Additive Manufacturing of Multiphase Materials for Electronics

摘要

Additive manufacturing (AM) of functional electronic components defines the next generation of miniaturized devices. Additive manufacturing of conductive traces can eliminate several post-processing operations in traditional manufacturing methods such as photolithography, tape casting, and screen printing. In this research our team employed a hybrid additive manufacturing technology which combined microextrusion and pico-jetting. Conductive slurries and colloidal inks were optimized for their rheological properties to assist with precision deposition on substrates. The deposition was performed on both rigid (glass) and flexible (kapton) substrates, respectively. The conductive traces were fabricated using carbon slurry and nickel ink using microextrusion and pico-jet units, respectively. The deposited traces were cured using two sintering mechanisms which include furnace heating and laser irradiation. The effect of curing mechanism on the conductance of deposited traces was evaluated. This research lays the foundation for the fabrication of 3D electronic components using a hybrid additive manufacturing technology.