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World's First Ultra-Thin Multilayer Circuit Board
neutron_p writes "Seiko Epson has developed the world's first 20-layer circuit board. Multilayer circuit boards are normally produced by using a photolithography. However, the industry has struggled to produce thin, lightweight, high-density multilayer circuit boards. Seiko Epson uses an inkjet-based manufacturing process, which has many advantages over a traditional photolithography process."
Because I think this could be another significant price reduction for people who want to try their hand at manufacturing hardware/embedded devices in their garage.. buy a 150 dollar inkjet, some special paper and conductive/insulator ink, and print up all your designs.
and the less barrier there is to entry in an industry, the more the competition, and the faster/better the growth.
I don't know how I'm going to keep from breaking one of these things every time I touch it. I have broken some thicker-than-ultra-thin PCBs in my day and don't imagine these to be any less susceptible to the pressure of my indelicate hands. I wonder if/hope we'll see some connectors/slots in the future that don't require a board-breaking effort to slip the peripheral cards out.
The only problem with this technology is that there are no controlled impedances which are essential for high speed signs for today's PCB needs.
I don't believe this technology will replace the conventional multilayer printed circuit board for some time. At least in mass produced consumer electronics. Perhaps some niche market where there is a requirement that each circuit board is different.
The main advantage of this new technology is that it is relatively cheaper to produce a small quantity of boards because there is no high cost of making masks. Most of the money today is made with consumer electronics where there is a requirement of large series of identical boards so this is no longer such an advantage (the starting cost of mask is almost zero after 1000 or so boards).
The article also does not mention how this type of circuit board is compatible with electronic components. I guess you can not solder SMDs to a trace that is composed of tiny silver particles. This probably means that a totaly new technology for mounting electronic components needs to be developed. The classical soldered spot is one of the most reliable components in electronics and I don't believe any new technology will surpass that anytime soon (this is not so unimportant, considering that an average circuit can have 100s or 1000s of soldered spots).
I can see a couple of limitations which aren't discussed in the article.
Firstly, thin layers of silver particles mean very limited power supplies. The thin layers of insulation will also limit the working voltage. This can be overcome so some extent by printing multiple layers, but that may cause problems in the drying/curing process.
Secondly, the thin layer of insulation will result in significantly higher capacitance between layers. This will probably limit high frequency applications and result in every other layer being a ground plane to limit coupling in other applications.
Still, it's a step in the right direction.
Keith.
Connection - how about reverse it? Print PCB on board/paper with pre-installed connectors? And PCB itself is also nothing - you need to mount SMT resistors, CPUs etc.
no one seems to be picking up on the implications of INKJET PRINTABLE ELECTRONICS ::
Open Source Hardware!!!!!
download a design for a gadget off 'hardforge', print it out, and away you go. Dont like a design feature on the latest open ipod clone: change it yourself and print a personal custom model.
watch "the money masters" on google video
This will take them to a whole new level of discard-and-replace.
I totally agree. I wonder what is better for environment: produce liquid chemical waste by making conventional circuit boards or produce a lot (potentially toxic) solid waste composed of discarded devices that can not be repaired.
Chemicals involved in circuit board manufacturing aren't that toxic at all. Photoresist is developed with NaOH or KOH, both of which will decompose when exposed to carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. HCl that is used for etching copper will also be neutralized by, for example, limestone in the environment.
Once upon a time there were technicians that could take any piece of consumer electronics, and given a good repair manual, trouble shoot the problem and replace the offending component.
I can't believe that today I give big bucks for an expensive instrument (e.g. osciloscope in my case) and don't even receive a circuit board chart. Not so long ago you got a circuit board chart with a cheap FM radio... And guess what? That radio is still working after 30 years (and three or four minor repairs).
I can see this working very will for hybrid integrated circuit manufacturing.
First the circuit is printed.
Next the conductive cement is printed.
Finally a component transfer drum 'prints' the components on to the board.
The drum could made of a plastic on a rapid prototype machine and mounted in a loader (drum rotates and components are dropped into pockets)
for small runs. For large runs the drum would serve as a pattern for something that woudl hold up longer.
The result is a very rapid transition from CAD/modeling stage to large scale production.
Refinements for projects you know from the get go are going to be big would include printed resistors and capacitors. A series of printers with multiple heads for the various 'ink' flavors would work best for this. Resistance with a few ink mixes and pattern/width for values within ranges. In this scenario you only need to 'print' active devices and larger inductors and capacitors. All else is done with the ink.
I bet this technology will be up and running before then end of 2005 and cranking out helmet electronics for military, wrist watch cell phones, and some really cool Cracker Jack(tm) toys.
Do not look into LASER with remaining eye!
This tech isn't limited to circuits.
one could print other chemistry (battery, sensor, display, etc) right on the board. I can see ultra thin $3 wristwatches where the watch and battery are integrated into the band.
Do not look into LASER with remaining eye!
Unless this new technology is vastly different from existing ones, it will be good for them and bad for us. I've dealt with very thin boards a few times and I hate them! Why you say?
Ultra thin boards break their solder joints very easily. Thermal cycling seems to affect thinner boards more than thicker ones and leads to bad solder joints. Unless the resulting boards are small and have a LOT of mounting points they flex and break, especially if the boards are large.
Unless the thing can flex like an acordion without breaking solder joints, or the entire resulting circuit is printed in this way (no drilled holes or surface mount components) I'd hate to even touch one of these.
Me too, but this wouldn't require the etching stage. Just one step, no mess and very fast. Assuming the ink is relatively inexpensive then it would be cheaper too (which is why they created this in the first place I believe).
It seems like this would mean you would have to worry even more about how you laid out the traces on your board. Since they will be even closer together between layers, I would think there would be a greater risk of capacitance between them. That could cause some rather strange behavior. Sadly, though, I don't have my E&M textbook handy, though, so I can't check the math on distance/voltage limits here. I suppose the board will have to be run at a lower voltage anyway to keep from melting, no? Sorry, I didn't go to Seiko's site to look for specs, just the news article. So, if these questions have been answered already, I appologize.