Journal of the American Ceramic Society, Vol.94, No.9, 2834-2840, 2011
Ink-Jet Printing of In2O3/ZnO Two-Dimensional Structures from Solution
In2O3-ZnO two-dimensional (2D) structures were processed by ink-jet printing and heating at 150 degrees C and 450 degrees C with the aim for implementation in transparent electronics. The In-Zn-solution precursor, based on In-alkoxide and Zn-acetate in 2-methoxyethanol, was originally designed for chemical solution deposition of thin films. To adapt it for piezoelectric ink-jet printing, the viscosity and surface tension were adjusted by the addition of a more viscous 1,3-propanediol. The optimum values were obtained for the ink consisting of 55 vol% of 1,3-propanediol. The printing parameters including the temperatures of the cartridge and the substrate, and the drop spacing were adjusted to allow patterning with a 40 mu m resolution on SiOx/Si and glass substrates. The ink-jet-printed 2D structures heated at 150 degrees C were amorphous and according to infrared spectroscopy organics-free, and upon heating at 450 degrees C they crystallized without any preferential orientation, similarly as the spin-coated thin films, which were studied as a reference.