Silver nanoparticle-based electrodes were studied extensively in recent years as an electrode material for wearable and flexible electronics due to their stability and conductivity. A wet chemical deposition technique is considered as a low-cost scalable technique. The current wet chemical-based nanoparticle deposition techniques include electrospray deposition, drop casting, spin coating, and the inkjet printing process. These techniques generally require a separate postdeposition annealing step. This can be a problem for substrates with a low melting point. In addition, some of the above-mentioned methods require physical contact, which increases the probability of cross-contamination. In this research, we present a technique that combines electrospray and laser radiation to deposit and sinter nanoparticles simultaneously on a rigid or flexible substrate. In this process, the microdroplets of aqueous silver nanoparticle suspension ejected in what is known as the microdripping mode from a metallic capillary nozzle, which can be controlled by an electric potential. A conical hollow laser beam is used to vaporize the liquid and sinter the nanoparticles at desired locations on a substrate. This is a promising technique compared to the traditional methods to fabricate conductive micropatterns due to its simplified one step deposition, suppressed cross-contamination, and applicability to various surfaces. Thin-film micropatterns of silver nanoparticles were fabricated using a Nd:YAG laser with powers from 5 to 13 W. The correlation between the grain size distribution, composition, and electrical resistivity was studied using a scanning electron microscope, energy-dispersive x ray, and four-point probe analysis. The results are comparable to the conventional thermal sintering method.

中文翻译：

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激光功率对激光辅助电喷雾沉积银纳米颗粒薄膜电导率和形貌的影响

近年来，基于银纳米颗粒的电极由于其稳定性和导电性而作为可穿戴和柔性电子设备的电极材料进行了广泛的研究。湿法化学沉积技术被认为是低成本的可扩展技术。当前基于湿化学的纳米颗粒沉积技术包括电喷雾沉积，滴铸，旋涂和喷墨印刷工艺。这些技术通常需要单独的沉积后退火步骤。对于具有低熔点的基板而言，这可能是个问题。另外，一些上述方法需要物理接触，这增加了交叉污染的可能性。在这项研究中 我们提出了一种结合电喷雾和激光辐射以同时在刚性或柔性基板上沉积和烧结纳米粒子的技术。在该过程中，以已知的微滴模式从金属毛细管喷嘴中喷射出银纳米颗粒水悬浮液的微滴，该微滴可以通过电势来控制。锥形空心激光束用于蒸发液体并在基板上的所需位置烧结纳米颗粒。与传统的制造导电微图案的方法相比，这是一种很有前途的技术，因为它简化了一步沉积，抑制了交叉污染，并且适用于各种表面。使用功率为5至13 W的Nd：YAG激光器制造了银纳米颗粒的薄膜微图案。使用扫描电子显微镜，能量色散X射线和四点探针分析研究了晶粒尺寸分布，组成和电阻率之间的相关性。结果与常规的热烧结方法相当。