Thick-film circuit printing is a process technology that prints a thicker substrate on a substrate. Generally, the printing thickness is above 10 microns (um), while thin-film technology generally has a thickness below 1 micron (um). Thick film printing uses screen printing technology to print ink on the substrate through a steel plate. After drying and sintering, the printed ink will solidify and adhere to the substrate. Inks can generally be divided into conductors, high-temperature media, low-temperature media, resistors, protective layers, etc. These inks generally have a larger particle size and viscosity, so they form a larger film thickness. Substrates can generally be divided into ceramic substrates (aluminum oxide Al2O3, aluminum nitride AlN), glass substrates, metal substrates (such as stainless steel), polyimide (PI), etc., and different substrates are selected according to different applications.

Generally, the precision of the resistance value of the resistance ink after printing is low, and the resistance value can be trimmed to the precise target resistance value through the post-process laser trimming.

Advantages of thick film:

• Low cost: Compared with other manufacturing methods, thick film printing can realize fast printing and mass production, which is cost-effective.
• High reliability: thick film has high durability and reliability, and can be used in harsh environments such as high temperature.
• Current resistance: Thick films can generally withstand higher currents than thin films because the thicker the film, the more dispersed the current.

Common applications:
Thick film circuit printing is used in a wide variety of electronic products and industrial applications, including sensors, resistors, capacitors, circuit boards and microelectronic components.