PFI-TT: Microscale Laser Sintering to Fabricate High-Density 3D Structures

这个创新伙伴关系-技术转化（PFI-TT）项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力推动了一项技术，以降低成本和提高产品的性能，如云网络服务和移动计算。此外，它还将实现自动驾驶汽车技术和联网医疗设备等新型高性能嵌入式应用。提出的研究开发了一种半导体封装工艺，将制造速度提高了3倍。这项资助通过积极参与和指导传统上代表性不足的群体的学生，扩大了来自不同背景的工程师队伍。该项目开发了微尺度选择性激光烧结（μ-SLS）技术，通过直接、高通量制造特征尺寸小于5 μm、宽高比大于20:1的3D金属结构，克服了目前先进封装应用中的许多限制。设想中的系统将以比现有技术快三倍的速度制造高密度、高纵横比、自由形状的3D微型互连结构。本提案的具体目的是通过提高对以下方面的理解来解决纳米颗粒涂层和烧结过程：(1)纳米颗粒涂层工艺，可在逐层增材制造工艺中实现更均匀和可重复的层；(2)多层烧结工艺，可创建更高质量和更高分辨率的3D互连结构；(3)通过改进的计量和过程控制系统的集成，消除μ-SLS工艺中产生缺陷和限制产量的因素。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project advances a technology to lower the cost and improve the performance of products, such as cloud web services and mobile computing. Furthermore, it will enable new high-performance embedded applications, such as self-driving vehicle technology and internet-connected medical devices. The proposed research develops a semiconductor packaging process to improve the manufacturing speed by a factor of 3x. This grant expands the pool of engineers from diverse backgrounds through the active engagement and mentoring of students from traditionally underrepresented populations. The proposed project develops microscale selective laser sintering (μ-SLS) to overcome many of the current limits in advanced packaging applications through the direct, high-throughput fabrication of 3D metal structures with feature sizes of less than 5 μm and aspect ratios greater than 20:1. The envisioned system will fabricate high-density, high-aspect-ratio, freeform 3D, microscale interconnect structures at rates up to three times faster than existing technologies. The specific aims of this proposal are to address the nanoparticle coating and sintering processes through improved understanding of: (1) The nanoparticle coating process to facilitate more uniform and repeatable layers within the layer-by-layer additive manufacturing process, (2) The multilayer sintering process to create higher quality and higher resolution 3D interconnect structures, and (3) The factors that create defects and limit yield in the μ-SLS process through the integration of improved metrology and process control systems.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.