Ryspayeva, A, Jones, TDA, Nekouie Esfahani, M et al. (5 more authors) (2019) A rapid technique for the direct metallization of PDMS substrates for flexible and stretchable electronics applications. Microelectronic Engineering, 209. pp. 35-40. ISSN 0167-9317
Abstract
Metallization of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based substrate is a challenge due to the difficulties in forming crack-free polymer and metal features using standard deposition techniques. Frequently, additional adhesion layers, rigid substrates, multiple processing steps (lift-off and etching) and expensive metal sputtering techniques are required, to achieve such metal patterns. This work presents a novel and rapid technique for the direct metallization of PDMS substrates using photolithography and electroless copper plating. The method has the advantage of not requiring expensive vacuum processing or multiple metallization steps. Electroless copper layer is demonstrated to have a strong adhesion to PDMS substrate with a high conductivity of (3.6 ± 0.7) × 107 S/m, which is close to the bulk copper (5.9 × 107 S/m). The copper-plated PDMS substrate displays mechanical and electrical stability whilst undergoing stretching deformations up to 10% due to applied strain. A functional electronic circuit was fabricated as a demonstration of the mechanical integrity of the copper-plated PDMS after bending.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | Crown Copyright © 2019 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Microelectronic Engineering. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Copper-plated PDMS; Direct metallization; Electroless plating; Flexible electronics; Stretchable electronics |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Mechanical Engineering (Leeds) > Future Manufacturing Processes (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EPSRC EP/N018265/2 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 14 May 2019 09:50 |
Last Modified: | 12 Mar 2020 01:38 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier BV |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.mee.2019.03.001 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:146029 |