Dr. Kai Keller | Notion Systems: Why hasn't inkjet printing replaced screen printing in general contract electronics manufacturing?
17:03 - 18:39
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Why hasn't inkjet printing replaced screen printing in general contract electronics manufacturing?
While screen printing remains the workhorse of contract electronics manufacturing, inkjet printing is often restricted to highly specialized, application-specific niches. The core reason lies in the sheer complexity of developing a truly universal, general-purpose inkjet system.
Unlike screen printing, which can deposit a wide array of pastes using similar physical screens, high-resolution inkjet is a highly interdependent system of fluid dynamics, surface chemistry, and hardware engineering. A single platform cannot accommodate the vast differences in viscosity, curing mechanism, and environmental conditions (such as nitrogen environments) required by different functional inks.
Consequently, successful commercialization of printed electronics via inkjet demands tailored machines where the printhead, ink, and post-processing modules are optimized for one specific task. This strategic reality forces manufacturers to build dedicated process chains rather than relying on general-purpose contract factories.
In this short video, you can learn:
* Why the "one size fits all" machine model fails to translate to industrial inkjet processing.
* The complex interdependencies between printhead architecture, fluid viscosity, and localized atmosphere controls.
* How the highly custom nature of functional inks keeps contract manufacturing reliant on screen printing.
š **Clip Abstract** Dr. Kai Keller addresses why inkjet printing has not yet achieved widespread adoption in general contract electronics manufacturing compared to legacy screen printing. He explains how the extreme specificity of printheads, ink chemistries, and environmental requirements prevents the creation of a universal, general-purpose inkjet platform.
#IndustrialInkjetPrinting, #FunctionalInks, #PrintheadArchitecture, #FluidDynamics, #PrintedElectronics, #AdditiveElectronics
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05:35 - 08:22
Can active microfluidic tuning overcome the inherent Ā±10% printhead variation barrier to eliminate display Mura defects?
Can active microfluidic tuning overcome the inherent Ā±10% printhead variation barrier to eliminate display Mura defects?
Industrial inkjet printheads natively exhibit drop volume and size variations of up to Ā±10% across different nozzles. In high-precision display manufacturingāsuch as OLED, quantum dot, or color filter printingāthese microfluidic variations manifest as "mura," a visible and unacceptable non-uniformity in pixel brightness, color, and pattern across the panel.
To eliminate these display defects, Notion Systems developed a methodical, multi-step engineering process. By systematically optimizing the driving waveform of the piezo-electric printhead, improving drop placement and alignment accuracy, and implementing a proprietary active "drop volume tuning" algorithm, they successfully minimized nozzle-to-nozzle discrepancies.
While these inherent fluidic variations cannot be completely reduced to zero, this tuning approach drastically flattens the volume variation curve across thousands of active nozzles. This technical milestone transitions inkjet from a prototyping tool to a high-yield, industrial-scale alternative for display and semiconductor manufacturing.
In this short video, you can learn:
* The physics behind pixel-level "mura" defects and their roots in droplet volume inconsistencies.
* The engineering roadmap to resolve jetting errors, from waveform calibration to alignment and active drop volume tuning.
* How active calibration reduces typical Ā±10% industrial printhead volume variations to near-uniform tolerance thresholds.
š **Clip Abstract** In this clip, Dr. Kai Keller details Notion Systems' systematic engineering strategy to combat display "mura" defects caused by inherent printhead nozzle variations. He explains how active drop volume tuning and waveform optimization mitigate the typical Ā±10% droplet volume fluctuations to achieve industrial-grade display uniformity.
#DropVolumeTuning, #MuraMitigation, #ActiveMicrofluidicTuning, #WaveformOptimization, #PrintedElectronics, #DisplayManufacturing
09:38 - 10:46
Why is digital inkjet printing replacing traditional spin coating for AR/VR nanoimprint lithography?
Why is digital inkjet printing replacing traditional spin coating for AR/VR nanoimprint lithography?
Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) has emerged as a crucial manufacturing route for diffractive optical elements in the AR/VR market. Traditional resist application relies heavily on spin coating, a subtractive process that wastes expensive active optical materials and lacks localized thickness control.
Dr. Keller highlights how selective, digital inkjet printing of resist materials solves these efficiency challenges. By depositing the exact volume of resist only where required, inkjet minimizes material waste, avoids boundary effects, and allows spatial variations in resist thickness tailored to the optical master.
Beyond resist processing, this digital additive framework enables direct 3D printing of optical lenses and complex RF components, such as radar waveguide antennas. This highlights a broader market pivot where high-accuracy material jetting challenges photolithography and spin coating in next-generation micro-optoelectronic devices.
In this short video, you can learn:
* The technical advantages of inkjet-deposited resists over legacy spin coating in nanoimprint lithography.
* How precise material jetting drives down production costs and enables variable-thickness coatings for AR/VR waveguides.
* The scaling of additive technologies into micro-optics and 3D-printed radar antennas for automotive applications.
š **Clip Abstract** This clip explores the disruptive shift from legacy spin-coating to digital inkjet resist deposition in nanoimprint lithography for AR/VR optics. Dr. Keller highlights how selective material jetting optimizes resist thickness control and material utilization while paving the way for 3D-printed lenses and radar antennas.
#NanoimprintLithography, #InkjetResistDeposition, #DiffractiveWaveguides, #SpatialThicknessControl, #PrintedElectronics, #AdditiveMicroOptics