Additive Manufacturing of Electronic Systems (AMES)

AM is being utilized to demonstrate high functional density systems by integrating different device technologies within a single unit through a continuous build-up process. The process includes integrating active and passive elements, signal and power distribution, optics, MEMS, and thermal cooling and isolation, etc. Novel prototyping materials, additive manufacturing strategies, and heterogeneously integrated 3D compact systems are being developed, especially in university labs.  Circuits operating well into the THz have been demonstrated using AM. Also, AM is being adopted in the rework of circuits at the chip- and board-level, and is being used to design conformal, low-cost, light-weight packages. Packaging prototypes of chips can readily be carried out using desktop systems and the use of multiple tools and large cleanrooms can be avoided. There were 12 papers presented at ECTC 2020 related to systems integration using AM. Also, a session was dedicated to AM based packaging. Hundreds of papers have been published related to AM based packaging over the last 6 months. In the future, AM based processing will impact almost all aspects of electronic packaging.

IEEE EPS (RF & THz Technologies committee, https://site.ieee.org/cpmt-rfthz/) is working on compiling advances being made in the area of AM based packaging, putting together educational material, and giving seminars to educate the packaging community in this growing field. In addition, novel AM approaches enabling the realization of “smart” packaging structures as well as techniques for the accurate codesign and modeling of additively manufactured RF modules are a fundamental focus of this committee.

Co-Chair: Prem Chahal (Michigan State University)

Chair: Emmanouil M Tentzeris (Georgia Institute of Technology)