Study of Copper-Nickel Nanoparticle Resistive Ink Compatible with Printed Copper Films for Power Electronics Applications

This paper is focused on copper-nickel nanoparticle resistive inks compatible with thick printed copper (TPC) technology, which can be used for power substrate manufacturing instead of conventional metallization techniques. Two types of copper-nickel inks were prepared and deposited by Aerosol Jet technology. The first type of ink was based on copper and nickel nanoparticles with a ratio of 75:25, and the second type of ink consisted of copper-nickel alloy nanoparticles with a ratio of 55:45. The characterization of electrical parameters, microstructure, thermal analysis of prepared inks and study of the influence of copper-nickel content on electrical parameters are described in this paper. It was verified that ink with a copper-nickel ratio of 55:45 (based on constantan nanoparticles) is more appropriate for the production of resistors due to low sheet resistance ~1 omega/square and low temperature coefficient of resistance & PLUSMN;100 & BULL;10(-6) K-1 values. Copper-nickel inks can be fired in a protective nitrogen atmosphere, which ensures compatibility with copper films. The compatibility of copper-nickel and copper films enables the production of integrated resistors directly on ceramics substrates of power electronics modules made by TPC technology.