Ink & Ink Dispensers
used to develop both interior and exterior parts. LTCC (low-temperature-cofired- ceramics) has long been a commonplace board technology, especially for the ECU, gear control, ABS controller, steer by wire, etc. Last but not least, there can be niche opportunities in electrochromic glass, even in battery EMI shielding.
ELECTRONIC PACKAGING AND CONFORMAL METALLISATION There are multiple aspects of this trend. Aerosol printing had gained some popularity in mobile phone direct-on-part antenna production and similar. This opened a market for mono-disperse nanoparticles. The rise of 5G will likely put such designs at risk. Furthermore, some products have reached the end of the cycle. As such, the defining question will be whether aerosol can find new applications beyond mobile phone antennas. Conformal EMI shielding is a megatrend which will accelerate in the coming years. Here, we see a transition from low-cost but bulky lid-based board-level shielding to thin conformal package-level shielding. This trend is not exactly new, and one of the early adopters was the application processor on the 2015 Apple watch. Many components today in mobile phones have conformal EMI shielding. In general, the most common elements are WiFi, Bluetooth and other RF front end modules.
Conformal coating on NAND memories is rarer but increasing. Sputtering is the well-entrenched
processes here. It benefits from being proven and from sunk CapEx investment. It, however, may not have the highest unit per hour (UPH) rate given that sputtering rates will need to be slowed to achieve good adhesion to the epoxy molding compounds. This approach uses a SUS-Cu-SUS structure and is thus light on bill of materials. Instead, it is heavy on machinery costs as multiple sputtering tools will be needed. Multiple ink-based alternatives are now
emerging. Spraying is one option. Here, the process is non-vacuum. The ink composition and particle morphology do matter. The thicknesses here are 3-6um, and good side and top thickness uniformity are obtained. The ink-jet based approach is novel. It uses particle-free inks activated by light exposure. Here, there will be no nozzle clogging. The suppliers are suggesting that they can achieve sufficient shielding at just 1-2um thickness with UHP reaching 12k on 10mm2 packages. In both approaches, Capex is low, making the technology accessible to all manners of OSATs and lower value ICs and applications. This can, in the longer term, boost volumes. In general, ink-based approaches can only
partly conformably cover the package, leaving some areas unexposed. Furthermore, jetting can also be used to fill in trenches
created to isolate parts within a package, leading to in-package compartmentalization. This is a critical attribute, especially when antenna-in-package designs, important for 5G, are considered.
PHOTOVOLTAICS This remains the largest market worldwide for firing-type pastes. This is an irreplaceable market volume-wise. Indeed, the PV market has been roaring ahead since 2014, more than doubling in size. Indeed, global installations are expected to have exceeded 114GW in 2019. However, this is not an easy market for paste or powder suppliers. Here, price pressures are immense and performance advantages temporary and short-lived. Only those with large and well- established production lines can participate. Non-silicon wafer-based PV technology is
now confined to very small niches in the market. These, nonetheless, represent important sales opportunity, especially in forming the electrodes. This opportunity extends mainly to thin and highly conductive lines which cured at low temperatures. Such requirements match well with what nanoparticle inks seek to offer. For more information on the reports mentioned and to see the full portfolio of printed electronics research available from IDTechEx please visit the website.
idtechex.com/research/pe
convertermag.com
May 2020
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