Additive Manufacturing of Dielectric Ceramics and Ceramic–Metal Components Using Lithography-Based Ceramic Manufacturing

Lithography-based additive manufacturing (LCM), a Vat photopolymerization (VPP) technology, has become a standard method for fabricating ceramic components due to its high design freedom, fine resolution, and a wide availability of materials. However, the realization of ceramic multi-material systems using VPP is still in an early stage of development. This is primarily due to the unfavorable optical properties of functional materials (e.g., high light absorption and refractive index) and the challenges associated with co-sintering material combinations required for electronic applications. In this work, the additive manufacturing of dielectric and ceramic-metal multi-material components—such as LTCC ceramics with copper or silver—was investigated using a custom-developed VPP system equipped with a dual-material-vat setup. This system includes an integrated in-line cleaning unit that enables contamination-free switching between different materials. Highly filled, photocurable suspensions with high solids loading were used to ensure precise shaping and clear material separation. Various dielectric ceramics were successfully printed, debinded, and sintered; the resulting components exhibited electrical properties—specifically permittivity and Q factor—comparable to those of tape-cast reference samples (ε = 3–60). Additionally, selected ceramics were co-printed with silver or copper and successfully co-sintered, enabling the fabrication of functional multi-material components. These results demonstrate the significant potential of ceramics-based VPP for producing functional ceramic and multi-material components with application-specific electrical properties. Future work will focus on minimizing thermally induced stresses during co-sintering by optimizing the rheological and thermal expansion properties of the suspensions.