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42 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2022 Interview by Nolan Johnson I-CONNECT007 For this interview, I initially reached out to Michael Schleicher, CID+, to comment on his recent presentation on additively manufac- tured electronic circuits during an EIPC Tech- nical Snapshot webinar. Schleicher is a PCB designer at SEMIKRON Elektronik GmbH & Co. KG. e EIPC presentation could be con- sidered a preview to the paper Schleicher will be presenting at IPC APEX EXPO this month. During my correspondence with Schleicher, he recommended including Jaim Nulman, PhD, in the conversation as well. Nulman is chief technology officer and executive vice presi- dent at Nano Dimension and is also presenting a paper this month at IPC APEX EXPO. Nolan Johnson: What is the multilevel addi- tively manufactured (AME) process? Jaim Nulman: Multilevel and multi-material additively manufactured electronics (AME) is a fabrication process where electronic cir- Multilevel Additively Manufactured Electronics: Nulman and Schleicher Elaborate cuits and devices are created from the ground up on a sacrificial substrate or on an existing structure. It is a 100% digital fabrication pro- cess where at least two materials, typically one conductive and one dielectric, are simultane- ously deposited layer by layer based on the desired electronic functionality. Being a digital process, the materials are deposited only in the needed areas; hence, no need to drill or laser cut, and therefore no waste. Furthermore, it enables direct fabrication of passive compo- nents such as capacitors, coils, and resistors; and naturally enables embedding of compo- nents. is capability reduces the parasitic ele- ments that arise from surface mounted tech- nologies. Johnson: In your paper, Jaim, you point out that AME provides "freedom to design elec- tronic devices with essentially a form factor." Tell us about that. Nulman: Basically, the AME design and fab- rication technology is not constrained by 90 degrees/perpendicular designs and the single