TY - JOUR
T1 - Development of a full roll-to-roll manufacturing process of through-substrate vias with stretchable substrates enabling double-sided wearable electronics
AU - Jansson, Elina
AU - Korhonen, Arttu
AU - Hietala, Mikko
AU - Kololuoma, Terho
N1 - Funding Information:
Part of the facilities used were provided by the Academy of Finland Research Infrastructure “Printed Intelligence Infrastructure (PII-FIRI, grant no. 32020). The writers would thank Hannu Sääskilahti, Teemu Jurvanen, Anne Peltoniemi, Markus Tuomikoski, Jari Rekilä, and Pentti Korhonen for their contribution to the R2R manufacturing process, measurement assistance, and layout design. A special thanks goes to Thomas Kraft for his views of the structure of this paper.
Funding Information:
Open access funding provided by Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT). Research work was completely funded by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. Part of the facilities used were provided by the Academy of Finland Research Infrastructure “Printed Intelligence Infrastructure (PII-FIRI, grant no. 32020). Acknowledgments
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s).
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/12
Y1 - 2020/12
N2 - In the recent years, there has been a growing interest towards printed stretchable electronics used in diagnostics, health-monitoring, and wearable applications. Double-sided electronic circuits with through-substrate vias offer a solution where the amount of printed circuitry and assembled SMDs (surface-mount devices) in direct contact with the human skin can be minimized. This improves not only the wearability and cost-effectiveness of the printed electronic devices but also the product safety and comfort to wear. Another factor decreasing the unit costs in printed electronics is the use of high volume, high speed, and continuous roll-to-roll (R2R) manufacturing processes. In this current paper, a full R2R process for the manufacturing of through-substrate vias on stretchable thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) substrate was developed and verified. The through-substrate via-holes were manufactured in R2R using either laser-cutting or die-cutting. Rotary screen printing was used to print conductive tracks onto both sides of the stretchable substrate and to fill the via-holes. Eventually, conductive and stretchable through-substrate vias with low sheet resistance and low resistance deviation were reliably achieved with the developed process.
AB - In the recent years, there has been a growing interest towards printed stretchable electronics used in diagnostics, health-monitoring, and wearable applications. Double-sided electronic circuits with through-substrate vias offer a solution where the amount of printed circuitry and assembled SMDs (surface-mount devices) in direct contact with the human skin can be minimized. This improves not only the wearability and cost-effectiveness of the printed electronic devices but also the product safety and comfort to wear. Another factor decreasing the unit costs in printed electronics is the use of high volume, high speed, and continuous roll-to-roll (R2R) manufacturing processes. In this current paper, a full R2R process for the manufacturing of through-substrate vias on stretchable thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) substrate was developed and verified. The through-substrate via-holes were manufactured in R2R using either laser-cutting or die-cutting. Rotary screen printing was used to print conductive tracks onto both sides of the stretchable substrate and to fill the via-holes. Eventually, conductive and stretchable through-substrate vias with low sheet resistance and low resistance deviation were reliably achieved with the developed process.
KW - Roll-to-roll
KW - Rotary screen printing
KW - Stretchable electronics
KW - Through-substrate via
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85095443048&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00170-020-06324-4
DO - 10.1007/s00170-020-06324-4
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85095443048
SN - 0268-3768
VL - 111
SP - 3017
EP - 3027
JO - International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology
JF - International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology
IS - 11-12
ER -