Abstract
Increasing the printing resolution of drop-on-demand printing and deposition techniques is important for many industrial applications. In this Rapid Communication, we present a technique to minimize the jet size and reduce the laser threshold energy of a variant of the laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) process called blister-actuated LIFT. We fabricate micrometer-sized holes onto the solid polyimide thin-film substrate which hosts the donor liquid ink film to be printed. Due to the micrometer size of the holes, surface tension effects are enhanced, a meniscus is formed at the air-ink interface, and the resulting focused jets are thinner and faster than regular jets.
- Received 25 June 2018
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.3.082201
©2018 American Physical Society