Digital high-throughput flexible hybrid electronic manufacturing strategies

工业4.0和物联网革命旨在使用更好、更便宜的灵活混合电子电路用于智能传感应用，以实时做出更明智的决策。基于丝网或印章的技术已经在工业中用于粗分配或特殊应用，从柔性电子产品到紧凑的单片混合体。然而，这些成熟的印刷技术存在两个明显的缺点：(1)电路设计中的任何更改都需要新的硬件(模板、印章或开槽模具)的僵硬配置，以及(2)严重的材料浪费和复杂的环境和安全问题。近年来，数字喷墨打印技术在关键电子元件的快速成型、小批量生产和混合集成方面显示出巨大的潜力。与目前的技术相比，数字喷墨打印允许通过简单地更改电子设计文件来进行即时设计修改，并优化使用昂贵的功能油墨。然而，研究级喷墨打印机无法支持制造规模的生产。尽管在印刷和食品标签行业等消费市场，制造规模的数字喷墨打印机已经很成熟，但实现印刷电子产品功能墨水的大批量打印仍然是主要的根本性问题。在这项合作研发工作中，我们的研究目标是与加拿大电子制造和组装行业的两家主要参与者(C2MI和Varitron)及其在Fujifilm-Dimatix的合作伙伴密切合作，以(1)将数码喷墨打印策略从研究规模的Cradrop打印机调整为定制的工业制造级高通量打印系统，然后(2)展示与行业当前的组装和封装工艺兼容的柔性电子电路板的大批量生产。

The Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things revolutions aims at taking better-informed decisions in real-time using better and cheaper flexible hybrid electronics circuits for smart sensing applications. Screen- or stamp-based techniques are already used in industry for coarse dispensing or specialty applications from flexible electronics to compact monolithic hybrids. However, these well-established printing techniques suffer from two distinct drawbacks: (1) A rigid configuration where any change in the circuit design requires new hardware (stencils, stamps, or slot-die) and (2) a significant material waste with complex environmental and safety issues. In recent years, digital inkjet printing technologies has shown great potential for rapid prototyping, low-volume production and hybrid integration of critical electronic components. Compared to current techniques, digital inkjet printing allows instantaneous design modification by simply changing the electronic design file, with optimal use of the expensive functional inks. However, research-grade inkjet printers cannot support manufacturing-scale production volumes. While manufacturing-scale digital inkjet machines are well-established in consumer markets like the graphic and food-labelling industries, major fundamental issues remain to achieve high-volume printing of functional inks for printed electronics. In this collaborative R&D effort, our research objective is to work closely with two key players of the Canadian electronics manufacturing and assembly sector (C2MI and Varitron) and their partners at Fujifilm-Dimatix in order to (1) adapt digital inkjet printing strategies from a research-scale Ceradrop printer to a customized industrial manufacturing-grade high-throughput printing system and then (2) demonstrate high-volume production of flexible electronic circuit boards compatible with the industry's current assembly and encapsulation processes.