Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 045003 |
| Journal | Flexible and Printed Electronics |
| Volume | 2 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Publication status | Published - 26 Oct 2017 |
Abstract
Optical waveguides were fabricated on flexible foil substrates by ink-jet printing, to complement and enhance printed flexible electronics with optical networks. The 145 μmwide and 20 μmhigh transparent polymer tracks were created by printing subsequent tracks of an acrylate ink on polymer foil. Aprintable, optically transparent material was prepared by a combination of an acrylate resin with a low-viscosity, co-polymerising acrylate. This solved the problem of solvent evaporation for substrates with low heat tolerance. Thermally induced pinning, used to prevent the ink from spreading out on the substrate was achieved by heating the substrate to 60 °C, and found to be strongly affected by the time lapse between deposition of the individual layers. This tool allowed to increase the aspect ratio of the printed tracks from 0.07 to 0.17, and the contact angle of the printed tracks from 15° to 37°. After completion of the deposition step, the waveguides were polymerised underUVlight, and covered by a printed upper cladding layer. In the optical evaluation, transmission could be demonstrated with an attenuation in the range of 1.4 d B cm-1for a wavelength of 785 nm, with a significant portion of material attenuation.
Keywords
- Acrylate inks, Ink-jet printing, Optical waveguides, Printed optics, Printed polymers
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Materials Science(all)
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Engineering(all)
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering
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In: Flexible and Printed Electronics, Vol. 2, No. 4, 045003, 26.10.2017.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Ink-jet printed optical waveguides
AU - Bollgruen, P.
AU - Wolfer, Tim
AU - Gleissner, U.
AU - Mager, D.
AU - Megnin, C.
AU - Overmeyer, Ludger
AU - Hanemann, T.
AU - Korvink, J. G.
N1 - Funding information: This study has been carried out within the framework of the Collaborative Research Center ‘Transregio 123 —Planar Optronic System’ (PlanOS) funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungs-gemeinschaft, DFG), which we hereby acknowledge. JGK is additionally supported by the Karlsruhe School of Optics and Photonics (KSOP).
PY - 2017/10/26
Y1 - 2017/10/26
N2 - Optical waveguides were fabricated on flexible foil substrates by ink-jet printing, to complement and enhance printed flexible electronics with optical networks. The 145 μmwide and 20 μmhigh transparent polymer tracks were created by printing subsequent tracks of an acrylate ink on polymer foil. Aprintable, optically transparent material was prepared by a combination of an acrylate resin with a low-viscosity, co-polymerising acrylate. This solved the problem of solvent evaporation for substrates with low heat tolerance. Thermally induced pinning, used to prevent the ink from spreading out on the substrate was achieved by heating the substrate to 60 °C, and found to be strongly affected by the time lapse between deposition of the individual layers. This tool allowed to increase the aspect ratio of the printed tracks from 0.07 to 0.17, and the contact angle of the printed tracks from 15° to 37°. After completion of the deposition step, the waveguides were polymerised underUVlight, and covered by a printed upper cladding layer. In the optical evaluation, transmission could be demonstrated with an attenuation in the range of 1.4 d B cm-1for a wavelength of 785 nm, with a significant portion of material attenuation.
AB - Optical waveguides were fabricated on flexible foil substrates by ink-jet printing, to complement and enhance printed flexible electronics with optical networks. The 145 μmwide and 20 μmhigh transparent polymer tracks were created by printing subsequent tracks of an acrylate ink on polymer foil. Aprintable, optically transparent material was prepared by a combination of an acrylate resin with a low-viscosity, co-polymerising acrylate. This solved the problem of solvent evaporation for substrates with low heat tolerance. Thermally induced pinning, used to prevent the ink from spreading out on the substrate was achieved by heating the substrate to 60 °C, and found to be strongly affected by the time lapse between deposition of the individual layers. This tool allowed to increase the aspect ratio of the printed tracks from 0.07 to 0.17, and the contact angle of the printed tracks from 15° to 37°. After completion of the deposition step, the waveguides were polymerised underUVlight, and covered by a printed upper cladding layer. In the optical evaluation, transmission could be demonstrated with an attenuation in the range of 1.4 d B cm-1for a wavelength of 785 nm, with a significant portion of material attenuation.
KW - Acrylate inks
KW - Ink-jet printing
KW - Optical waveguides
KW - Printed optics
KW - Printed polymers
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85040985763&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1088/2058-8585/aa8ed6
DO - 10.1088/2058-8585/aa8ed6
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85040985763
VL - 2
JO - Flexible and Printed Electronics
JF - Flexible and Printed Electronics
IS - 4
M1 - 045003
ER -