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An additively manufactured in-package flex sensor for accurate bending prediction of flexible phased arrays is introduced. The sensor design is thin, flexible and accurate and can be readily embedded within a flexible phased array/Flexible Hybrid Electronics(FHE) package. Additively manufactured flexible phased arrays can be easily integrated with this proposed sensor using an all additive process. A series of bending tests were performed to measure the accuracy of the bending prediction for a proof-of-concept phased array. Using the dataset collected, the sensor can achieve 90 % accuracy in predicting the bend radius in both directions over the phased array plane. Using a 29 GHz 15×15 element phased array model, results in an 1.04 dB average gain error per missclassification and only 0.071 dB error in total as compared to 10.2 dB average gain error when using a non-calibrated equally phased array. This approach could be easily expanded to include multiple bend axis for larger arrays and flexible packages allowing for the accurate detection of non-radial, irregular bends.

This paper presents the investigations regarding the reactions of nano Ag catalysts and Pd catalysts on Cu foils. According to the survey, the nano Ag catalysts can be removed immediately and detached from the Cu foils in seed layer etching steps. But the Pd catalysts will deposit on the Cu foils again while etching because of the substitution from Cu to Pd; consequently the Pd catalyst steps will cause the deposition outside fine patterns in final treatments even in Modified Semi Additive Process (MSAP). With the electroless copper plating process using the nano Ag catalysts, it becomes possible to conduct the ultra-fine patterning of Line/Space (L/S) = 5 μm/5 μm.

Ink-jet 3D printing is an additive manufacturing process where-in parts are built by jetting material from nozzles layer by layer, with curing between successive layers of deposition. Typically, this additive process is operated in an open-loop manner, i.e., the number of layers and droplet patterns for each layer are determined in advance and are not modified based on measurements of current height profile during the printing process. As a result, the uncertainties in droplet sizes, heights and locations during printing can result in undesired part geometry, such as edge shrinking, unreliable dimensions and uneven surfaces. Naturally, incorporating feedback measurements into the control algorithm will improve performance if suitable models and cost functions are constructed. In this paper, we first propose a control-oriented layer to layer height evolution model for two-material Ink-jet 3D printing. Based on this model, a predictive control algorithm that uses measurements of the current height profile to generate control inputs for successive layers is designed. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated by simulation studies.

Inkjet printing is a low-cost, additive process that has enabled various disruptive technologies that combine new materials with novel multidisciplinary operation concepts. Beyond prototyping, their inherent scalability could make them good candidate for commercial/mass production applications such as large area structural monitoring, distributed sensing and IoT applications. This overview explores the reliability and the great potential of these novel technologies when applied to high performance RF and THz devices of the future.

Mechatronics is based on the integration of mechanics and electronics. Because of the geometric complexity of the modules of mechatronics it is challenging to apply additive manufacturing. Additive fabrication techniques can help to produce rapidly customized mechatronic components. If the principle of the additive process is considered in the early state of the product development, novel design concepts are opened up, which cannot be realized by conventional machining methods. The focus of this study is to evaluate the actual potential of stereolithography for the rapid manufacturing of gears, pneumatic actuators, electropneumatic sensors and other equipment needed for the integration into mechatronic systems. The opportunities and limitations of stereolithograpy for the rapid manufacturing of such components are discussed in this paper.

Unscented Kalman filter (UKF) using augmented state for the nonlinear dynamic systems in the presence of additive process and measurement noises is addressed. There are two alternative versions of UKF in which the system state may be augmented or not be augmented by the process and measurement noises. It was reported that the augmented UKF has better performance for dynamic systems than the nonaugmented UKF. However, the research results apply only to the dynamic system with weak noises, not to mention how the performance of these two UKFs compared in the presence of strong noises. Under the condition of n+k=const, the basic difference in one filtering recursion between them is that the covariance of state vector in augmented UKF incorporates the process noises. This difference generally makes the gain in augmented UKF bigger than the counterpart in nonaugmented UKF. We cast augmented KF and nonaugmented UKF into a discrete-time dynamic system equation. Then we find that the nonaugmented UKF yields better performance than the augmented UKF in the case of strong noises, which contradicts with the results obtained in the presence of weak noises.

A highly reliable, high-density printed wiring board process called the partly additive process has been developed for manufacturing high-speed digital switching systems. The partly additive process realizes very fine, highly reliable through-holes and circuit patterns at fairly low cost. To realize this process, a specially designed solder-resist that can withstand high temperatures and the high alkalinity of electroless copper plating solution was developed. A new electroless copper plating solution was also developed that can deposit copper having excellent mechanical and electrical properties. The composition of the electroless copper plating solution could be tightly controlled using a newly developed system to automatically monitor and supply solution components accurately. >

Solid metallic connections have been successfully formed between two standard levels of metallization using a focused IR laser system. This new process of laser formed connections has been used to link chains with resistances of less than 0.8 /spl Omega/ per connection. Commercial laser repair systems used extensively by the memory industry were employed to perform over 100000 individual links over a wide set of laser parameters without failure. This technology has the potential to replace laser fuse cutting techniques to program wiring in silicon-on-silicon, wafer scale integration (WSI), and system-on-a-chip applications. Furthermore, because it is an additive process and the passivation remains completely intact, it lends itself to redundancy with perfect yield and exceptional reliability.

This paper describes a fully additive process using photoimagable dielectric dry film with either electroless copper or conductive ink interconnect for construction of fine-line printed wiring boards (PWBs). Performance, cost, and environmental impact (energy, waste, and water) for the fully additive materials and processes are compared to those for conventional fabrication. Issues surrounding insertion into a production facility are discussed and a demonstration test vehicle is described. A trade-off analysis software tool is used to generate actual cost and waste data for a six-layer panel and results are presented.