Artificial intelligence-assisted printed electronics self-guided optimization method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11882664-B2
Application number	US-202016970873-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 26, 2020
Priority date	May 31, 2019
Publication date	Jan 23, 2024
Grant date	Jan 23, 2024

Abstract

The present invention provides an artificial intelligence-assisted printed electronics self-guided optimization method, which integrates machine learning technology with printed electronics. According to variables that impact printing quality of a microelectronic printer, a user sets up experimental groups, prints samples with the microelectronic printer according to parameters in the experiment groups, characterizes printing effects, and evaluates the printing quality. The characterization result is analyzed by machine learning, and printing parameters that correspond to a best printing effect are obtained; then, the parameters are fed back to the user, and the user configures the printer according to the fed-back parameters, thereby improving printing quality. By using the present invention, optimal printing parameters can be obtained by simply setting up a few simple experiments according to a number of factors that impact printing effects, which reduces the time for a printer user to test out printing effects in an early stage, and provides a good practicability.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An artificial intelligence-assisted printed electronics self-guided optimization method, comprising:
Step 1, setting up factors that impact printing quality and experimental groups:

determining a printer, a printing ink and a printing substrate are suitable;
dividing six variables, the number of jetting holes of the printer, the number of times of printing, a printing speed, a temperature of the printing substrate, the distance between a nozzle and the substrate, and an inkjet intensity of the nozzle, into six groups, where each group consists of four uniformly varying parameters, totaling 24 printing parameter combinations, the six variables being factors that impact printing quality;
when printing with any one of the parameter condition groups, setting the rest five parameter condition groups to have fixed printing parameters;
Step 2, designing a printing pattern:

after the printing parameters are determined, designing a printing pattern, where straight lines of the printing pattern have a line width of 10 μm and a line distance of 110 μm, curves of the printing pattern have a line width of 80 μm and a line distance of 160 μm;
Step 3, printing sample patterns according to the 24 printing parameter combinations:

setting printing parameters according to the 24 printing parameter combinations; printing out actual patterns according to the designed printing pattern, the actual patterns being sample patterns;
Step 4, characterizing printing effects:

characterizing straight line positions and curve positions of the sample patterns by an optical microscope, where as the number of jetting holes increases, details of the printing pattern deteriorate and lines connect with one another; as the distance between the nozzle and the substrate increases, a curvature of the lines increases; the smaller an average of line widths is, the closer the average of line widths is to a designed value and the smaller a standard deviation of the line widths is, the better the printing effect is; and data characterizing printing effects includes an average of sample pattern line widths and a standard deviation of sample pattern line widths for each combination of the 24 printing parameter combinations;
Step 5, analyzing the data by machine learning:

uploading the data characterizing printing effects to a computer; analyzing the data by machine learning to obtain printing parameters corresponding to a best printing effect;
Step 6, returning the parameters to a user computer, and guiding the user in improving printing quality:

transmitting by the computer the printing parameters obtained in step 5 back to a printer control program; modifying automatically by the control program printing parameters of the microelectronic printer and printing, to obtain an improved printing pattern; characterizing the improved printing pattern under an optical microscope, uploading line width averages and line width standard deviations to a computer, performing machine learning and improving printing effect.

2. The artificial intelligence-assisted printed electronics self-guided optimization method according to claim 1 , wherein the dividing six variables, the number of jetting holes of the printer, the number of times of printing, a printing speed, a temperature of the printing substrate, the distance between a nozzle and the substrate, and an inkjet intensity of the nozzle, into six groups, where each group consists of four uniformly varying parameters, totaling 24 printing parameter combinations, comprises:
determining the number of jetting holes of the printer as a first group, the parameters in the first group are 1, 2, 4 and 6;
determining the number of times of printing as a second group, the parameters in the second group are 1, 2, 4 and 6;
determining a printing speed as a third group, the parameters in the third group are 50 mm/s, 100 mm/s, 150 mm/s and 200 mm/s;
determining a temperature of the printing substrate as a fourth group, the parameters in the fourth group are 21° C., 30° C., 40° C. and 50° C.;
determining the distance between a nozzle and the substrate as a fifth group, the parameters in the fifth group are 0.1 mm, 0.6 mm, 1.1 mm and 2.1 mm;
determining and an inkjet intensity of the nozzle as a sixth group, the parameters in the sixth group are 65%, 75%, 85% and 95%.

3. The artificial intelligence-assisted printed electronics self-guided optimization method according to claim 2 , wherein the setting the rest five parameter condition groups to have fixed printing parameters when printing with any one of the parameter condition groups comprises:
when determining the impact of the number of jetting holes on printing quality, setting the number of jetting holes of the printer according to the first group of parameters respectively and printing, with the rest five groups of conditions being as follows: the number of times of printing is 1, the printing speed is 150 mm/s, the temperature of the printing substrate is room temperature, the distance between the nozzle and the substrate is 0.1 mm, and the inkjet intensity of the nozzle is 100%;
when determining the impact of the number of times of printing on printing quality, setting the number of times of printing according to the second group of parameters respectively and printing, with the rest five groups of conditions being as follows: the number of jetting holes of the printer is 1, the printing speed is 150 mm/s, the temperature of the printing substrate is room temperature, the distance between the nozzle and the substrate is 0.1 mm, and the inkjet intensity of the nozzle is 100%;
when determining the impact of the printing speed on printing quality, setting the printing speed according to the third group of parameters respectively and printing, with the rest five groups of conditions being as follows: the number of jetting holes of the printer is 1, the number of times of printing is 1, the temperature of the printing substrate is room temperature, the distance between the nozzle and the substrate is 0.1 mm, and the inkjet intensity of the nozzle is 100%;
when determining the impact of the temperature of the printing substrate on printing quality, setting the temperature of the printing substrate according to the fourth group of parameters respectively and printing, with the rest five groups of conditions being as follows: the number of jetting holes of the printer is 1, the number of times of printing is 1, the printing speed is 150 mm/s, the distance between the nozzle and the substrate is 0.1 mm, and the inkjet intensity of the nozzle is 100%;
when determining the impact of the distance between the nozzle and the substrate on printing quality, setting the distance between the nozzle and the substrate according to the fifth group of parameters respectively and printing, with the rest five groups of conditions being as follows: the number of jetting holes of the printer is 1, the number of times of printing is 1, the printing speed is 150 mm/s, the temperature of the printing substrate is room temperature, and the inkjet intensity of the nozzle is 100%;
when determining the impact of the inkjet intensity of the nozzle on printing quality, setting the inkjet intensity of the nozzle according to the sixth group of parameters respectively and printing, with the rest five groups of conditions being as follows: the number of jetting holes of the printer is 1, the number of times of printing is 1, the printing speed is 150 mm/s, the temperature of the printing substrate is room temperature, and the distance between the nozzle and the substrate is 0.1 mm.

4. The artificial intelligence-assisted printed electronics self-guided optimization method according to claim 3 , wherein the characterizing straight line positions and c

Assignees

• Univ Northwestern Polytechnical

Inventors

• Huang Wei
• Wang Xuewen
• Wang Dapeng
• Li Yue

Classifications

• H05K3/125 Primary

  by ink-jet printing · CPC title

• G06F3/1208

  resulting in improved quality of the output result, e.g. print layout, colours, workflows, print preview · CPC title

• G06F3/1294

  Status or feedback related to information exchange · CPC title

• G06F3/12

  Digital output to print unit {, e.g. line printer, chain printer} · CPC title

• B41J29/393 Primary

  Devices for controlling or analysing the entire machine {; Controlling or analysing mechanical parameters involving printing of test patterns} · CPC title