Inkjet

Inkjet is a digital printing technique that enables the contactless and extremely precise application of various fluids (inks) as droplets. Fraunhofer ISE has many years of experience in the development of inkjet printing processes in which nano-scale metal particles, perovskites, waxy electroplating and etching barriers (including UV-curing ones) and dopants are printed with maximum resource efficiency and precision. For adequate wetting of inks on substrates, Fraunhofer ISE offers the complete portfolio for the characterization of media with regard to viscosity and surface tension. By using inkjet printers in glove boxes, the wetting environment can be adapted. Fraunhofer ISE also offers pre-processes for the activation of surfaces, for example using plasma.

Our Infrastructure and Services for Inkjet:

  • Various setups (including glove boxes) with different print heads for the development of inkjet printing processes (semi-industrial systems, laboratory systems)
  • Process integration of inkjet printing processes into the core applications of Fraunhofer ISE (such as silicon-based solar cells)
  • Development of components for the conditioning of substrates
  • Rheological tests on inks in inkjet-relevant frequency ranges (1 kHz)
Solarzellendruck an Inkjet Aufbauten am Fraunhofer ISE. Dabei werden vier industrielle Solarzellen in einem Prozess verarbeitet, um den Durchsatz zu erhöhen.
© Fraunhofer ISE / Foto: Dirk Mahler

Solar cell printing with inkjet systems at Fraunhofer ISE. Four industrial solar cells are processed in one process in order to increase throughput.
Aufsicht auf eine mittels Inkjet gedruckte Galvanikbarriere (Maskierung) mit einer Strukturbreite der Öffnung von 10.5 µm nach der Mask&Plate-Technologie. Neben der Anwendung Galvanikbarriere können die Inkjet-gedruckten Strukturen auch als Ätzbarriere eingesetzt werden.
© Scientific Reports, volume 13, article number 15745 (2023)(CC BY 4.0) Top view of an inkjet-printed electroplating barrier (mask) with an opening structure width of 10.5 µm using Mask&Plate technology. In addition to the electroplating barrier application, the inkjet-printed structures can also be used as an etching barrier.
Mit Inkjet definierte Galvanikelektrode nach der Mask&Plate-Technologie zur Kontaktierung von hocheffizienten Solarzellen (Hier: III-V Solarzellen).
© Scientific Reports, volume 13, article number 15745 (2023)(CC BY 4.0) Plated electrode defined with inkjet using Mask&Plate technology for contacting high-efficiency solar cells (here: III-V solar cells).

More Information on this Research Topic

Mask and Plate

A Scalable Front Metallization with Low-Cost Potential for III-V-Based Tandem Solar Cells Enabling 31.6 % Conversion Efficiency

Inkjet- and FlexTrail-Printing with Low
Silver Consumption for Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells

Upscaling of Perovskite-Silicon Tandem Solar Cells

Self-aligned Selective Emitter for PERC Based on Inkjetable UV-Polymer