Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1108006
74 FLEX007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2019 Interview by Barry Matties I-CONNECT007 Dr. Kurt Christenson, senior scientist at Optomec, discusses the company's Aerosol Jet technology, which eliminates the need for wire bonding by printing interconnects on 3D surfaces. Christenson also explores the current state of the technology and highlights the mar- ket segments and applications with the most to benefit from being able 3D print electronic components, such as resistors, capacitors, antennas, and transistors. Barry Matties: Kurt, can you tell us a little bit about your company? Dr. Kurt Christenson: Optomec makes additive manufacturing equipment. We have two divi- sions. One division makes a product called LENS that makes a melt pool in metal with a laser and then sprays powdered metal in to add material. When it cools and freezes, it fol - lows the crystal structure, so we can repair a single crystal turbine blade or make full 3D metal parts. My part of the company makes a product called Aerosol Jet, which atomizes an ink. We don't care what's in the ink as long as we can make roughly three-micron droplets. Then, we aerodynamically focus it down to a size where we can make from 10-micron lines to three-millimeter strips, depending on the need. My personal focus has been on connect - ing integrated circuits. We call it three-dimen- sional IC or 3D IC. Matties: A while back, I did an interview with your colleague [Pascal Pierra] where we dis- cussed printing on the wings of airplanes and such. Christenson: Yes. That was the Aerosol Jet, which is my side of things. One of the things we do is print on aircraft wings. For instance, antennas on drone wings is a common interest that we get. A second would be heaters on spe- cialty windows or headlight heaters. Matties: Now, you're showing me all of these miniature parts, which is quite the opposite. Christenson: For larger things, we are a pre- cision company. We call it mesoscale print- ing between nanolithography and something larger like screen printing, but there is a need for mid-range printing also. Our wider nozzle is Growing Opportunities with 3D Printed Electronics