Mesoscale deposition technology

The continual drive for smaller, more powerful and economic electronic systems, has led to the development of a new manufacturing technology, Maskless Mesoscale Materials Deposition (MD). Without masks or resists, features down to 10 microns can be directly written in a wide range of materials, including metals, polymers, ceramics, adhesives, and even biomaterials, on virtually any surface material. For substrates with a low temperature tolerance, MD locally processes the deposition through a laser scanning process. The end result is a high-quality thin film with excellent edge definition and near-bulk electronic properties. As a CAD driven, additive manufacturing process, MD provides significant environmental benefits and reduced processing requirements, eliminating the waste associated with traditional subtractive (e.g. mask and etch) processes. MD can also precisely deposit materials on non-planar substrates. With no physical contact with the substrate by any portion of the tool other than the deposition stream, conformal writing is easily achieved. This paper will detail the benefits of MD technology in creating mesoscale features for electronics assembly and semiconductor packaging applications and outline some of the current application areas. Repair MD can precisely place material to fix open circuits in service/repair operations for high value electronics.