NANOTECHNOLOGY FEATURE WELCOME TO THE 3RD DIMENSION


Simon Fried, co-founder and chief business officer at Nano Dimension discusses how advanced materials are enabling high-precision 3D-printed electronics


D


esign and development processes for electronics have evolved considerably


in recent years to keep pace with demands for faster, smaller and more cost-effective devices. One of the most promising developments is additive manufacturing, which, with the help of speciality inks, is emerging as an effective and efficient way to rapidly prototype printed circuit boards (PCBs). As this new era of precision


manufacturing continues to evolve, it is quite easy to foresee the use of 3D printing for the entire process – from design and prototyping to full production of customised electronics products. While this might sound like wishful


thinking to some, all of the elements are coming together to make it a reality. In an article published in Micro Matters last winter, “The Fine Print: The Key to Manufacturing,” we discussed the specific challenges and requirements of developing a 3D printer capable of printing electrically functional objects. This article will explore the unique ink formulations needed for high-precision inkjet printing of electronics.


IT ALL STARTS WITH THE INK The entire 3D printing process starts with a liquid ink, but it’s not just any ink. For additive manufacturing of electronics, the material must have very specific properties that meet the specs and parameters of the end product. Typically, inks used for this type of inkjet


deposition are highly conductive silver nanoparticle inks. Another requirement is for non-conductive, insulating dielectric inks that are compatible with the conductive ink and ensure adhesion, thermal dissipation and more. The 3D printer must be able to deposit and cure or sinter these inks to meet the requirements of what is being printed. Advanced materials for additive


manufacturing must provide exceptionally reliable printability and outstanding electrical properties, and because they are 3D printed in-house, they offer significant time and cost benefits over traditional processes used to produce functional electronic objects. When choosing an ink, attributes to consider include inks that sinter at low


ink, off-the-shelf solutions typically can’t provide the quality needed for high- precision 3D printing. Ideally, the best choice is an ink that is custom-formulated for a particular printer type, process and substrate; anything else simply will not perform as well. Customising inks is not an easy task;


significant know-how is needed to formulate the nanoparticles to meet the specific requirements of each printing context. Nano Dimension’s nanoparticle synthesis


process allows the control of the shape, size, and distribution of particles, ensuring a higher-quality and more conductive printed end-product. The company’s conductive and dielectric


inks make it possible to quickly print three-dimensional, high performance, low-cost conductive patterns as well as complex structures on relatively heat- sensitive substrates. The breakthrough inks, developed at an in-house laboratory, have compatible sintering and curing properties as well as ink stability, enabling precision, adhesion, viscosity, and engineered metal particle size. Because the company’s AgCite highly


temperatures and that can work with a variety of substrates such as paper, polymers, glass, perhaps requiring coatings to prime the surface. Manufacturers of these speciality inks often offer custom ink formulations for specific printing processes and applications that enhance adhesion, flexibility and other mechanical properties. These purpose-built inks are important


for those who may want to use additive manufacturing for printing RFID, OLED lighting, circuits, screen bezels, solar, sensors and other applications requiring high conductivity in industries such as defence, aerospace, automotive, telecom, medical, industrial and consumer electronics.


NOT ALL INKS ARE CREATED EQUAL Ink choice is a critical success factor for fast, simple and affordable creation of printed electronics prototypes and electronically functional objects. While it would be nice to have a “one size fits all”


/MICROMATTERS Figure 1:


Rapid prototyping of PCBs with the DragonFly 2020 3D Printer


Figure 2:


Multilayer PCB printed on the DragonFly 2020 3D printer


conductive silver nanoparticle inks and dielectric materials have been developed to be used together for simultaneous 3D printing, Nano Dimension is breaking existing technology barriers for multi- material 3D printing, allowing designers and engineers to print polymers and metals together on DragonFly 2020 3D printers to create functional parts. This sets new standards for accuracy, complexity and speed in the fields of both 3D printed electronics and professional electronics development and has the potential to enable more compact, denser and ultimately non-planar electronics.


THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION Many predict that the fourth industrial revolution will rely on 3D printing to deliver tailor-made products, and companies like Nano Dimension are well- positioned to be leading players in this field. An advanced 3D printer and speciality materials are essential to making this possible. These technologies will disrupt the world of production and enable real- time customisation of complex electronics in a range of industries, including space, military, smart cars, and more.


Nano Dimension www.nano-di.com T: +972 917-607-8654


MICROMATTERS | WINTER 2017 11


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28