Welcome to the ink-jet age
Published: 06 Jan 2006 18:15 GMT
...could equally well be mounted on a mechanism that allows a minute drop of liquid to be precisely positioned in three dimensions.
It is the development over the last decade of a wide range of substances that can be used as 'inks' in ink jet print heads, together with developments in printhead positioning and control systems that has made possible the developments that are now starting to come onto the market.
One of the first applications to use the unique capabilities of ink jet technology has been in the electronics industry where special industrial printers are being used to print the very high density multi-layer circuit boards that are increasingly required by the electronic equipment that we now take for granted.
Printed circuit board
This technique involves printing very fine lines in a conductive ink made from very fine silver or copper particles onto a rigid or flexible substrate. By using an insulating ink in another print head it is possible for the printer to quickly and accurately lay out a printed circuit board with conductors just a few micrometers wide.
This manufacturing technique not only provides the next step in miniaturisation — Seiko Epson of Japan recently demonstrated a 20 layer ink jet printed board that was just 200µm thick — it also helps to reduce the amount of pollution produced by the electronics industry. Existing circuit board manufacturing techniques rely upon the use of photomasks and acid etching, neither of which are required by ink jet printers which produce circuit boards using an additive process.
"Manufacturers have already recognised ink jet as a key, enabling technology with the potential of becoming the deposition method of choice," says John Attard, a business development manager with Xaar. "Inkjet is ideal for applications where the material to be deposited is expensive; management of waste fluid is an issue; manufacturing simplicity, yield and cost effectiveness is key; and where variable patterns are required, particularly on short runs."
CAD file
A big advantage of this manufacturing technique is the flexibility that it offers manufacturers and designers. Changes to the design can be made by simply changing the CAD file that drives the printer, with no need to create new photomasks. This makes design and development quicker, it makes it possible to economically produce very short runs, even one-offs. In fact the combination of all these advantages means that many in the electronics industry expect ink jet printed circuit boards to be the norm by 2007.
The techniques for printing circuit boards using ink jet printers and conductive ink are giving rise to a whole new industry for manufacturing devices using printed electronics. These devices include RFID tags — used for wireless identification of everything from clothes to automotive components — as well as pharmaceuticals and event tickets. With printed electronics such tags can be produced on a continuous roll-to-roll basis at extremely low cost, a technology that is being pioneered in Germany in a partnership between BASF Future Business and Lucent Technologies' Bell Labs.
E-paper
RFID tags are not the only product from the printed electronics industry that is set to revolutionise the world, an even more significant product is the flexible e-paper display. Within three years people may well be routinely reading newspapers, magazines and books on light weight flexible screens many of which the user will simple roll up and slip into a pocket when not in use.
Such flexible displays are built using advanced ink jet printers with inks made from special organic electronic polymers. Today dozens of companies around the world are racing to commercialise...
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