Thermal transfer printing technique for electrode patterning in cofired ceramic multi-layer devices

A new mask-less electrode patterning method using a thermal transfer printing technique was investigated. Thermal ink ribbons were prepared, which included more than 50 vol. % conductive metal powder. Arbitrary electrode patterns were designed with a computer and printed out on a ceramic green sheet with a serial thermal printer. The ceramic green sheets with printed electrode patterns were stacked up and cofired to obtain a multi-layer ceramic capacitor.