During the RollFlex project, Stensborg A / S has developed a new printing technology that makes it possible to make ultra-thin silver film coatings on different materials, such as, e.g., plastic film and glass. The thickness of these silver coatings is assumed to be about 25 nm. The process is particularly interesting for RollFlex for the R2R production of solar cells and OLEDs developed in the project because it can be used in different ways to improve the performance of the manufactured components. Thus, for example, optical diffraction gratings made with the R2R process significantly improve the light efficiency of the components due to the conformal silver coating applied in the printing process to this type of nano-surface relief structures. Similarly, with the new technology, it is possible to print circuit board tracks in different patterns. Both stages of the process are necessary for the production of solar cells and LEDs in the project.
In summary, the technology offers the following:
- Print-to-roll and scroll-to-plate printing
- Quick and flexible development of component prototypes
- Scalable production from single pieces to volume production
- Simple modification of printed metal patterns in volume production
In the case of print of electrically conductive layers, the printer system requires only a bitmap input file. The thin silver film has a resistivity of about 7.55 · 10ˆ-8Ωm.
The technology will be implemented on the industrial NIL platform, which Stensborg A/S has developed and sells under the name HoloPrint ©
