| Title: | Study of the electromagnetic properties of printed circuit boards made of gold nanoparticles |
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| Authors: | ID Kresnik, Lan (Author)
ID Svetec, Milan (Author)
ID Majerič, Peter (Author)
ID Rudolf, Rebeka (Author) |
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| Files: |  s42461-026-01513-3.pdf (1,89 MB)
MD5: 1D89B61FE11D4E8DD034DC38AE2389B6
 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42461-026-01513-3
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| Language: | English |
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| Work type: | Article |
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| Typology: | 1.01 - Original Scientific Article |
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| Organization: | FS - Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
FNM - Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
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| Abstract: | A dispersion of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) was printed onto an alumina (Al₂O₃) substrate using a plasma jet printer, followed by post-printing sintering to form conductive traces, thus creating a printed circuit board (PCB). The resulting PCB was characterised through direct current (DC) resistance measurements and broadband scattering parameter (S-parameter) analysis, and the results were benchmarked against a commercial ENIG-plated copper microstrip fabricated on an RO4350B laminate. In addition, full-wave electromagnetic simulations were performed, to evaluate the intrinsic radiofrequency (RF) behaviour of the printed microstrip architecture up to 40 GHz. The experimental results demonstrated that the plasma-printed AuNPs microstrip exhibited predictable impedance behaviour and low insertion loss across the 0–20 GHz range, with a measured insertion loss of − 2.86 dB at 20 GHz, compared to − 2.13 dB for the ENIG PCB. The AuNPs PCB exhibited an effective electrical conductivity of 9.7 × 10⁶ S/m, compared to 7.0 × 10⁷ S/m for the ENIG PCB. While the printed lines showed higher DC resistance due to material and structural differences, the RF insertion-loss difference per unit of length remained modest; 0.01 dB/cm difference at 10 GHz and 0.110 dB/cm difference at 20 GHz, indicating good matching between AuNPs PCB and commercially available PCBs. Furthermore, the close agreement between the simulations and measurements validates the suitability of the AuNPs PCB for further microwave applications. These findings highlight the potential of plasma-printed AuNPs conductors on ceramic substrates as a promising additive manufacturing approach for high-frequency interconnects and emerging mm-wave electronic systems. |
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| Keywords: | gold nanoparticles, plasma jet printing, printed circuit boards, resistance measurement, scattering parameters |
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| Publication status: | Published |
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| Publication version: | Version of Record |
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| Submitted for review: | 05.11.2025 |
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| Article acceptance date: | 11.02.2026 |
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| Publication date: | 05.03.2026 |
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| Publisher: | Springer Nature |
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| Year of publishing: | 2026 |
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| Number of pages: | str. 1875-1889 |
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| Numbering: | letn. 43 |
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| PID: | 20.500.12556/DKUM-97849  |
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| UDC: | 669.21:620.3 |
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| ISSN on article: | 2524-3470 |
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| COBISS.SI-ID: | 270708227 |
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| DOI: | 10.1007/s42461-026-01513-3 |
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| Publication date in DKUM: | 20.04.2026 |
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| Views: | 145 |
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| Downloads: | 7 |
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| Metadata: |    |
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| Categories: | Misc.
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