Electroninks’ “World-First” Copper Ink Opens Up New Potential for 3D Printed Electronics

Electroninks, the Austin-based manufacturer of metal organic decomposition (MOD) inks for additive manufacturing (AM) and semiconductor packaging, has introduced what the company claims is the “world’s first” commercially available copper MOD ink. According to Electroninks, one particularly sought-after application driving interest in copper inks “seed layer printing”, which involves the deposition of extremely thin layers of metal onto a substrate, making subsequent plating processes easier and more efficient.

Solar cells seem to be one of the areas in which seed layer printing shows the most promise. Electroninks claims that, compared to the currently dominant processes of electroless (e-less) copper plating and physical vapor deposition (PVD), AM with copper inks requires both far less water and energy.

In addition to enhancing the sustainability of the underlying production processes, that also contributes to customers’ ability to manufacture the relevant components with far less CAPEX than is required with conventional methods. Along with seed layer printing, Electroninks is already working with customers to explore the potential for its copper MOD inks in areas like advanced semiconductor packaging.

In a press release Electroninks CEO and co-founder Brett Walker, said, “These copper inks bolster Electroninks’ strong and diverse MOD ink product portfolio and deliver best-in-class ESG and cost savings to customers.”

Jim Haley, the VP of Marketing for the International Microelectronics and Assembly Packaging Society (IMAPS) Executive Council, said, “MOD inks, which have been on the market from Electroninks for a few years now, provide unique properties that are well suited for today’s semiconductor wafer and module-based packages requiring high-performance thermal and power management. By introducing a copper-based MOD product, markets and customers are generally more supportive, as copper is a standard in electronic design for many use-cases. While silver, gold, and other MOD inks will continue to serve this market, we welcome copper MOD inks to address key needs in advanced packaging.”

In addition to helping the reshoring effort in the US for the industries where it matters most — semiconductor packaging and green energy — Electroninks has made significant inroads into the Asian Pacific market in recent years, namely in Japan and Taiwan. Of course, this bolsters the US’s  reshoring effort as well, as the American domestic market can’t advance forward without heightened cross-collaboration between the US and its leading trade partners outside the Chinese mainland.

As far behind as the US may still be in achieving its goals to build the domestic green energy and semiconductor manufacturing bases, the bright side to this is that the nation can, to a significant extent, start from scratch in building its new industrial ecosystem. Whereas other nations have already committed themselves to doing things the old way, the US can focus on accentuating its advantages in truly forward-thinking areas like conductive inks.

Images courtesy of Electroninks