Carnegie Mellon Explores 3D Micro-Additive Manufacturing with Optomec System

Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering has deployed Optomec‘s Aerosol Jet Technology to advance  3D micro-additive manufacturing methods for fully printed conformal sensors, low loss passives and antennas for on-chip and off-chip electronics.

Carnegie Mellon’s Advanced Manufacturing and Materials Laboratory (AMML), led by Dr. Rahul Panat, is working on solving fundamental and applied problems in the areas of printed and flexible microelectronics manufacturing and lithium-ion batteries. These areas are relevant to realize devices and systems for wearable and internet of things (IoT) applications. Examples include smart contact lenses, wearable electronic clothing, robotic skins, bio-patches etc.

“We employ an Optomec Aerosol Jet 3D print system to directly print nanoparticle inks and polymers over complex surfaces,” says Dr. Panat.  “The Aerosol Jet system has enabled us to fully print 3D antennas at the sub 100um length scale and to conduct simulation studies to identify omnidirectional antenna designs. These fabrication methods are unique and can pave way for several applications in the high-speed communication areas.”

The team has also demonstrated recently that complex 3D battery architectures fabricated by Aerosol Jet show electrode utilization and fast-charge discharge cycles. Dr. Panat and his team are focused on developing next generation fully printed and in-situ cured solutions that have practical use within mainstream manufacturing.

For more info, visit Carnegie Mellon and Optomec.

Sources: Press materials received from the company.