Franz Vollman | Heraeus: How do you achieve military-grade adhesion and stable contact resistance when inkjet-printing silver on multi-material 2.5D packages?

Why is the separation of material supply and equipment manufacturing the biggest bottleneck in printed electronics scaling?

Vollman highlights that true mass production readiness in printed electronics cannot be achieved by offering materials or equipment in isolation. By integrating ink manufacturing, specialized inkjet printing hardware, and process parameters into a single turnkey system, developers can avoid the classic finger-pointing between chemistry suppliers and machine OEMs.

Specifically, Heraeus utilizes Metal Organic Decomposition (MOD) inks (particle-free silver precursors) whose fluid dynamics, viscosity, and evaporation profiles are directly co-engineered with the printing system's thermal and physical properties. This holistic optimization is critical because even minor chemical modifications drastically alter jetting performance and deposition accuracy.

Ultimately, this system-level ownership bridges the gap between lab-scale feasibility and 24/7 industrial fab reliability. Mass-production clients receive a single, accountable interface rather than a fragmented supply chain, allowing rapid deployment of selective metallic coatings without compromising process yield.

In this short video, you can learn:
* Why combining ink formulation, printing hardware, and process parameters under one roof accelerates mass-production readiness.
* The role of Metal Organic Decomposition (MOD) particle-free inks in achieving consistent fluid dynamics.
* How co-engineering materials and hardware eliminates the classic disconnect between chemistry and mechanical tooling in semiconductor fabs.
📋 **Clip Abstract** This clip highlights the strategic and technical benefits of integrating materials, equipment, and process engineering into a single turnkey solution for printed electronics. By co-developing particle-free MOD inks alongside industrial inkjet systems, Heraeus overcomes the typical yield and integration challenges of the semiconductor supply chain.

Can digital inkjet printing compete with physical sputtering in high-volume semiconductor advanced packaging?

Vollman outlines the multi-generation equipment roadmap required to transition printed electronics from low-volume technology validation to high-volume semiconductor manufacturing. While initial systems targeted lab scales, the current industrial generation handles populated wafer frames with automated load/unload cycles at throughputs of two to three wafers per hour.

To challenge conventional sputtering systems, Heraeus is developing a next-generation high-volume manufacturing (HVM) tool. This system scales to 12-15 wafers per hour using 24 active printheads to handle 12-inch wafers in a fully automated inline process that integrates pre-treatment, print, and curing.

The progression highlights why printed electronics has faced slow adoption in back-end packaging: each equipment generation takes at least 1.5 years to engineer, followed by another 1 to 1.5 years of stringent customer qualification cycles. This long developmental runway means there are no shortcuts to achieving fab-grade reliability.

In this short video, you can learn:
* The evolution of inkjet equipment from lab-scale validation tools to multi-nozzle high-volume production machines.
* How next-generation systems with 24 printheads achieve throughputs of 12-15 wafers per hour on 12-inch wafers.
* The realistic timelines and qualification bottlenecks involved in introducing additive printing into semiconductor fabs.
📋 **Clip Abstract** The clip details the technical roadmap and scaling timelines required to transition digital inkjet printing tools to high-volume semiconductor packaging. It contrasts early-stage low-throughput tools with next-generation 24-printhead inline machines designed to compete directly with physical sputtering systems.