Characterizing the Electrical Properties of Anisotropic, 3D-Printed Conductive Sheets for Sensor Applications

This paper introduces characterization techniques to investigate electrical properties of 3D-printed conductors. It presents the combination of a physical model to describe frequency dependent electrical properties of 3D-printed conductors; the use of infrared thermography in combination with Joule heating to characterize electrical anisotropy in 3D-printed sheets; and the use of the voltage contrast scanning electron microscopy method (VCSEM) to determine potential distributions in 3D-printed sheets. By means of lock-in thermography, infrared (IR) measurements are improved and amplitude modulation enables lock-in thermography at excitation frequencies above the thermal cut-off frequency. Measurements on sensor samples show the potential of the methods for characterizing sheet-like, conductive structures. The characterization methods allow improvement of 3D-printed sensor designs and exploit electrical properties of 3D-printed conductors