Intelligent sensor systems for condition monitoring through

additive manufacture of ceramic packages

Robert Kay, Maria Mirgkizoudi, Ji Li, Russell Harris, Alberto Campos-Zatarain & David Flynn

IeMRC Annual Conference

Intelligent sensor systems for condition monitoring through additive manufacture of ceramic packages

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•  Loughborough and Heriot-Watt University •  2 year project •  6 Industrial partners covering full supply

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Project Motivation

•  Many industrial sectors require bespoke packages for remote sensor networks that can reliably operate in harsh environments.

•  Ceramic packages have a number of advantages in terms of high reliability, hermetical sealing and ability to withstand high thermal and mechanical shock.

•  To produce Ceramic substrates (LTCC & HTCC) requires template based manufacturing processes that need large batch production sizes in order to become economically viable. The also have a 2.5D limitation.

•  Use of additive manufacturing to overcome the current limitations of ceramic substrate manufacture

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Multi-Chip Module from Baker Hughes

Additive Manufacturing / 3D Printing

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•  AM offers greater geometric complexity over traditional manufacturing processes.

•  For low production volumes AM is very cost effective.

ASTM F42 Process families categorisation

1.  Material extrusion- A material is selectively dispensed through a nozzle or orifice (FDM).

2.  Vat photopolymerization - Liquid photopolymer in a vat is selectively cured by light-activated polymerization (Stereolithography).

3.  Powder bed fusion - thermal energy selectively fuses regions of a powder bed (SLS).

4.  Material jetting - Droplets of build material are selectively deposited (Ink jet printing).

5.  Binder jetting - A liquid bonding agent is selectively deposited to join powder materials (Zcorp 3D printing).

6.  Directed energy deposition - Focused thermal energy is used to fuse materials by melting as the material is being deposited (LENS).

7.  Sheet lamination - Sheets of material are bonded to form an object (UC).

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Feasibility demonstrator – 555 timer circuit

555 timer circuit consists of: •  3 x capacitors •  1 x LED •  4 x resistors •  1 x transistor •  1 x 555 timer chip.

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3D micro-extrusion apparatus

•  5-axis table drives the dispensing head with motion accuracy ±25µm. •  Micro-extrusion head equipped with a piezoelectric actuator is used for

printing of a ceramic paste. The actuator is used to quickly open and close the valve to accurately control the dispensing process.

•  Mach3 software controls the motion of the table and the actuation of the extrusion head.

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Air Supply

Dispensing Controller

Mach3 Software 5-axis

table

Extrusion head

3D ceramic forming process

•  Alumina based paste supplied by Morgan Advanced Materials •  Fine particle size distribution •  Exhibited the required viscoelastic

characteristics •  Enabled printing successfully down through

100µm nozzles. •  150µm nozzle used for this printing process •  Printing process

1.  Extrude a perimeter defining the layer features 2.  Layer is in-filed using a rectilinear infill pattern 3.  The process is then repeated layer-by-layer to

build up the substrate

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Perimeter

Infill

150µm nozzle

Resultant fired ceramic substrates

•  Feasibility demonstrator consisted of 4 layers

•  Green part fired at 1600°C •  Shrinkages ~15% from the process

•  Fired part dimension: 29.5 x 24.5 x 0.8mm

•  Cross sectioning reveals a high density •  Printed layers not visible •  Polishing needs improving as grains have

been cleaved from the sample surface. •  Better elimination of air entrapment in the

paste prior to printing is required.

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Dispensing the conductor layer

•  Mushasi dispensing system •  3-axis motion table is used to drive the dispensing

head with motion accuracy ±1µm •  CCD camera for alignment •  Laser are used for for surface mapping of 3D

geometries •  Nozzle sizes down to 20 microns

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Air Pressure Controller

Motion Table

DispensingHead

Laser and CCD camera

•  Ag based LTCC paste selectively deposited onto the fired ceramic substrate •  Designed for screen printing •  200µm nozzle used

Conductor layer print results

•  Material exhibited sheer thinning characteristics required for dispensing however had a tendency to slump and flow to easily through the nozzle.

•  Using a smaller nozzle diameter plus adjustments to the rheological properties of the paste material and a reduction of particle size could enable finer track widths.

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Fired ceramic based electronic substrate

•  After printing the substrate was fired again using a profile of: •  3°C/min to 100°C è 2°C/min to 450°C è 10°C/min to 865°C è

hold for 20 min è cool at 6-10°C/min •  Final line width after firing was approximately 700µm. •  Fired conductor lines exhibited a strong adhesion and a low

resistance similar to conventional LTCC conductive tracks.

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Assembly process

The ceramic substrate was processed using a conventional surface mount assembly process:

1.  Solder paste deposition. 2.  Pick and placement of the

individual components 3.  Reflow process in a convection

oven.

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Final assembled demonstrator

This work demonstrates the first fully 3D printed ceramic electronic substrate completely compatible with conventional surface mount packaging.

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Future work

•  Multilayer circuit capability •  High accuracy system alignment •  Z-axis vias

•  Harsh environment testing, “Shake and bake” •  Hermitic packages evaluation •  Co-fireable ceramic paste formulation •  Conductor formation on 3D surfaces rather than planar using 5-

axis machine and vision system •  Development of SLID packaging process with SiC power electronic

devices •  Novel Stereolithography Apparatus for dense micron tolerance

ceramic parts

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EPSRC Centre for Power electronics feasibility study funding – 6 month project

Broaden the original remit of the IeMRC project: •  By incorporating SiC devices into the 3D printed

ceramic packages •  Testing SLID samples for harsh environments -

electrodynamic shaker with hotplate custom built at Loughborough University

•  Translate the IeMRC findings and further develop the 3D printing process for power electronics applications

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Conclusions

•  First digitally driven ceramic electronic substrate manufacturing process demonstrated with a working feasibility demonstrator.

•  The use of additive manufacturing has the potential to revolutionise the production of ceramic based packages by enabling: •  Mass customisation •  Iterative product development •  Rapid turnaround time of parts, •  Cost effective low-volume production, •  Improved resource efficiency •  Generation of more complex structures with increased design

freedoms. •  In particular, the offshore renewable energy, oil & gas and military sectors

would benefit immensely for having a flexible, fast, low cost manufacturing process where production volume or complexity is not a limiting factor.

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Acknowledgments

•  Financial support from the IeMRC •  Special thanks to Maria Mirgkizoudi and Ji Li •  Chris Hampson at Morgan Advanced Materials •  Alberto Campos-Zatarain and David Flynn at Heriot-

Watt University •  The Industrial Consortium on this project:

•  Baker Hughes, Eltek Semiconductor, MacTaggart Scott, Morgan Advanced Materials, Renishaw, Torishima

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IeMRC 2015 conference posters

#21 - Alberto Campos-Zatarain, Maria Mirgkizoudi & David Flynn, Thermomechanical Characterization of Cu-Sn SLID Interconnects for Harsh Environment Applications

#22 - Jack Hinton & Tom Wasley, Design and Development of an Optical Alignment System for the Integration of Additive Manufacturing Processes

#23 - Matthew Smith, High Resolution 3D Printing of Ceramic Components Using Stereolithography

#24 - Alastair Lennox & Alex Bowen, Conditional monitoring of wind turbines using Additive Manufacturing

#25 - Chris Ruddock, The Development of an Integrated Swimming Performance Monitor and Training Aid

#26 - Tom Wasley, Hybrid Additive Manufacturing of 3D Electronic Circuits

#27 - Maria Mirgkizoudi & Ji Li, Digital 3D forming of Ceramic Electronic Components

#28 - Ji Li & Tom Wasley, Direct Digital Fabrication of Advanced Manufacturing Processes

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Thank you – Any Questions?

Dr. Robert Kay Senior Lecturer in Additive Manufacturing Wolfson School of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering Loughborough University LE11 3TU UK

01509 227619 r.w.kay@lboro.ac.uk www.lboro.ac.uk/amrg

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