Method of forming an electronic device

• US 6,713,389 B2
• Filed: 11/08/2002
• Issued: 03/30/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Patterning Technologies Limited
• Original Assignee: Stuart Speakman
• Inventors: Speakman, Stuart
• Primary Examiner(s): Nelms, David
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vu, David
• Application Number:
  US10/290,988
• Publication Number:
  US 20030076649A1
• Time in Patent Office: 508 Days
• Field of Search: 438/29-32, 438/609, 438/660, 438/674, 438/780-781
• US Class Current: 438/674
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 10/00 Processes of additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 40/00 Auxiliary operations or equipment, e.g. for material handling
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 40/10 Pre-treatment
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 80/00 Products made by additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/01 Ink jet
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/14233 of film type, deformed by bending and disposed on a diaphragm
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 3/407 for marking on special material
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 3/4073 Printing on three-dimensional objects not being in sheet or web form, e.g. spherical or cubic objects B41J3/283, B41J3/286 take precedence; building up a 3D object using individual droplets from jetting heads B29C64/112
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/4908 for thin film semiconductor, e.g. gate of TFT
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/00 Indexing scheme for arrangements or methods for connecting or disconnecting semiconductor or solid-state bodies as covered by H01L24/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/0002 Not covered by any one of groups H01L24/00, H01L24/00 and H01L2224/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/052 Li-accumulators
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/0565 Polymeric materials, e.g. gel-type or solid-type
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 6/188 Processes of manufacture
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 6/40 Printed batteries , e.g. thin film batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 3/102 by bonding of conductive powder, i.e. metallic powder H05K3/12 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 3/125 by ink-jet printing
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 10/20 Organic diodes
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 10/46 Field-effect transistors, e.g. organic thin-film transistors [OTFT] H10K10/43 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 2102/103 comprising indium oxides, e.g. ITO
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 30/00 : Organic devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation integrated devices or assemblies of multiple devices H10K39/00, H10K65/00; electrolytic light-sensitive devices H01G9/20
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 30/10 : comprising heterojunctions between organic semiconductors and inorganic semiconductors
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 30/20 : comprising organic-organic junctions, e.g. donor-acceptor junctions
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 30/30 : comprising bulk heterojunctions, e.g. interpenetrating networks of donor and acceptor material domains
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/11 : characterised by the electroluminescent [EL] layers
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/85 : Arrangements for extracting light from the devices
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/00 : Integrated devices, or assemblies of multiple devices, comprising at least one organic light-emitting element covered by group H10K50/00
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 71/13 : using printing techniques, e.g. ink-jet printing or screen printing
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 71/135 : using ink-jet printing
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 71/40 : Thermal treatment, e.g. annealing in the presence of a solvent vapour
• CPC Class Codes: H10N 10/01 : Manufacture or treatment
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/549 : Organic PV cells
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 : Energy storage using batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 70/50 : Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product

Abstract

A method of forming an electronic circuit component using the technique of drop on demand printing to deposit droplets of deposition material, said method comprising depositing a plurality of droplets on a surface to form a patterned electronic device comprising multiple discrete portions.

Claims

1. A method of forming a component of a circuit on a surface using the technique of droplet ejection to deposit droplets of deposition material, the component being formed from a plurality of discrete layers of deposition material, the method comprising acts of:

depositing droplets of deposition material on said surface to form a first discrete layer of said component; and

depositing droplets of deposition material on said first discrete layer to form a second discrete layer of said component on said first discrete layer.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein said component is a resistor and the discrete layers of deposition material forming the resistor include a polymeric material and an adhesion-promoting layer for promoting adhesion between the polymeric material and the surface.

3. A method according to claim 2 wherein said adhesion-promoting layer forms said first discrete layer.

4. A method according to claim 2, further including supplying the droplets forming the polymeric material and the droplets forming the adhesion-promoting layer from respective droplet deposition printheads.

5. A method according to claim 2, further including supplying the droplets forming the polymeric material and the droplets forming the adhesion-promoting layer from a butted droplet deposition printhead having a plurality of separate fluid supplies.

6. A method according to claim 2, wherein said polymeric material comprises one of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and polyaniline containing an electron injecting barrier material.

7. A method according to claim 2, further comprising an act of depositing droplets of deposition material to form an isolating layer over the surface of said resistor.

8. A method according to claim 1 wherein said component is a capacitor and the plurality of discrete layers of deposition material include a first polymeric conductive layer formed on said surface, a polymeric dielectric layer formed on said first conductive layer and a second polymeric conductive layer formed on said dielectric layer.

9. A method according to claim 8, further comprising depositing, prior to formation of said first polymeric conductive layer, droplets of deposition material on said substrate to form an adhesion-promoting layer between said first conductive layer and said substrate.

10. A method according to claim 8, wherein depositing droplets to form said polymeric dielectric layer includes depositing droplets such that opposing side edges of said dielectric layer are locally thickened to eliminate electric field breakdown due to current bunching at the edges of the conductive layers.

11. A method according to claim 8, including forming the dielectric layer from one of siloxane and fluorinated polyimide.

12. A method according to claim 8, including supplying the droplets forming at least two of the respective layers by respective droplet deposition printheads.

13. A method according to claim 8, wherein the two or more acts of depositing droplets comprise supplying droplets from a butted droplet deposition printhead having a plurality of separate fluid supplies.

14. A method according to claim 8, further comprising the act of depositing droplets of deposition material to form an isolating layer over the surface of said capacitor.

15. A method according to claim 8, further comprising the act of subjecting the deposition material to radiation treatment before, during or after deposition.

16. A method according to claim 1 wherein said component is an electrical inductor and the plurality of discrete layers of deposition material include a first polymeric conductive layer formed on said surface, an insulator layer formed on said first conductive layer and a second polymeric conductive layer.

17. A method according to claim 16, said method comprising acts of:

depositing droplets of deposition material on said first polymeric conductive layer to form as said second discrete layer said insulator layer and so as to expose first and second contacts of the first conductive layer; and

subsequently depositing droplets of deposition material to form said second polymeric conductive layer in the form of a spiral having a center coincident with said first contact and an end substantially aligned with said second contact.

18. A method according to claim 16, further comprising the step of subjecting the deposition material to radiation treatment before, during or after deposition.

19. A method according to claim 1, wherein the surface is subjected to radiation to prepare it for the deposition material.

20. A method according to claim 1, wherein the droplet viscosity range is less than or equal to 100 centipoise.

21. A method according to claim 1, wherein the surface is flexible.

22. A method according to claim 21, wherein the surface comprises a plastic sheet.

23. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the act of subjecting the deposition material to radiation treatment before, during or after deposition.

24. An electrical component of a resonant circuit formed on a surface using the technique of droplet ejection to deposit droplets of deposition material, comprising:

a first layer of deposited droplets of deposition material on the surface; and

on said first layer, a second layer of deposited droplets.

25. An electrical component according to claim 24, said component being a resistor formed on said surface, wherein said resistor comprises said second layer being a layer of deposited droplets of polymeric material and said first layer being a layer of deposited droplets of an adhesion-promoting layer between the polymeric material and the surface.

26. An electrical resistor according to claim 25, wherein said polymeric material comprises one of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and polyaniline containing an electron injecting barrier material.

27. An electrical resistor according to claim 25, comprising an isolating layer deposited over the surface thereof and formed of said droplets.

28. An electrical component according to claim 24, said component being a capacitor formed on said surface, wherein said capacitor comprises said first layer being a first polymeric conductive layer formed of deposited droplets of deposition material on said surface, said second layer being a polymeric dielectric layer formed of deposited droplets on said first conductive layer and further including a second polymeric conductive layer formed of deposited droplets on said dielectric layer.

29. An electrical capacitor according to claim 28, comprising a layer deposited on said surface for promoting adhesion between said first conductive layer and said substrate and formed of said droplets.

30. An electrical capacitor according to claim 28, comprising an isolating layer deposited over the surface thereof and formed of said droplets.

31. An electrical capacitor according to claim 28, wherein the dielectric later is formed from one of siloxane and fluorinated polyimide.

32. An electrical capacitor according to claim 28, wherein opposing side edges of said dielectric layer are locally thickened to eliminate electric field breakdown due to current bunching at the edges of the conductive layers.

33. An electrical component according to claim 24, said component being an inductor formed on said surface, wherein the inductor comprises said first layer being a first polymeric conductive layer formed of droplets deposited on said surface, said second layer being an insulator layer formed of droplets deposited on said first conductive layer so as to expose first and second contacts of the first conductive layer, and further including a second polymeric conductive layer of deposited droplets in the form of a spiral having a coincident with said first contact and an end substantially aligned with said second contact.