Analysis of Inkjet Printing Conditions for ZnO Nanoparticles Patterns Towards the Fabrication of Fully Printed Thin Film Devices.

In this work, it is described in detail the inkjet printing process for zinc oxide (ZnO) deposition in well-defined patterns, without using photolithography and etching procedures. This is achieved through the suitable control of the inkjet printer setup and printing conditions for the used commercial ink of ZnO nanoparticles. Atomic force microscopy, ellipsometry and optical microscopy techniques are used to compare the surface roughness, the thickness and the area uniformity obtained from ZnO patterns printed with drop spacings from 15 mu m to 40 mu m. The results from morphological and optical characterization provided the evidence for the appropriate selection of the inkjet printing conditions towards the fabrication of fully printed thin film semiconductor devices.