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The use of lithographic techniques for microfabrication of electronic and mechanical structures at the submillimeter level requires expensive facilities, extreme processing conditions, and timescales of the order of weeks to go from design to completed device. The Naval Research Laboratory has developed a novel laser-based direct-write approach for non-lithographic digital microfabrication of microelectronics and other devices that is simple, fast, economical and highly versatile. The technique uses laser-induced forward transfer to print patterns of complex inks or pastes. As shown in the schematic on the left, a focused pulsed UV laser beam passes through a ribbon support and interacts with an ink coating containing a suspension of the material to be deposited. Above an incident laser energy threshold, the ink is transferred across the gap in the form of three-dimensional pixels, or voxels. This laser printing technique has been used to make various devices and structures from a wide range of electronic, ceramic, composite, and even biological materials. A few examples are shown above on the right.
References "Laser Direct-Write Techniques for Printing of Complex Materials," MRS Bulletin, 32, No. 1 (2007) 23. "Laser Decal Transfer of Electronic Materials with Thin Film Characteristics," Proc. of SPIE, 6879 (2008) 687911. Available for License: US Patent Nos. 6,177,151; 6,660,343; 6,766,764; 6,986,199; 7,001,467; 7,014,885; 7,427,359; 8,025,542; 8,056,222 and US Patent Pub. No. 2006-0197194. Other applications have been filed.
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