Selectively Metalizable Stereolithography Resin for Three-Dimensional DC and High-Frequency Electronics via Hybrid Additive Manufacturing

Abstract

Direct manufacturing of customized end-use electronic products is becoming an emerging trend of additive manufacturing (AM). This highly demands the evolution of the conventional AM processes from simply building single-material parts to simultaneously delivering complex structures and end-use functionalities. In this work, we propose a novel hybrid additive manufacturing solution that combines stereolithography (SLA) three-dimensional (3D) printing and laser-activated electroless plating for the manufacture of 3D fully functional electronic products. With our newly developed functional SLA resin that can be 3D printed, laser-activated, and thereafter selectively metalized, high-resolution circuitry can be free-formly patterned on 3D structures. In virtue of high-performance electrical materials, this technology is capable of creating not only 3D direct-current (DC) electronics but also 3D high-frequency devices like microwave/millimeter-wave antennas, which cannot be fabricated via traditional printed circuit board (PCB) technology and not even by most AM processes. This study represents a significant advance in additive manufacturing technologies, and more importantly offers a unique opportunity for the mass customization of fully functional 3D electronic products, which shows great potentials in consumer electronics, communication engineering, and automobile and aerospace industries.

Autocatalytic Laser Activator for Both UV and NIR Lasers: Preparation of Circuits on Polymer Substrates by Selective Metallization

“…In the past decades, the selective metallization technology has attracted enormous attention due to its wide applications in communication equipment, − electronic devices, − medical appliance, energy storage devices, , light-emitting displays (LED), and wearable devices . At present, the commonly used metallization methods include photolithography, − ink printing, − micro-contact printing, screen printing, and laser-induced selective metallization (LISM).…”

Selectively Metalizable Low-Temperature Cofired Ceramic for Three-Dimensional Electronics via Hybrid Additive Manufacturing

“…Our previous work also presented two “selective metallization” HAM technologies. One built a 3D structure with platable and inplateble plastics via dual-material FDM printing, and then electrolessly plated the metallic circuitry on platable plastic. , The other developed a new type of functional photocurable resin that could be SLA printed, selectively laser-activated, and electrolessly plated to create both DC and high-frequency electronic devices …”

Efficient and Simple Fabrication of High-Strength and High-Conductivity Metallization Patterns on Flexible Polymer Films

“…For laser direct structuring (LDS) technology, the laser sensitizer must be added to the polymer matrix to construct LDS materials. − Significant efforts have been investigated to reveal the relationship between laser-induced activation and metallization. − During the laser activation process, the elemental metal is generated from the laser sensitizer, which acts as a catalyst, which is important to initiate electroless plating. − The arbitrary patterns were fabricated and simultaneously activated during laser irradiation. It should be noted that the LDS technology needs to incorporate a laser sensitizer into the polymer matrix.…”