Inkjet Printed vs Screen Printed Microstrip Line on LTCC substrates

In this paper we compare the influence of two printing techniques on wideband performance of a microstrip line on LTCC substrate. The inkjet printing and screen printing techniques are compared. The quality of conductive layers is analyzed in terms of material type (paste and ink), their thickness, roughness and shape of pattern edges. Finally, microstrip line performance is characterized for frequencies up to 20 GHz. We show that microstrip lines made of two layers of nanosilver ink performs poorly. In this case the insertion loss can be several times higher (in dB) in comparison to insertion loss introduced by silver paste-made microstrip lines.