Silver metallization for microwave device using aerosol deposition

We examined the possibility of using aerosol deposition (AD) as a simple, environmentally friendly and dry metallization process capable of acting as an alternative to the electroless and electroplating methods. Silver thick films were fabricated, their characteristics evaluated, and the factors influencing their growth investigated. As a result, silver thick films were successfully fabricated by AD with high deposition rates (10 μm/min) at room temperature. The resistivity of the as-deposited silver thick films was 8–10 times larger than that of the bulk silver. Post-annealing increased the resistivity of the silver films by approximately 2–3 times compared to that of the bulk silver. Microstructural observations revealed an increase in the connectivity between the silver particles after the heat treatments, which reduced the resistivity of the as-deposited silver films.