Deposit levelling
A method for producing a flat feature on a substrate, comprises the steps of printing a deposit of print medium onto the substrate, the printed deposit comprising an upper surface, modifying the upper surface of the printed deposit, for example by partially drying the printed deposit, and levelling the modified deposit to produce a flat feature.
1. A method for producing a flat feature on a substrate, comprising the steps of:
i) printing a deposit of print medium onto the substrate, the printed deposit comprising an upper surface,
ii) modifying the upper surface of the printed deposit, and
iii) levelling the modified deposit to produce a flat feature,
wherein step iii) comprises performing a levelling operation in which a levelling squeegee is moved across a levelling stencil to contact the modified upper surface of the printed deposit.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein step ii) comprises partially drying the printed deposit.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein step ii) comprises heating the deposit to a temperature in the range 50° C. to 200° C.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein step ii) comprises heating the deposit for a time period in the range 30 seconds to 10 minutes.
5. The method of claim 2 , wherein step ii) comprises heating the deposit by applying infra-red illumination to the deposit, using convection heating or heating using an air impingement process.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein step ii) comprises treating the printed deposit using an air impingement process or a photochemical treatment process.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein step i) comprises placing a printing stencil onto the substrate, the printing stencil having a thickness t 1 and at least one print aperture, placing the print medium onto the printing stencil, and moving a squeegee blade across the printing stencil to impel the print medium through the at least one print aperture.
8. The method of claim 2 , wherein in step iii) the levelling squeegee is moved across the levelling stencil to contact an upper surface of the partially-dried deposit.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the levelling stencil has a thickness t 2 , which is smaller than t 1 .
10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the levelling squeegee comprises a curved-profile edge; optionally the levelling squeegee comprises a rotatably-mounted bar.
11. The method of claim 1 , comprising the subsequent step of:
iv) baking the flat feature to dry it.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein step iv) comprises heating the flat feature to a temperature in the range 100° C. to 200° C.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein step iv) comprises heating the flat feature for a time period in the range 4 minutes to 15 minutes.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the print medium comprises silver sintering paste.
15. A production line comprising a plurality of operation modules, said operation modules comprising a surface modification module, and at least one printing machine, the production line further comprising a transfer mechanism for transferring a workpiece between the operation modules, the production line being arranged such that a workpiece that has been printed by a printing machine may be transferred by the transfer mechanism from the printing machine to the surface modification module to undergo a surface modification process, and subsequently transferred from the surface modification module to a printing machine to undergo a levelling operation in which a levelling squeegee is moved across a levelling stencil to contact the modified upper surface of the workpiece.
16. The production line of claim 15 , wherein the surface modification module comprises an oven.