Uphill screen printing in the manufacturing of microelectronic components

A method of fabricating at least one electrically conductive trace on a substrate comprising:

• providing a substrate having at least one face and having a dielectric structure of a preselected configuration formed on the at least one face of the substrate, the dielectric structure having at least one first surface vertically distanced from the substrate;
• providing a print screen having a first side and a second side and positioning the second side of the print screen opposite the at least one first surface of the dielectric structure of the substrate;
• providing and biasing a squeegee of a preselected hardness against the first side of the print screen toward the substrate thereby forming an angle between at least a portion of the second side of the print screen forward of the squeegee and the at least one first surface of the dielectric structure;
• screen printing an electrically conductive substance onto the at least one face of the substrate located below the at least one first surface of the dielectric structure to form at least one electrically conductive trace;
• screen printing the electrically conductive substance onto at least a portion of the at least one first surface of the dielectric structure so as to further form and extend the at least one electrically conductive trace from the substrate to the at least one first surface of the dielectric structure;
• and
• limiting the angle formed between the at least a portion of the second side of the print screen and the at least one first surface of the dielectric structure to an angle not exceeding approximately 15° while screen printing the at least one first surface of the dielectric structure.

A method of providing a multi-level electrically conductive structure comprising:

• providing a print screen having a preselected thickness, a top surface, a bottom surface, and having at least one preconfigured print pattern therethrough;
• providing a squeegee having a preselected hardness and having a generally tapering cross-section and terminating in a working edge;
• arranging a substrate having at least one lower-level surface and at least one upper-level surface so as to be opposite the bottom surface of the print screen;
• introducing an electrically conductive, screen printable substance onto at least a portion of the top surface of the print screen;
• biasing the squeegee against the top surface of the print screen toward the substrate resulting in a reference angle being formed between the bottom surface of the print screen ahead of the working edge of the squeegee and the at least one upper-level surface;
• sweeping the squeegee in a predetermined forward direction so as to urge at least a portion of the screen printable substance through the at least one preconfigured pattern and onto at least a portion of the at least one lower-level surface to form a first portion of at least one continuous electrically conductive structure while maintaining the reference angle within a preselected range;
• continuing the biasing and the sweeping of the squeegee so as to urge additional screen printable substance through the at least one preconfigured print pattern to form a second portion of the at least one continuous electrically conductive structure vertically spanning a region intermediate the at least one lower-level surface and the at least one upper-level surface;
• and
• continuing the biasing and the sweeping of the squeegee so as to urge additional screen printable substance through the at least one preconfigured print pattern to form a third portion of the at least one continuous electrically conductive structure upon at least a portion of the at least one upper-level surface.