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Ink Jet Printer Could Simplify Electronic Circuit Manufacturing
Tabletop printer could be used in making of flexible displays and RFID tags
Using
a table-top-sized printer, product developers may now be able to build
printed circuit boards for devices ranging from cell phone displays to
RFID antennae to solar cells.
The new technique, developed by Santa
Clara-based Dimatix, Inc, builds circuits a drop at a time by using a
piezoelectric print head to dispense liquid silver, nickel, gold or a
variety of semiconductor materials onto an electronic substrate.
Because it eliminates masking and etching from the traditional
electronic manufacturing process and replaces those steps with simple
deposition procedure, Dimatix executives say it could enable design
engineers to dramatically cut costs on certain projects.
“If every
circuit you make is different, or if you have a very complicated
circuit that causes masking to be expensive, then this ink jet method
is a viable way to build your circuits,” notes Martin Schoeppler, vice
president of corporate strategic business development for Dimatix.
“Here, there is no etching and no ‘subtraction’ steps.”
The key to
the new process is Dimatix’s creation of the ink jet printer, known as
the DMP-2800, which deposits the nano-droplets onto an electronic
substrate. The printer also uses a MEMS-based cartridge developed by
Dimatix. In the past, ink jet printers could not have been used for
such depositions because the heat from a conventional ink jet unit
would have destroyed metals or organic materials. Dimatix engineers
solved that problem by re-engineering ink jet print heads to use
specialized nozzles, pumping chambers and acoustic wave membranes.
Ultimately,
the company’s executives hope that their new process will be usable in
complicated electronics projects that require numerous masking steps,
or in situations where construction of prototype printed circuit boards
are called for. In both cases, designers could save money by
eliminating the need for expensive photomasks.
The company is eyeing
a variety of applications, including solar cells, keyboards,
light-emitting surfaces, smart cards, ID tags, RFID components, and
flexible displays for laptops, cell phones, and handheld games.
“Display
companies have publicly announced that they are counting on ink jet
technology to replace their current manufacturing methods because it
lowers their costs and gives them better precision,” Schoeppler says.
Schoeppler
says that universities, laboratories, and start-up companies working on
application of nano-materials are also potential users of the
technology, along with firms that are working toward the Holy Grail of
the one-cent RFID tag.
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