Method and system for fabricating an electrical conductor on a substrate

A system for spraying a solid powder composition to form a coating material on a metal substrate, the coating material comprising a copper matrix and highly oriented pyrolytic graphite platelets dispersed in the copper matrix, the system comprising:

• an optical sensor positioned to monitor thickness of the coating material applied to the metal substrate;
• a controller in communication with the optical sensor, the controller being configured to, based at least on the thickness, generate a first command signal corresponding to an amount of gas propellant to be heated, a second command signal corresponding to a temperature to which the gas propellant is to be heated, a third command signal corresponding to an amount of the solid powder composition to be mixed with the heated gas in a nozzle, and a fourth command signal corresponding to a distance between the nozzle and the metal substrate;
• a first regulator receiving the first command signal and supplying an amount of gas propellant corresponding to the first command signal;
• a heater receiving the amount of gas propellant supplied from the first regulator, receiving the second command signal, and heating the gas propellant to the temperature corresponding to the second command signal;
• a second regulator receiving the third command signal and supplying an amount of solid powder composition corresponding to the third command signal to the nozzle, the solid powder composition comprising particles of copper and platelets of intercalated highly oriented pyrolytic graphite;
• and
• an actuator receiving the fourth command signal and moving the nozzle along the metal substrate at a distance between the nozzle and the metal substrate corresponding to the fourth command signal.