Laser-induced forward transfer of silver nanoparticle ink using burst technique

Laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) is an effective approach to print materials in liquid state with high resolution. This procedure, however, suffers from bulging problem when printing continuous lines or patterns. In this study, LIFT of silver nanoparticle ink using burst technique was developed to mitigate this issue during printing continuous lines. Firstly, a set of droplet printing experiments were conducted to investigate the influences of the pulse energy and burst mode on the morphologies of the printed features. It was found that the resolution was enhanced and the phenomenon of splashing was improved with the introduction of burst technique at the same energy level. Thereafter, a group of lines were printed by changing the scanning speed in bursts of 1, 2 or 3 pulses. The results showed that the bulging of the printed line was effectively mitigated and the resolution was significantly improved in burst-3 mode.