NovaCentrix Awarded Canadian Patent Critical for Sintering Metal Inks on Low Temperature Substrates

NovaCentrix announced that patent #2,588,343 #7,820,097 titled “Electrical, Plating and Catalytic Uses of Metal Nanomaterial Compositions,” has been issued by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office.

NovaCentrix’s patent covers in part the use of flash lamps to sinter metal-based inks and materials on low-temperature substrates such as paper and plastic and includes high-speed and roll-to-roll processing. This process is critical to the advancement of innovative new products in photovoltaics (PV), displays, RFID, sensors, batteries, capacitors and smart packaging. As industry recognition, NovaCentrix received recognition by Frost and Sullivan in 2011, an R&D100 award for the development of this technology 2009, as well as recognition by industry analyst group IDTechEx in 2008.

This patent follows the issuance in 2010 of patent U.S. Patent #7,820,097 titled “Electrical, Plating and Catalytic Uses of Metal Nanomaterial Compositions.” Patent applications have also been filed in other regions including the EU and Japan.

PulseForge tools use the photonic curing process to heat thin films on low temperature substrates using novel flash lamp and power supply technology to deliver continuously adjustable, megawatt intensity, microsecond resolution pulses of broad-spectrum light. Unlike traditional oven technologies, the transient nature of the patented process heats thin films to a high temperature on low-temperature substrates, such as polymers, without causing damage.

By adjusting the pulse attributes using the touch-screen interface, temperature profiles in the film and substrate can be closely controlled and optimized for drying, sintering, annealing and modulating chemical reactions in thin films to achieve high-performance properties at high-speed roll-to-roll processing rates.