Nils Enlund, Co-editor and Chairman of the Program committee

The volume that you now hold in your hands con­tains the scientific and technical research contributions presented at the 37th International Research Conference of iarigai, the International Association of Research Org­anizations for the Information, Media and Graphic Arts Industries, held in Montreal, Canada, on Sept­ember 12-15, 2010. The contributions for this conference were selected by a scientific com­mittee of inter­national ex­perts through a double-blind review process.

The yearly iarigai conference is the main international forum for scientific exchange in the print and media technology field. The proceedings provide an excellent overview of current industry trends and research foci among universities and research organizations in the field.

In 2009, the main emerging research trend was the challenges of creating and maintaining sustainability in production, distribution and consumption of media content and pro­ducts. In 2010, this trend continues strongly. Scientific studies address the problems of assessing the carbon footprint of newspaper production, performing comparative life-cycle analyses of alternative media channels, and developing sustainable strategies for media companies.

Another trend that was already apparent in 2009 is now visibly gathering strength: investigat­ions of the user experience when consuming media content and products. How does the feel of a paper quality between your fingertops affect your attitudes toward the printed product and its content? How does the use of special effects influence the credibility and attractivity of the media product? How should we design products in order to address consumer pre­fer­ences? In an environment where the competition between media forms is growing stronger by the day, answering these and similar questions is becoming increasingly important.

A third strong trend within the research community is the development of innovative uses of printing technology. As printing of text and images is loosing ground due to the success of screen-based information, there is a surge of interest in alternative uses for the already exist­ing and fine-tuned printing technology. There is an increasing body of research on functional printing: printing of electronic components, batteries, and circuits; the use of nanotechnol­ogies; print­ing on non-conventional substrates; thermochromic prints. This development is paralleled by research on new types of paper and substrates for functional printed products. These areas hold tremendous opportunities. Print is defin­itely not dying.

In addition to the unfolding and expanding research topics above, this volume presents an abundance of new and exciting work on topics that may not have the same novelty value but form the solid basis of print technology research - questions of print and reproduction quality, color management, ink and paper characteristics, printing productivity, and standardisation.


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A. Sridhar, D.J. Van Dijk and R.Akkerman

Abstract
Inkjet printing is a widely deployed technique for printing texts, pictures etc., on paper. But of late, this technique is being deployed as a fabrication technique for other products as well; for instance, printed electronics.

The robustness and service life of inkjet printed electronic circuit structures are highly influenced by the state of the interface between these structures and the substrate. The extent to which the inkjet printed structures can share the strength of the substrate depends on the integrity of the interface. Adhesion strength is a key parameter that is used as a measure of integrity of the interface. In the case of polymer substrate materials, surface modification is necessary to realise a favourable interface, as these materials are generally not very receptive to chemical bond formation with the deposited ink. This paper deals with the surface modification of RO4003, a high-frequency substrate widely used in the printed circuit board industry. Two different techniques were used to modify the surface to improve interfacial adhesion. The techniques deployed are CF4 / O2 based plasma treatment and microstructuring using pulsed laser ablation.

The influence of the plasma treatment parameters on surface characteristics of the substrate was studied using the response surface methodology. Substrates with varying surface characteristics, resulting from different plasma treatment parameters, were subjected to post-processing steps including surface energy and surface roughness measurements. Similarly, the influence of laser treatment parameters on surface characteristics of the substrate was also studied in detail. Subsequently, a comparison of these two surface modification techniques is made with the aid of experimental results and measurements.

The improvement in adhesion of inkjet printed structures on plasma and laser processed substrates, when compared to unprocessed substrates, was demonstrated by printing metallic structures on those substrates and subjecting them to adhesion testing. The metallic structures were fabricated by printing a silver nanoparticle-based ink. After printing, the structures were sintered in order to remove the additives present in the ink and to impart continuity to the structures. Adhesion was tested using the Scotch tape test method and the pull-off test method.

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Vadim Katsman

Abstract
The aim of the current study is to develop a quasi-reqular screening structure based on the Penrose mosaic and one that is sustainable for the formation of a moiré. Software for the construction of quasi-reqular structures by inflation method has been developed through research. It has been empirically demonstrated that a quasi-reqular screen reduces effect of moiré compare to a regular screen. A two-dimensional Fourier transform sampling dot data based upon a quasi-reqular structure has been carried out, signs of angular anisotropy has been determined. Node indexing system based on the Fibonacci sequence has been used to detect such structural elements in quasi-reqular structures. Reduction of the angular anisotropy has been achieved by moving the nodes of the structure by chosen vectors complying with the structural and directional indices.

Keywords: quasi-regular structure, Penrose mosaic, digital halftone screening, moire resistant screen
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