3D Aerosol Jet Printing An Emerging MID Manufacturing Process. Dr. Martin Hedges Neotech Services MTP, Nuremberg, Germany info@neotechservices.com
Aerosol Jet Printing Aerosol Jet Process Overview Current Application Examples 3D Printing Summary
Aerosol Jet Process Overview Aerosol Jet is CAD driven printing technique. Developed by Optomec Inc, Albuquerque, USA. >$12m in Aerosol Jet Technology & Product Development. 13 patents issued, 43+ pending Targeting $bn markets in Electronics, Energy, Life Science - Active Opportunities in Packaging, Display, Flex, Fuel Cell, Drug Discovery... Aerosol Jet 300CE
How the Process Works 3 4 1 2 1. Functional ink is placed in the atomiser, gas flow creates an aerosol 2. Aerosol droplets ca.1-5μm, larger droplets return to ink (gravity effect) 3. The aerosol is carried to the deposition head, excess gas removed 4. The aerosol is focussed inside the nozzle by a secondary gas flow (sheath gas)
Aerosol Jet Characteristics 150μm Focussed Aerosol Beam No contact to nozzle Natural stand-off from substrate
Aerosol Jet Characteristics Too close - line spreads Ideal- line width constant with height 50 Too far away - turbulent mixing, line widens dth (micr rons) Line Wi 40 30 20 Focal Length 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Height of Nozzle above Substrate (mm)
Conformal Deposition 60μm lines into 500μm trench Nozzle standoff distance of ca. 5mm and long focal length allows conformal deposition with no change in Z-height.
Scalability Line Width Trials underway to reduce minimum line width to 5µm and below. Wide area nozzle development to print line widths 3mm+ (single pass). Current Line width scalability through 3 orders of magnitude. Ultra fine lines 2.5-3.5µm Ag Grid on Glass
Wide Area Nozzles New contract signed with US Airforce for Wide Area Nozzles. Next step is 5cm wide swaths - ie: 50mm line width. Fallback is to develop a multi-nozzle/head approach for area coating. Wide Area Nozzle 3mm Ag on Si Wafer CAD Model Wide Area Nozzle
Examples of Materials Used
Application Areas Packaging and Assembly High Density Interconnects* Flip-Chip / Direct Die Attach Embedded / Integrated Passives Flex Circuits Meso-Dispensing Electronic Components Resistors, Capacitors and Inductors Micro-Antennae Micro-Batteries Electronic Devices Solar Cells* Displays* Fuel Cells Sensors & MEMS Hybrid Manufacture 3D Smart Structures Life Science Bio-Sensors* Micro-Arrays *Production Applications 2010
Connecting Stacked Dies (Replace Wire Bond or TSV) Interconnects: 25micron line width 10 microns thick Cross section for die interconnects. Insert shows close up of contact area.
Printed Interconnect Advantages Features Interconnects as small as 10μm at <30μm Pitch. Full Range of High Conductivity Materials. High Aspect Ratio for Low Resistivity. Supports Non-Planar and 3D Surfaces. Cost & Functional Advantages. Higher Frequencies* with Better Reliability than WireBond. Much Better Time-to-Market and Cost Structure vs. TSV. Reduced Form Factors vs. Package on Package. 3D Stacked Die Working with Leading Smart Phone Players for Multi-Chip Packages (Processor/Memory Chip Sets) *Supports HF without antenna effect. Enables Multi-Chip Packages that combine Processor with Memory, etc.
Touch Screen-Bridge/Jumper Circuit Pre-Patterned ITO 5mm Step 1: Print Insulator 30 microns wide Step 2: Print Nano-Silver 10 microns wide
Bridge Jumper on ITO REFLECTION Insulator Ag TRANSMISSION Step 1: Print Insulator 30 microns wide
All-Printed OE Circuit 8 NAND Gates, 3 Inverters 2m m NAND Gate Inverter Crossover *Optomec Inc. collaboration with Dan Frisbie Group UMN
Printed Sensor Networks for Structural t Health Monitoring i Ag Strain Gauge on Al CuNi Strain Gauge COURTESY: Ag Strain Gauge on CFC
Printed Sensor Networks Simulation of Sensor Networks for Structural Health Monitoring Pt Strain Gauge FEA Combination with 3D MID Substrates Smart systems.
Printed Temperature Sensor Ag and Ni sensor structure
Example of Current 2 1/2D printing. Ceramic MID with Gold Ink ca 5mm ca. Interconnects ca. 100microns wide
6-Axis 6 Axis Aerosol Jet Printer Test Part Part Gripper Nozzle Shutter Installed a 6-Axis Aerosol Jet printer which extends process capabilities to true, large area, 3D printing. Build volume: c. 850 x 1200 x 1000mm (x-y-z)
6-Axis Aerosol Jet Printer. AJ-6X System installed at the Electronics Lab of FAPS (Institute for Manufacturing Automation & Producton Systems), University Erlangen-Nuremberg. FAPS Lab has extensive expertise in electronic systems and MIDs. Aim for Synergistic Effect in 3D Electronics.
Summary Aerosol Jet Process Capability Non-contact, conformal deposition Scalability: Ultra fine printed fine features to wide area High Utility Wide range of materials compatibility Wide range of applications Scalability for volume manufacture New 6-Axis Printer opens the way for novel 3D Printed MIDs over large areas.
Thank You! Neotech Services MTP - Dr. Martin Hedges Tel: +49 911 274 5501 info@neotechservices.com