Study of Copper-Nickel Nanoparticle Resistive Ink Compatible with Printed Copper Films for Power Electronics Applications

This paper is focused on copper–nickel nanoparticle resistive inks compatible with thick printed copper (TPC) technology, which can be used for power substrate manufacturing instead of conventional metallization techniques. Two types of copper–nickel inks were prepared and deposited by Aerosol Jet technology. The first type of ink was based on copper and nickel nanoparticles with a ratio of 75:25, and the second type of ink consisted of copper–nickel alloy nanoparticles with a ratio of 55:45. The characterization of electrical parameters, microstructure, thermal analysis of prepared inks and study of the influence of copper–nickel content on electrical parameters are described in this paper. It was verified that ink with a copper–nickel ratio of 55:45 (based on constantan nanoparticles) is more appropriate for the production of resistors due to low sheet resistance ~1 Ω/square and low temperature coefficient of resistance ±100·10(−6) K(−1) values. Copper–nickel inks can be fired in a protective nitrogen atmosphere, which ensures compatibility with copper films. The compatibility of copper–nickel and copper films enables the production of integrated resistors directly on ceramics substrates of power electronics modules made by TPC technology.