Ram Prasad Gandhiraman | Space Foundry: How can we build 200-micron thick multi-layer electronics on composite materials without losing sub-micron alignment?
06:22 - 08:00
Other snippets from this talk
Summary of the clip:
How do we maintain precise layer-to-layer alignment and structural integrity when depositing thick, multi-layered metallic patterns on complex, non-planar surfaces?
Traditional multi-step manufacturing pipelines—where printing and curing are decoupled across separate tools—introduce significant registration errors and operational complexities. In advanced aerospace applications, such as depositing bandpass and bandstop filters inside the curved nose cones of guided missiles, maintaining perfect geometric alignment between successive metallic and composite layers is critical to RF performance.
The fabrication of these high-frequency structures requires alternating layers of metal patterns and structural composites, often demanding metal deposition thicknesses ranging from 50 to 200 microns. Standard printed electronics methods struggle to build up such high-aspect-ratio, thick-film features on 3D surfaces without suffering from delamination, slumping, or thermal mismatch during post-deposition curing.
To overcome these manufacturing bottlenecks, a unified direct-write approach is required to deposit and treat materials in a single step. Utilizing plasma jet technology enables the precise, additive build-up of thick metallic patterns directly onto composite substrates, eliminating the alignment errors inherent in transfer-tool setups and meeting stringent aerospace tolerances.
In this short video, you can learn:
* The manufacturing challenges of aligning multi-layered metal patterns sandwiched between composite layers on curved surfaces.
* Why decoupled printing and curing processes introduce prohibitive complexity in high-precision aerospace applications like nose cone filters.
* The technical requirements for achieving thick-film metal depositions up to 200 microns using plasma jet technology.
📋 **Clip Abstract** The speaker discusses the challenges of aligning multi-layered metal patterns and composites on curved surfaces, such as guided missile nose cones, where thickness requirements reach up to 200 microns. He explains that decoupled printing and curing tools introduce manufacturing complexities, presenting plasma jet deposition as the solution.
🎤 Speaker: Ram Prasad Gandhiraman
🏢 Company: Space Foundry
📅 Event: The Future of Electronics RESHAPED 2023 Berlin
📍 Location: Estrel Congress Centre, Berlin, Germany, Europe
🌐 Learn more at the next TechBlick event: https://www.techblick.com
#StructuralElectronics, #DirectWriteDeposition, #RFMetamaterials, #ThickFilmConductors, #AerospaceComposites, #AdditiveElectronics
This is a highlight of the presentation:
More Highlights from the same talk.
08:00 - 09:47
Can plasma-assisted aerosol jetting eliminate the post-deposition curing step entirely for printed metals?
Can plasma-assisted aerosol jetting eliminate the post-deposition curing step entirely for printed metals?
Conventional aerosol jet printing processes deposit wet ink droplets that require high-temperature thermal ovens, lasers, or chemical agents to evaporate solvents and sinter the metal nanoparticles. Plasma jet printing, however, bypasses this bottleneck by generating a low-temperature plasma discharge directly inside the print head nozzle. This plasma physically breaks down the incoming aerosolized mist, creating highly energetic and charged atomic and molecular species.
By applying electromagnetic fields, the charged metallic species are driven downward at high velocities, bombarding the target substrate. This energetic bombardment induces localized kinetic activation at the surface interface, resulting in outstanding mechanical adhesion without requiring high substrate temperatures. The plasma gas chemistry is dynamically controlled to create a localized in-situ reducing environment by introducing small percentages of hydrogen gas.
The presence of active hydrogen radicals reduces the metallic precursor ions directly in flight. As a result, the material is deposited as a dry, fully reduced, and highly conductive metallic pattern on contact. This eliminates post-deposition thermal treatment, permitting direct-write metallization on ultra-sensitive substrates.
In this short video, you can learn:
* The physical mechanism behind plasma jet printing and how it extends traditional aerosol jetting.
* How electromagnetic field-driven kinetic bombardment dramatically enhances thin-film adhesion.
* The chemistry of in-situ metal reduction using localized hydrogen plasma to deposit dry, conductive traces.
📋 **Clip Abstract** This segment introduces the physics and chemistry of plasma jet printing as an evolutionary step beyond standard aerosol jetting. The speaker explains how in-flight reduction of metal ions via hydrogen plasma delivers fully dry, conductive traces directly onto substrates with zero post-deposition curing.
#PlasmaJetPrinting, #InFlightReduction, #DirectWriteMetallization, #AerosolJetting, #PrintedElectronics, #AdditiveElectronics
10:35 - 12:43
Why are aqueous metal-salt inks outperforming traditional nanoparticle inks in low-porosity print metrics?
Why are aqueous metal-salt inks outperforming traditional nanoparticle inks in low-porosity print metrics?
Nanoparticle-based conductive inks face significant engineering hurdles, including particle aggregation, nozzle clogging, and high surfactant/polymer content that leaves behind porous voids after sintering. To solve this, a salt-based precursor approach mimics liquid-phase electrochemistry but operates in an open-air dry environment. The ink is a simplified, polymer-free aqueous solution of metal salts, such as copper sulfate, which is aerosolized and fed into the print head.
As the mist travels through the plasma zone, the dissolved metal cations (e.g., Cu2+) undergo a rapid gas-phase reduction to their zero-valent metallic state (Cu0). Because the precursor is entirely dissolved in water and lacks organic binders, there are no bulky capping ligands to burn off. This results in highly uniform, dense metallic structures that display far lower porosity compared to traditional nanoparticle-sintered films.
Furthermore, this chemical approach permits precise control over the morphology and oxidation state of the deposited film. By tuning the plasma power, gas flow rate, and precursor concentration, users can switch between depositing pure zero-valent metals, oxides, or custom alloys at near-room temperatures (50-60°C).
In this short video, you can learn:
* The chemical differences between nanoparticle-filled inks and polymer-free, aqueous metal-salt precursors.
* How gas-phase plasma electrochemistry reduces copper and silver ions in-situ without liquid baths.
* The impact of salt-based precursor systems on reducing porosity and improving structural uniformity in printed traces.
📋 **Clip Abstract** Ram Prasad discusses the benefits of Space Foundry's aqueous, nanoparticle-free metal salt inks over standard nanoparticle inks. He explains how gas-phase plasma electrochemistry reduces metal ions in-flight to produce uniform, dense, low-porosity copper and silver traces at low temperatures.
#MetalSaltInks, #PlasmaElectrochemistry, #InFlightReduction, #ParticleFreeInks, #PrintedElectronics, #AdditiveElectronics