A Study of the State-of-the-Art Printed Passive Electronic Components through Fully Additive Manufacturing Methods

• Main Authors: Tan, Hong Wei, Chua, Chee Kai, Tran, Tuan
• Other Authors: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Printed electronics; Passive components
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/84554; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/41823
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Additive manufacturing has reached a certain level of maturity that not only allows fabrication of objects used for prototyping purposes but also starts penetrating other industries, e.g., the electronics industry. Numerous simple electronic components can now be fabricated using the "fully additive" method, which refers to those that only involve deposition of materials while more complicated components may require hybrid methods that involve both subtractive and additive processes. In particular, passive components, which consist mostly of resistors, inductors, and capacitors, comprise the bulk of the total number of electronic components in typical circuits. Passive components also can now be printed and embedded within circuits simultaneously. Although there are excellent reviews of printed passive electronic components, there is an urgent need to consolidate recent research activities in this rapidly developing area. In this review, the advantages and disadvantages of each printing technique of the ‘fully additive’ method for printing electronics will be discussed. Finally, the current challenges of printing electronics using the ‘fully additive’ method will also be discussed.