PCB007 Magazine

PCB007-Nov2022

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64 PCB007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2022 Feature Article by Shavi Spinzi NANO DIMENSION Imagine fabricating PCBs without the hassle of drilled vias and metal plating. Imagine PCBs with near-perfect registration. If we take it to the next stage, imagine drawing electronics in 3D space. ere is a way to do all this with additively manufactured electronics (AME). We just need to start to think in 3D. is will allow us to aban- don the 2D limitations that we have become so used to and expand our horizons so that we can climb to higher levels of performance. In this article, I will explore the two funda- mental capabilities that are the cornerstones for drawing electronics in 3D space, which is where AME technology and 3D design capa- bilities converge. The First Cornerstone of AME: Isolation and Conductive Materials More than a decade ago, we saw the rise of printed electronics (PE), which is printing of conductive traces on a predefined substrate. e substrate is fixed, can be planar or a 3D shape and the printing process—either inkjet, aerosol jetting, or any other method—places the conductor on top of it. AME differs from PE because it uses more than one material. e simplest configuration for AME consists of two materials: one con- ductive and one isolation/dielectric. It has the potential to grow to more than two materials by adding combinations of different conduc- tive and isolation materials as well as sacrificial materials to build channels and different com- plex structures. Why Do We Need 3D PCB Structures? e first stage of AME was to imitate tra- ditional PCB 2D structures by building mul- tilayer boards (MLB), plated through-holes (PTH), and microvias to prove that AME can replace "traditional" PCB processes. It cer- 3D Electronic Devices With Additive Manufacturing Figure 1: One of the advantages of the AME printing process is the ability to build complex 3D parts combined as conductive electronics and isolation structures, all performed in one print session.

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