Printing techniques

Painettavan elektroniikan jatkokurssi 15.11.2011

Dr. Jukka Hast
Principal Scientist, Team leader, Adjunct Professor
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
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Contents

Benefits of printing to for manufacturing of electronics and optics

manufacturing
Printing techniques
Gravure printing
Flexography printing
Screen printing
Offset printing
InkJet printing

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Benifits of printing for electronics and optics manufacturing

Gutenberg 1436
High-speed fabrication
High volume products
Low cost manufacturing
Flexible substrates, continuous web
Arbitrary size and shape
Integration in low-end products
Established technology
Machinery etc. know-how exist
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On the other hand
Additive methods
Waste reduction
Green issues

All together
Novel applications
Profit
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Different printing techniques

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Through put vs resolution

100
Gravure
10 Offset lithography
Rotary screen

Flexography
1
Throughput (m/s)

0.1
Flatbed screen

0.01
Thermal transfer
Inkjet
1E-3

1E-4
Soft lithography
1E-5
0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000
Resolution (m)

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Gravure printing

Typically used to print high-quality and high-volume publications and

packages [1,2].
The advantages of gravure are:
the simple operation principle
simple-structured printing equipment
high production speed
high through-put
high resolution.
Various solvents can be used since the printing cylinders are resistant to
most inks.
Disadvantages are:
the high costs of cylinders (> 1K)
high quality demands for substrates
high requirements for suitable process parameters

1. Kipphan, H., Handbook of print media. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, Germany, 2001.

2. Gravure Association of America, Gravure Process and Technology, Rochester NY, 2003 .
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Operation principle of gravure printing

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Operation principle of gravure printing

The image-elements, i.e., cells are engraved into the surface of the
printing cylinder whereas the non-image areas remain at the original level.
The engraved printing cylinder rotates in an ink fountain as a result of
which the entire printing cylinder is inked and flooded with ink.
Excess ink is then wiped off with a doctor blade such that ink remains only
in the cells.
Ink is then transferred directly onto the substrate in a printing nip under
pressure. The nip pressure is 1.5-5 MPa.
The ink transfer is often improved by creating an electric field across
the nip. This field lifts ink out of the cells into contact with the
substrate, thus improving the ink transfer. For example, the emptying
degree of the cells increases from 40-60 % to 80-95 % with ESA
(Electrostatic assist) system.
The ink layer is dried by evaporating the solvent with hot air. [1]

1. Kipphan, H., Handbook of print media. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, Germany, 2001. 1207 p.
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Gravure cylinders
The printing cylinder engraving:
electromechanically with a diamond stylus:
produces trapezoid-shaped as the stylus penetrates into
the copper coating of the printing cylinder
geometry of the cell depends on the stylus angle
the penetration depth of the stylus
laser-engraving:
produces round cells.
shape of the cell depends on the energy of the beam. [1,3]
Etching:

Solid areas are also reproduced by engraving individual cells

separated by cell walls
The ink has to spread to some extent to produce solid tones.
After engraving, the cylinder is chromed to increase its durability
and improve the filling and emptying of the cells. [4,5]

4. Sjblom, R.; Nordstrm, J.-E.P.; Erho, T.; Saari, J., Halftone rotogravure ink transfer
determinations on LWC paper. In: 58th Appita Annual Conference, Canberra, Australia, 2004.
p. 115-136.
5 .Hennig, G., Direct laser system for rotogravure printing. Gravure 15(2001)4. p. 58-61.
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Gravure cylinders
Laser-engraving improves the filling and emptying of the cells due to its
round shape.
Laser-engraved cells are finer and produced faster than
electromechanically engraved ones.
Laser-engraving requires the printing cylinder to be coated with zinc
instead of copper.
The cells have been engraved in a form of a matrix of smaller dots
(Extreme engraving). This allows a free adjustment of screen resolution,
cell shape and depth, and cell wall thickness and reduces the raggedness
of the printed lines. [3,6,7]
The main factors affecting the print quality and ink transfer are:
The ink viscosity, ink type, printing speed, cell geometry, screen
ruling (mesh=lines/cm), blade geometry, wiping parameters, nip
pressure, ESA level, cylinder properties, and substrate roughness,
pore structure as well as compressibility. [1]
Gravure inks have very low viscosity (5-25 mPas) since they have to be
able to flow in and out of the engraved cells at high speeds.
=> extremely thin ink layers are printed. The thickness of the ink layer is
typically 0.8-2 m but when UV-curing inks are used the thickness can be
up to 8 m. [1]

3. Rong, X.; Pekarovic, J.; Pekarovicova, A., Gravure printability from laser and electromechanically
engraved cylinder, In: 11th International Printing and Graphics Arts Conference, Toronto, Canada,
2002. p. 151-154.
6. Li, A., The Gravure Atom: An Evaluation of Cell Structure. Gravure 21(2007)3. p. 32-38.
7. Kunz, W., Ink transfer in gravure process. In: 27th Annual Technical conference of TAGA, 1975. p.
151-176.
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Printing roll design

Example: effect of roll design in the printing quality

Gravure roll design Gravure roll design

65 l/cm, 40 m 120 l/cm, 15 m
deep engravings 65 l/cm, 40 m deep engravings deep engravings 120 l/cm, 15 m deep engravings

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Gravure printed examples

PFBT printed on PEDOT:PSS layer from 2.5

wt-% p-xylene solution

40-nm thick modified PEDOT:PSS

print on ITO-PET

Solvent with low boiling point

P3HT
Mixture of solvents with high and low boiling points

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Flexography printing

used mainly in packaging printing applications

The main advantages are:
the wide variety of suitable substrates
simple operation principle and press construction
rather accurately adjustable applied amount of ink
Disadvantages include:
the lower print quality
poorer register accuracy
lower printing speed
compared to other mechanical printing methods.
the plate material limits the amount of suitable inks. [8,9]
8. Pekarovicova, A.; Pekarovic, J.; Serafano, J., Flexo printability of publication grades: technical challenges of publication
flexography. In: 53rd Annual Technical Conference of TAGA, San Diego, USA, 2001. p. 98-110.
9. Savastano, D., The flexo ink market. Ink world 83(2005)2. p. 48-52.
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Operation principle of flexography printing

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Operation principle of flexography printing

The image elements of the printing plate are raised above the non-
image elements, forming a relief pattern of the printed image.
Printing ink is applied onto the image elements via an anilox roller
that has small cells engraved evenly onto its surface.
The surface of the anilox roller is first flooded with ink from an ink
chamber after which excess ink is removed with a doctor blade.
As a result, ink remains only in the cells.
Ink is then transferred onto the raised image elements of the plate
and further onto the substrate.
The nip pressure is 0.1-0.5 MPa.
The plate is made of soft and flexible material which improves the
contact formation at the ink transfer points.
The ink layer is then dried with hot air. [1]

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Anilox rolls

Anilox rollers are typically coated with ceramic

material or chrome and the cells are engraved onto
its surface either electromechanically or with a laser-
beam.
Today, ceramic rollers are more common due to their
smaller cell size.
The ink release efficiency is typically 40 %. [10,11]

10. Jones, K.; Kent, P.; Bingham, J.; Burgess, D., Anilox roll screen and volume: history, trends and proper selection. Flexo
32(2007)5. p. 18-23.

11. Roffers, R. J., What you werent told about your anilox sleeve! Flexo 31(2006)10. p. 45-47 .
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Flexographic printing plates

Flexographic printing plates are typically made of photopolymer
These plates are first back-exposed to UV radiation to determine the relief
depth.
After this, the plate surface is exposed to UV radiation through a film
negative.
The exposed image areas polymerize and become insoluble. The unexposed
material is then removed in a washing stage.
CTP (computer-to-plate) plates are imaged directly from digital page data.
The plates have a black coating onto which the page negative is formed by
ablating it with a laser.
Otherwise, the plate making steps are similar to the conventional plates. CTP
plates have improved register accuracy. Thermal imaging improves the print
quality further. [12-16]

12. Hahn, L. M., Variables in printability and ink transfer in flexography. Ink Maker 81(2003)4. p. 46-50.
13. Galton, D., Photopolymer plate characterization. In: 52th Annual Technical Conference of TAGA, Ashville, NC, USA, 2002. p. 109-127.
14. Galton, D., Platemaking technologies and trends. Flexo, 32(2007)1. p. 44-48.
15. Cherry, J.; Claypole, T. C.; Gethin, D. T., Measurement of the ink release from the anilox roll. In: 58th Annual Technical Conference of
TAGA, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, 2006. p. 395-408.
16. Bould, D.C.; Hamblyn, S.M.; Claypole, T.C.; Bohan, M.F.J., The effect of process characteristics on image reproduction in flexographic
printing. In: 33rd International research conference of IARIGAI, Leipzig, Germany, 2006.
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Flexography

The factors affecting the ink transfer and print quality are:
the cell geometry of the anilox roller, anilox roller type, ink
viscosity, plate material, plate imaging, printing speed, nip
pressure, and substrate properties. [1,15,16]
Flexographic printing inks have low viscosity of 10-200 mPa s
contributing to the ink flow and improving the ink transfer. The ink
layer thickness is 0.8-1 m but with UV inks the thickness can be
2.5 m. Recent developments in the laser engraving have
increased the ink layer thickness to 6-8 m. [1]

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Offset printing

is the most common printing method in newspaper and commercial

printing in particular when high print quality is required.
Offset printing plates are quickly and easily produced
the plates have a long lifetime since the plate is not in direct
contact with the substrate.
due to the high viscosity of inks drying can be done after the last
printing unit.
However, the ink-water balance needs to be accurately adjusted
and the use of dampening water limits the range of suitable
materials to be printed.
Waterless offset removes the difficulties caused by the dampening
water. In this case, silicone replaces water. [1]

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Operation principle of offset printing

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Operation principle of offset printing

Offset printing is an indirect printing method where ink is transferred from

the printing plate onto the substrate via an intermediate blanket cylinder.
The image and non-image areas of the plate are on the same level but
they have different surface energies: the image areas are ink-receptive
and non-image areas ink-repellent but water-accepting.
Dampening unit applies first a thin film of dampening water onto the non-
image areas after which inking unit applies a thin layer of ink onto the
image areas.
The surface chemistry difference and the dampening water layer prevent
ink from spreading onto the non-image areas. The dampening water also
cools down the printing unit.
The ink layer is then transferred onto the blanket cylinder and further onto
the substrate.
After the last printing unit, the ink layer is dried via absorption,
polymerization, oxidation, or evaporation. [1]

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Offset plates

Offset printing plates are typically made of aluminium that is coated with a
photopolymer layer.
The photopolymer layer cross-links as it is exposed to UV radiation. The
unexposed material can be then washed off with solvents.
After development, the plate is protected and strengthened by gumming
and baking.
CTP plates are today popular since they eliminate the need of page films.
However, these plates are more expensive but due to their sensitivity the
exposure time and energy are greatly reduced.
Nowadays, also thermal, chemistry-free, and process-less CTP plates are
gaining popularity. These plates improve the print quality, eliminate
several plate making steps, or offer energy and cost savings. [1,17,18]

17. Kull, S.; Timpe, H.-J.; Flugel, M.; Baumann, H., Red-hot and violet. Photopolymer systems at your service.
In: 58th Annual Technical conference of TAGA, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, 2006. p. 153-168.
18. Ozcan, A.; Yenidogan, S.; Sesli, Y., The comparison of prints produced by CTP and conventional plate. In:
58th Annual Technical conference of TAGA, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, 2006. p. 534-541.
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Offset printing

The print quality of offset printing depends on:

the ink properties, dampening water properties, substrate properties,
printing conditions, ink-water balance, design of the inking and
dampening units, as well as the plate and blanket properties.
The quality of the offset printing is difficult and complicated to control. The
most important quality factor is the ink-water balance that controls the
amount of waste and ink transfer. [1,19]
Offset printing inks have high viscosity (40-100 Pas). This high viscosity
prevents excessive ink penetration into the substrate.
The thickness of the ink film is typically 0.5-1.5 m. Dampening water
consists mainly of water (95-98 %) and additives such as isopropanol
(IPA). IPA decreases the surface tension of water to increase the
spreading rate of dampening water onto the non-image areas. [1]

19. Savastano, D. 2007. The challenge of emulsification. Ink world 13(2007)8. p. 4.

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Screen printing (flat bed and rotary)

Screen printing can be utilized at numerous applications such as

printing textiles, advertisements, ceramics, curved substrates, and
electronics.
In addition, the range of suitable inks is large.
On the other hand, the printing speed is low and often the print
quality is also poor. [1,20]

20. Stephens, J., Screen printing in a digital age. Pira. UK. 2000. 84 p.

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Operation principle of screen printing (flat bed)

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Operation principle of screen printing (flat bed)

Screen printing is a push-through process where ink is pushed

through a fine fabric (screen) made of plastic or metal threads.
The non-image areas of the screen are covered with a stencil.
The screen is flooded with ink which is pushed through the image
areas of the screen onto the substrate by means of a squeegee.
In order to tension the screen fabric, it is attached to a screen
frame.
The ink layer is then dried via evaporation, oxidation, or
polymerization. [1,20]

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Operation principle of screen printing (flat bed)

The thread count and the mesh thickness determine the open
screen area.
This area should be large enough to pass though the pigments and
fine enough to provide safe anchoring of the screen onto the
smallest parts of the stencil.
The stencil that is typically made of photopolymer is placed on the
opposite side of the screen than the squeegee to avoid its wear.
The thickness of the ink layer depends on the thickness of the
stencil that ranges from 12 to 100 m. [1,20]

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Operation principle of screen printing (flat bed)

The print quality is determined by the screen material, the fineness

and thickness of the screen, as well as the degree of the open area
of the screen.
The screen fineness is typically 90-120 fibers/cm.
In order to produce high print quality, the screen fineness should
be approximately 3-4 times greater than the screen resolution
(lines/cm).
In addition, the ink, substrate, and squeegee properties and the
print conditions affect the print quality. [1,20]

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Operation principle of screen printing (rotary)

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Operation principle of screen printing (rotary)

Rotary screen printing enables higher printing speeds and

increases the print quality.
The screen has a cylinder shape and the ink is also placed inside
this cylinder.
The stationary squeegee located inside the cylinder pushes ink
through the screen apertures onto the substrate as the cylinder
rotates.
The ink choice depends on the application as well as on the
substrate.
The ink viscosity must match to the desired ink layer thickness and
the fineness of the screen.
Typically, the ink film is 8-30 m thick. [1]

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Comparison

Typical dimensions for good printing results with major printing technologies

Viscosity Layer thickness Feature size Registration Throughput

Printing method [Pas] [m] [m] [m] [m2/s]

0.05-0.2 [22] 0.8-8 [22]

60 [29],
Gravure printing 0.01-0.03 <0.1 [24-26, 75 [29] >10 [29]
3-30 [30]
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Flexography 0.8-2.5 [22] 10 [29]

0.05-0.5 [22] 80 [29] <200 [29]
printing 0.04-0.1 [27] 3-30 [30]

30-100 [22], 5-30 [29]

Offset printing 0.5-2 [22] 10-50 [29] >10 [29]
5-50 [23] 3-30 [30]

3-15 [22]
Screen printing 0.5-50 [22] 0.015 [28], 20-100 [29] >25 [29] 2-3 [29]
30-100 [29]

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References
Kipphan, H., Handbook of print media. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, Germany, 2001. 1207 p.
Gravure Association of America, Gravure Process and Technology, Rochester NY, 2003.
Rong, X.; Pekarovic, J.; Pekarovicova, A., Gravure printability from laser and electromechanically engraved
cylinder, In: 11th International Printing and Graphics Arts Conference, Toronto, Canada, 2002. p. 151-154.
Sjblom, R.; Nordstrm, J.-E.P.; Erho, T.; Saari, J., Halftone rotogravure ink transfer determinations on LWC
paper. In: 58th Appita Annual Conference, Canberra, Australia, 2004. p. 115-136.
Hennig, G., Direct laser system for rotogravure printing. Gravure 15(2001)4. p. 58-61.
Li, A., The Gravure Atom: An Evaluation of Cell Structure. Gravure 21(2007)3. p. 32-38.
Kunz, W., Ink transfer in gravure process. In: 27th Annual Technical conference of TAGA, 1975. p. 151-176.
Pekarovicova, A.; Pekarovic, J.; Serafano, J., Flexo printability of publication grades: technical challenges of
publication flexography. In: 53rd Annual Technical Conference of TAGA, San Diego, USA, 2001. p. 98-110.
Savastano, D., The flexo ink market. Ink world 83(2005)2. p. 48-52.
Jones, K.; Kent, P.; Bingham, J.; Burgess, D., Anilox roll screen and volume: history, trends and proper selection.
Flexo 32(2007)5. p. 18-23.
Roffers, R. J., What you werent told about your anilox sleeve! Flexo 31(2006)10. p. 45-47.
Hahn, L. M., Variables in printability and ink transfer in flexography. Ink Maker 81(2003)4. p. 46-50.
Galton, D., Photopolymer plate characterization. In: 52th Annual Technical Conference of TAGA, Ashville, NC,
USA, 2002. p. 109-127.
Galton, D., Platemaking technologies and trends. Flexo, 32(2007)1. p. 44-48.

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References

Cherry, J.; Claypole, T. C.; Gethin, D. T., Measurement of the ink release from the anilox roll. In:
58th Annual Technical Conference of TAGA, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, 2006. p. 395-408.
Bould, D.C.; Hamblyn, S.M.; Claypole, T.C.; Bohan, M.F.J., The effect of process characteristics
on image reproduction in flexographic printing. In: 33rd International research conference of
IARIGAI, Leipzig, Germany, 2006.
Kull, S.; Timpe, H.-J.; Flugel, M.; Baumann, H., Red-hot and violet. Photopolymer systems at your
service. In: 58th Annual Technical conference of TAGA, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, 2006. p. 153-
168.
Ozcan, A.; Yenidogan, S.; Sesli, Y., The comparison of prints produced by CTP and conventional
plate. In: 58th Annual Technical conference of TAGA, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, 2006. p. 534-541.
Savastano, D. 2007. The challenge of emulsification. Ink world 13(2007)8. p. 4.
Stephens, J., Screen printing in a digital age. Pira. UK. 2000. 84 p.
Digital and screen printing association, Common printing processes: Principles of operation and
applications, http://www.spauk.co.uk/VISITORS/Print%20Processes.pdf.
Huebler, A.; Hahn, U.; Beier, W.; Lasch, N.; Fischer, T., High Volume Printing Technologies for the
Production of Polymer Electronic Structures. In: 2nd International IEEE Conference on Polymers
and Adhesives in Microelectronics and Photonics, Zalaegerzeg, Hungary, 2002. p. 172-176
Blayo, A.; Pineaux, B., Printing Processes and their Potential for RFID Printing. In: Proceedings of
the 2005 joint conference on Smart objects and ambient intelligence, Grenoble, France, 2005. p.
27-30.

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References
Kawahara, T.; Doushita, K.; Tada, H., A large area patterned TiO2/SiO2 bilayer type photocatalyst prepared by
gravure printing, Journal of sol-gel science and technology, 27(2003). p.301-307
Maaninen, A.; Tuomikoski, M.; Kivimki, L.; Kololuoma, T.; Vlimki, M.; Leinonen, M.; Knskoski, M., Roll to roll
fabrication technologies for optoelectronic and electronic devices and sensors. In: Proceedings of SPIE, 5956,
Warsaw, Poland, 2005. p.25-34.
Bergsmann, M.; Kastner, F.; Bauer, G.; Domnick, R., Novel security feature made by thin film coating technique.
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Joyo Engineering/Crystec Technology Trading GmbH, Printing Machines for LCD Manufacturing,
http://www.crystec.com/joyprie.htm
Jabbour, G.E.; Radspinner, R.; Peyghambarian, N., Screen Printing for the Fabrication of Organic Light-Emitting
Devices. IEEE Journal on selected topics in quantum electronics, 7(2001)5. p. 769-773.
Sirringhaus, H., Device physics and reliability of solution processed organic TFTs. Flexidis Training Workshop,
Stuttgart, Germany, 2006.
Schrdner, M.; Schultheis, K.; Stohn, R.; Schache H.; Blankenburg, L.; Roth, H., Reel-to-reel laser patterning and
coating for the production of polymer electronic devices. In: Technologies for Polymer Electronics, Frankfurt,
Germany, 2006.
Kim J.Y.; Kim S.H., Lee H.-H; Ma W, Gong X.; Heeger A.J., New Architecture for High-Efficiency Polymer
Photovoltaic Cells Using Solution-Based Titanium Oxide as an Optical Spacer. Advanced Materials 18(2006)5. p.
572-576.
Kim J.Y.; Lee K.; Coates N.E.; Moses D.; Nguyen T.Q.; Dante M.; Heeger A.J., Efficient Tandem Polymer Solar
Cells Fabricated by All-Solution Processing. Science 317(2007)5838. p.222-225.
Lee K.; Kim J.Y.; Park S.H.; Kim S.H.; Cho S.; Heeger A.J., Air-Stable Polymer Electronic Devices. Advanced
Materials 19(2007)18. p. 2446-2449.

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