Affiliations: Ohio State University, Carnegie-Mellon University, University of

Rochester, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, Brunel University, Bath University Liverpool University, Loughborough University, Swansea University

Alignment with Key Advisors and Financial Partners– Coller portfolio managed by Trillium International GP – Coller plans on continued investment

6

Nano Copper Technical Overview

7

Feedstock

Vaporised

Cooled &

Modified

Nano

product

NanoProduct

Patented Plasma Generation Manufacturing Process

• Efficiently delivers nano-particles• Cu & Ni are highly stable (long shelf life and

highly functional)• Si Ink: doped n or p, deposited in air,

photonically curable• Process proven on over 150 different

materials

• Deposited with conventional printing equipment

• Cured with broadband lamp or laser

Unique Ink Formulations for Conventional Printing

Business Model

8

Available Now:• Cu Ink: Core material on our roadmap

o Screen Print Pastes current manufacturing, o mix of nano and micron compositiono Inkjet Inks for new PE applications

In Development:• NiSi: inkjet enabled for specific applications like PV• Silicon Ink: pre-doped and depositable in air

Electronic Inks

Cu

NiSi

Si

Air Stable, Room Temperature Photonically and Reduced Oven Sinterable

Printable inks use existing standard printing equipment and processes

9

Unique material design process creates coated particles customized to control factors such as substrate compatibility, particle chemistry, and protection from attack by external substances

O2

CO2H2O

O2

AcidAcid

CO2 H2OProprietary coating protects pure nano metal particles from atmospheric attack

Coating enables great particle dispersion in inks, making printing simple

Other suppliers inks form clumps,

blocking inkjets

Naked particles are prone to

attack, Other inks rely on further processing to

produce metal after printing

Intrinsiq Inks Competitors Inks

Why IM materials are unique?

10

Melting Point Depression of Nano Au Particles

11

Sintering Via Ostwald Ripeningadatoms

Small particleLarge Particle

-Surface energy is reduced by forming large particles from small*-Atoms move from small to large via a medium or along a surface-Small particles do not collide to form larger

*T W Hansen, A T Delariva, S R Challa, and A K Datye, Acc. Chem. Res., 46, 8, P1720-1730

12

All developments – market led

Cost ($/m2) – move to thin layers Display Low I Lighting Wearables

Flexibility Digital processing

Technical performance Electromigration

Low Cost Printing Gravure, Flexo, Off-set Litho in dev Inkjet and Screen Print available now

Additional printed layers Barrier layers

Dielectrics

Screen Print Paste

6-15x bulk resistivity8-30 µm

Nano-only paste

5-6x bulk resistivity

4-6 µm

Nanocopper inkjet

3-7x bulk resistivity

0.5-1.5 µm

Factors Driving Copper Ink/Paste Development

13

• Copper has a higher melting point

• Copper oxidizes before it sinters

• Copper oxides aren’t conductive so their formation must be eliminated

• So, a method is needed with is either more rapid than oxidation or which excludes oxygen

Copper is much more difficult to processthan silver or gold

14

Requirement• Conversion of printed ink to a conductive track• Fast – suit R2R speeds• No damage to substrate• Flexible – multiple print types (inkjet, screen, etc.)• Large area / thin tracks / large area + thin tracks• Various substrate (glass, paper, ceramic, composites, high

thermal mass)• Compatible with industry standard practices

Materials Formulation Printing Drying Sintering Device

Printed Electronics Manufacturing

15

Coat Ink Dry InkSinter

PhotonicOr Reduced Oven

Coat, Plate or Etch

Cu Printing Process - Inks or Pastes

16

• High energy pulse - broadband or specific wavelength

• Targeted Rapid thermal heating of surface layers

• Solvent / coating escape• Converts nanomaterial into highly linked

structure• Careful control of energy levels gives:-

– High conductivity– No surface damage to substrate– Compatibility with low temperature

substrates

Principles of Photonic Curing

17

before – nanocopper ink as printed After - laser curing

Inks and Laser Sintering

18

Screen pastes are mixtures of micron and nano copper.Binders are optimized for rheology and adhesion

Screen Paste and Sintering

19

Laser Sintering of Cu NanoparticlesAmbient conditions, no oxidationSpin coated on GlassPattern height is 450 nm~ 4.5 µm wide linesρ = ~2 - 3X bulk Cu

20

Printing on Textiles

Eliminates traditional PCB creates functional parts. Were normally static.

21

Good Samplesperformed well in the tape test. Closeto 5B

Fabric after bend/crease test

22

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Tan 190

GP190-1 GP190-2 GP190-3

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Sky Blue 190

Sky190-1 Sky190-2 Sky190-3

0.00.10.20.30.40.50.60.7

0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Tan 150

GP150-1 GP150-2 GP150-3

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 12.0

Sky Blue 150

Sky150-1 Sky150-2 Sky150-3

All Samples measure

Textile Bend/Crease Test - Graphical Results

23

Printing on Flexible Substrates

Paper, PET, Kapton, etc.

24

Screen Printing and Inkjet Printing Followed by Sintering

Material and Labor Cost Savings> 35%

Greener than photolith and plating procedures

5-7X Bulk Cu Resistivity Routinely, 3X in special cases

Kapton - Inkjet PET - Screen Print Paper- Flexography

Flex Circuit Substrate Examples

25

1 Micron Thick Copper Coating

Uniformly Sintered Copper on Rigid Epoxy Substrate

26

Post Sintered Ultra Thin Film on P.I.

• nano copper inks will achieve 0.5-2um thickness single or double sided.

• Most COTS flex materials are difficult to make ultra thin, or expensive. Thicker Films limit fine line, high density PCBs.

• The technology can be used on select ceramic and rigid FR4.

27

Printing and Sintering Equipment(partial list)

28

Screen Printing

29

Digital Ink Jet Printing

We are partnering with Meyer Burger to certify ink performance and build commercial printing solutions

30

Drop Formation for Konica Minolta 4 pL Head at 5 kHz

• Well formed drops• Good directionality• No satellites

31

On Pulse Width 4 pL Printhead

Waveforms and print conditions developed by standard means

32

Example – Sinteron™ 2000Features

– Selectable pulse duration –100 to 2000 μm

– Adjustable Pulse energy 27 to 2000 Joules– Multiple modes – single,

double, burst, continuous– Sintering area 1.9 x 30.5cm

www.xenoncorp.com

Broadband Flash – Xenon Corporation

33

Broadband Flash - Novacentrix• Example - Pulseforge™ 3300• For Development and Production –

R2R• Features

– Broad spectrum 200nm to 1000nm

– Max peak power 100kW/cm2

– Sustained peak greater than 5MW on 15cm wide

– Exposures down to 30 μsec– Pulse repetition rate >1kHz

34

Laser Sintering Triple-wavelength Laser System does Selective Processing

Sinters Conductive Ink with 1.06µ wavelength fiber laser

Sinters over Near IR wavelength Range

Courtesy Universal Laser

35

Reduced Atmosphere Sintering –By Product Water and CO2

Courtesy of Heller Industries

36

Slot Die Coating or Meyer Bar equipment

The coating is then dried and photonicallysintered using a flash lamp

37

Developments for other Printing TechnologyDemonstration of high volume R2R ink-jet printing at DRUPA (2011)

R2R volume processing equipment for ink-jet on thin-film glass in development with M-Solv

Development of flexo and off-set litho inks underway.

38

Additional ProcessesEtching PlatingAblating

39

Plated and Etched Sample

• Panels were subjected to standard pattern plating process to produce circuitry and peel test coupons

• Pre-Clean, Dry Film Lamination, Image, Develop, Pattern plate, Tin Plate, Film Strip, Etch, Tin Strip

40

Etching Results• Etch results were excellent• Very straight side walls

due to very thin base copper to be etched.

• Profilometry graph and cross section pictures show very straight side walls.

• Very important for high speed and RF Designs.

41

Touch Display - Qualification Test Program Copper Bus bars with 20 micron wide

Contact and Bulk ResistivityAdhesionCustomer process integrationFunctional TestingEnvironmental Testing

42

CONCLUSIONS - DemonstratedPrinting on Fabrics non Traditional substrates - Textiles.Applications: Low Power, DC or Low Frequency Applications.Benefits: Eliminates traditional PCB lowers subassembly cost and weight.Printing on numerous traditional flexible substrates.Applications: Post Sintered Cu material dimensions and conductivities support low frequency/low current electronics applications.Benefits: Print on non traditional substrates – eliminate PCB weight and cost. Turn traditionally static parts into Functional electronic parts.

Select Plating and Etching nano Copper Ink and PasteApplications: High Power/Frequency Applications, Fine line ApplicationsBenefits: Higher Performance, Rapid Prototypes, High Signal Density

Proven equipment suppliers.

43

Thank you - Questions?

Contact:

Don NovotnyIntrinsiq MaterialsDNovotny@intqm(M) 619-517-0710