Fountain-pen-based laser microstructuring with gold nanoparticle inks

Employing the fountain-pen principle, a micropipette is used to write an Au nanoparticle ink on glass substrates. A continuous-wave laser (488-515 nm) is subsequently used as a controlled, localized energy source to evaporate the carrier liquid (toluene) in the ink and sinter the nanoparticles together thus fabricating continuous gold stripes 5 mum in width and a few hundred nanometers in height. The scanning speed, the laser intensity, and the degree of defocusing are identified as important parameters to the successful manufacturing of the gold microstructures. The electrical resistivity of the stripes, within the parametric domain of the present work, is measured to be the order of 10(-6) Omega m. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.