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2012
Conference Paper
Titel
Sintering of printed nanoparticulate CuNiMn structures
Abstract
Besides printing of highly conductive metal tracks, mechanical sensors (e.g. strain gauges) directly printed onto parts are gaining more and more interest. While silver is an adequate material to form highly conductive tracks, its sensitivity to changes in temperature makes it inappropriate for strain gauge applications. However, for the advancement of printed electronics and sensors it is inevitable to develop resistor materials for IC applications and with more appropriate characteristics for printed strain gauges. Constantan, which is a copper-nickel-manganese alloy, fulfills these requirements as it exhibits a low temperature coefficient of resistance (0.01·10-3 K-1), which makes constantan an ideal material for strain gauges. Unfortunately, printable constantan inks are not commercially available. In this work a route to produce additivefree constantan dispersions, containing alloyed particles with a diameter of less than 50 nm by sputtering directly in a liquid carrier, is described. Constantan microstructures are realized by Aerosol Jet® printing and photonic sintering is applied to render the printed structures conductive. Singular flashing of printed constantan on coated aluminum results in structures with a conductivity corresponding to about 5 % of bulk-constantan. The porosity of the printed and sintered tracks is investigated, as structures with high integrity are aspired for strain gauge applications.