Gravure offset printing development for fine line thick film circuits

The resolution of conventional graphical gravures is limited to about 50 to 100 microns depending on the technology used. For these gravures the depths are dependent on the widths of the grooves. For electrical circuitry, the target is to achieve 25 microns line and space widths in the near future. To obtain a reasonably high sheet resistance, the printed ink height must be reasonably high. The stated requirements require further development of the whole printing process together with the associated inks. The first step was to evaluate the gravure manufacturing method, which is capable of producing gravures of sufficient accuracy and uniform depth. In this paper a new gravure printing plate manufacturing method with high accuracy is presented. Printing results made with the manufactured gravure and tailored inks are reported.