Michael Matthews | Fabric8Labs: Can an OLED display backplane be repurposed to 3D print pure copper at room temperature?
00:02:16 - 00:03:53
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Summary of the clip:
Can an OLED display backplane be repurposed to 3D print pure copper at room temperature?
Electrochemical Additive Manufacturing (ECAM) represents a radical shift in metal 3D printing by merging thin-film transistor (TFT) display backplanes with standard electroplating chemistry. Instead of using high-power lasers and metal powders, the ECAM printhead acts as an ultra-high-resolution array of individual, pixelated electroplating cells. Each pixel is independently controlled to project localized electric current through an aqueous copper solution.
This localized current dynamically reduces copper ions into solid metal at the pixel scale, which is currently about 33 microns. By building parts layer-by-layer directly from the fluid, the process bypasses the hazards and costs associated with fine metal powders. It relies on standard, low-cost copper acid plating baths common in every printed circuit board (PCB) shop.
Because the electrochemical reduction occurs at room temperature, the thermal stress and distortion typical of powder-bed fusion are completely avoided. This enables direct printing onto highly temperature-sensitive substrates like organic circuit boards. Furthermore, the printed copper achieves full mechanical and electrical density out of the bath, eliminating any need for high-temperature post-print sintering or annealing.
In this short video, you can learn:
* How TFT backplane technology is modified to control micro-electrodeposition of metal.
* The mechanical and economic advantages of room-temperature, powderless copper printing.
* Why ECAM eliminates post-processing steps like sintering and annealing for dense metal parts.
π **Clip Abstract** This clip introduces Electrochemical Additive Manufacturing (ECAM), which repurposes TFT display backplanes to control localized electroplating at the micron scale. By printing pure copper from an aqueous solution at room temperature, the technology enables direct deposition on temperature-sensitive substrates without thermal distortion or post-sintering.
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#ElectrochemicalAdditiveManufacturing, #TFTBackplanes, #MicroElectrodeposition, #DirectCopperPrinting, #AdditiveElectronics, #PrintedElectronics
This is a highlight of the presentation:
Future of Electronics RESHAPED USA 2026
Computer History Museum, Mountain View, California, USA
Organised By:
TechBlick
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00:05:59 - 00:07:56
Why are traditional skived microchannels failing the latest generation of AI GPUs?
Why are traditional skived microchannels failing the latest generation of AI GPUs?
Standard liquid cooling plates rely on skived microchannels, which are mechanical structures that distribute fluid uniformly across a cold plate. However, modern high-power chips and AI accelerators present highly asymmetric, dynamic heat maps. Uniform fluid distribution leads to severe thermal inefficiencies, under-cooling hot spots while wasting coolant flow on cooler zones of the silicon.
Using electrochemical additive manufacturing, thermal engineers can design and print complex, non-uniform 3D cooling topologies tailored directly to a specific chipβs power map. By routing more fluid to localized hot spots and reducing flow elsewhere, these custom cold plates optimize fluid dynamics. This selective routing achieves both a lower peak junction temperature (Tmax) and vastly superior thermal uniformity across the die.
Minimizing thermal gradients across the silicon substrate mitigates mechanical stress and reliability concerns associated with coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatches. At the system level, the resulting gains in cooling efficiency allow data centers to either push chips to higher power limits or harvest substantial energy savings. This optimization can translate into hundreds of millions of dollars in annual operating expense reductions for large-scale facilities.
In this short video, you can learn:
* The fundamental limitations of mechanically skived microchannels on asymmetric chip heat maps.
* How additive manufacturing optimizes fluid distribution to match localized silicon power maps.
* The system-level financial and reliability impacts of improved thermal uniformity in AI data centers.
π **Clip Abstract** This clip examines the design limitations of traditional uniform microchannel cold plates when cooling asymmetric high-power GPUs. It demonstrates how customized, 3D-printed liquid cooling structures can match specific chip power maps to reduce peak temperatures and improve thermal uniformity.
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#ElectrochemicalAdditiveManufacturing, #MicrochannelColdPlates, #AsymmetricThermalManagement, #ThermalUniformity, #DataCenterCooling, #AIGPUCooling
00:09:50 - 00:11:06
Can we eliminate tolerance stack-up in millimeter-wave phased array antennas?
Can we eliminate tolerance stack-up in millimeter-wave phased array antennas?
High-frequency RF and millimeter-wave phased array antennas demand extreme geometric precision to maintain signal phase coherence. Traditional manufacturing relies on assembling individual antenna elements onto a PCB using solder reflow. Unfortunately, minor variations in solder joint height and placement introduce physical tolerances that degrade overall antenna performance.
By printing metal antenna elements directly onto the circuit board using ECAM, manufacturers can eliminate the assembly and solder reflow stages entirely. The underlying printhead uses a fixed grid of TFT-controlled pixels, which ensures absolute spatial registration across the entire array. This lack of tolerance stack-up means the printed structures match simulated RF performance curves with unprecedented accuracy.
This direct-write capability enables complex 3D antenna structures that are physically impossible to assemble with standard pick-and-place tools. Eliminating internal assembly interfaces also improves thermal dissipation and structural integrity under extreme environments. The result is a highly reliable, high-performance RF front-end optimized for next-generation transmit and receive applications.
In this short video, you can learn:
* How direct metal printing on PCBs eliminates solder-induced tolerance stack-up in RF arrays.
* The role of TFT pixel arrays in ensuring perfect spatial registration of antenna elements.
* Why monolithic 3D printing closely aligns physical RF test results with simulated models.
π **Clip Abstract** Michael Matthews showcases how direct-on-board metal printing of phased array antennas eliminates manual assembly variations and solder-related tolerance stack-up. By utilizing a fixed pixel grid, the printed RF elements achieve high geometric accuracy, tightly matching digital simulations.
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#ElectrochemicalAdditiveManufacturing, #PhasedArrayAntennas, #ToleranceStackUp, #ActiveMatrixPrinting, #MillimeterWaveRF, #AdditiveElectronics