Design and inkjet printing of a bandpass filter in the GHz range

Daniele Sette¹, Anne Blayo², Christophe Poulain¹, Denis Mercier¹
E-mails: daniele.sette@cea.fr; christophe.poulain@cea.fr; denis.mercier@cea.fr; Anne.Blayo@pagora.grenoble-inp.fr
¹ CEA, LETI, MINATEC Campus, 17 rue des Martyrs, F-38054 Grenoble Cedex 9, France
² Grenoble INP – Pagora 461, rue de la papeterie, BP 65, 38402 Saint Martin d’Hères, France

Abstract

This paper presents a radio frequency filter fabricated on a low cost substrate by inkjet printing of an ink composed of silver nanoparticles. The study focuses on the inkjet fabrication process and the setting of optimal printing conditions to achieve a band-pass filter working at 17 GHz. This radio frequency filter is, to our knowledge, the highest center frequency inkjet printed filter reported so far. The study demonstrates the potential of inkjet printing technology for high frequency filtering applications.

Keywords: inkjet printing, printing conditions, flexible substrates, band-pass filter, silver nanoparticles

JPMTR 026 ⎮ 1320 Research paper
UDC 681.625.923

Received: 2013-11-04
Accepted: 2013-01-17

Surface properties of flexographic printing plates related to UVC post-treatment

Tamara Tomašegović, Sanja Mahović Poljaček, Tomislav Cigula
E-mails: ttomaseg@grf.hr; smahovic@grf.hr; tcigula@grf.hr
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Graphic Arts, Getaldićeva 2, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia

Abstract

Flexography is a printing technique mostly used in packaging printing. Flexographic printing plates are made of photopolymer materials, formulated to meet mechanical and qualitative requirements in the graphic reproduction process. The printing plate making process includes three exposures to UV radiation, and post-treatment with exposure in the UVC wavelength range. The post-treatment has to be performed in order to terminate the photopolymerisation process. During the transfer of the printing ink from the printing plate to the printing substrate, the surface properties of the printing plate strongly influence the quality of the imprint. The aim of this paper is to determine the influence of the UVC post-treatment of a flexographic CtP printing plate on its surface properties by analysing contact angle, surface free energy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The results indicate that UVC post-treatment influences the printing plate’s physico-chemical surface characteristics by changing the contact angle and the surface free energy components. This could result in a negative influence on the process of printing ink transfer from the printing plate to the printing substrate. EDS analysis shows that the changes in contact angles of probe liquids and surface free energy are caused by the increase of oxygen concentration in the surface layer of the printing plate, while Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis points specifically to an increased ratio of carbonyl and hydroxyl bonds. Therefore, the duration and intensity of UVC post-treatment must be strictly controlled and regularly monitored in order to avoidunwanted changes of surface properties of the flexographic printing plate and, consequently, of its behaviour in the printing process.

Keywords: flexography, photopolymer, CtP, UVC post-treatment, contact angle, surface free energy, EDS, FTIR

JPMTR 027 ⎮1328 Research paper
UDC 655.2:681.652.5

Received: 2013-11-04
Accepted: 2013-01-22

Investigation of the effect of ink penetration and gloss on a proposed spectral trapping model for high quality glossy coated paper

Shahram Hauck¹ and Sasan Gooran²
E-mail: shauck@beuth-hochschule.de; sasgo@itn.liu.se
¹ Dept. of Informatics and Media, Beuth Hochschule, Berlin University of Applied Sciences Luxemburger Straße 10, D-13353 Berlin, Germany
² Dept. of Science and Technology, Linköping University, Campus Norrköping, S-601 74 Norrköping, Sweden

Abstract

The amount of trapping has a great impact on the gray balance and color reproduction of printed products. Therefore, conventional print density based models to estimate the effect of trapping have been created, which only give percentage values. In an earlier paper (Hauck and Gooran, 2011) we have proposed a trapping model based on reflectance spectra, which defines the trapping effect as the ΔE*_ab colorimetric differences between the measurements and the calculated values. Therefore, this model is more useful and meaningful for the press machine operators than the conventional trapping models. The surface (gloss) and ground (ink penetration) effect may have an impact on the print results depending on the substrate and inks but these effects have mainly been ignored in all previous trapping models. In the present paper, we extend our earlier model to investigate the impact of both effects for high quality glossy coated paper and a set of sheet-fed offset inks. An ink mileage test was carried out to find the surface and ink penetration effects. The results of our investigation demonstrates that these two effects compensate each other and their total impact is almost negligible for the tested materials. This means that our previously proposed model can successfully be used for high quality glossy coated papers to determine the trapping value.

Keywords: ink trapping in offset, ink component penetration, surface effects on reflectance, color difference (ΔE*_ab), print quality, modeling ink trapping response

JPMTR 028 ⎮ 1329 Reseach paper
UDC 667.52:667.26

Received: 2013-11-27
Accepted: 2014-01-28

Consumer attitudes towards AR applications in Finland and Canada

Aino Mensonen¹, Maiju Aikala¹, Natalia Lumby²
E-mails: aino.mensonen@vtt.fi; maiju.aikala@vtt.fi; nlumby@ryerson.ca
¹ VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, P. O. Box 1000, FI-02044 VTT, Finland
² Ryerson University, 350 Victoria St., Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada

Abstract

This study aims to understand consumer attitudes towards augmented reality (AR) applications. The work was carried out with students and professionals in Finland and Canada as users, in order to investigate the similarities and differences between Finnish and Canadian consumers, following up on a study conducted by Gauttier and Schubert (2011), which was conducted in France and Russia. To understand the consumer attitudes towards AR applications, focus group interviews were carried out in both Finland and Canada. The Finnish group was composed of participants from Nordic countries. The focus group interviews were analysed and statements for testing were drawn from the analysis. Q-sort analysis was then used for further testing.

AR is seen as offering great potential for innovation. People would like to try the applications and would also find time for using them. AR is still a new technology for applications targeted toward consumers. The study participants valued the pragmatic aspects of the experience more than the hedonic ones, which is typical for new technologies. The expectations placed on AR applications are clearly high. In the results minor differences between countries were identified, however, users in both regions were very positive towards the use and future development of the technology. Moreover, using Q- sort methodology allowed the researchers to develop a framework of six user types. This framework can be used for further research as well as being useful for marketers who need to target specific groups of consumers.

Keywords: augmented reality, consumer perception, mobile media, Q-sort

JPMTR 029 ⎮ 1401 Research paper
UDC 655.3.066.23:659.3

Received: 2014-01-15
Accepted: 2014-02-05