by Matt Kremenetsky
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.
New copper ink displaces electroless copper plating and other industry-standard manufacturing processes with significantly faster production speed, lower ownership cost, and greater sustainability levels
AUSTIN, TX & SEMICON TAIWAN – September 3, 2024 – Electroninks, the leader in metal organic decomposition (MOD) inks for additive manufacturing and advanced semiconductor packaging, today announced the launch of the company’s advanced conductive copper ink line. The new copper ink extends Electroninks’ global-leading portfolio of metal complex inks while providing further manufacturing flexibility and lower total ownership costs to customers. Electroninks will be showcasing the new copper ink line at booth Q5152 in Hall 2 of SEMICON Taiwan September 4-6, 2024.
A high-demand application for the new copper ink is seed layer printing for fine-line metallization and RDL formation in combination with the company’s proprietary iSAP™ process. For this application, Electroninks copper ink effectively displaces industry use of electroless (e-less) copper plating and physical vapor deposition (PVD) tie layers while achieving a significant increase in manufacturing throughput and a vast reduction in ESG footprint. Compared to legacy methods (PVD and e-less), ink-based additive printing uses a fraction of the water and energy, factory footprint and CAPEX, thus providing customers with the lowest total cost of ownership and highest ROI on the market.
The copper inks are deposited by spray coating, screen printing, inkjet, spin-on, and other conventional printing methods. Beyond the seed layer application, Electroninks is working with customers on a multitude of applications, including advanced packaging, serving a diversity of markets. “These copper inks bolster Electroninks’ strong and diverse MOD ink product portfolio and deliver best-in-class ESG and cost savings to customers.” stated Brett Walker, CEO and co-founder of Electroninks.
“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.” stated Jim Haley, Vice President of Marketing, IMAPS Executive Council. “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.”
Electroninks is offering a range of copper ink grades to address customer demand for adhesion to various substrates, including glass, silicon, and EMC. These inks are compatible with multiple printing techniques and can be cured at low temperatures for short times – as low as 140C in 5 minutes under nitrogen or ambient conditions.
Electroninks’ corporate executives and its international sale team will be showcasing the company’s copper ink release at SEMICON Taiwan (https://www.semicontaiwan.org/en/node/7046). For more information on Electroninks products and solutions, please visit www.electroninks.com
Media Contact: Nicolia Wiles
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Leading aerosol printing technology manufacturer partners with Electroninks for advanced printed microelectronics production
AUSTIN, TX, UNITED STATES, July 15, 2024 — Electroninks, the leader in metal complex inks for additive manufacturing and advanced semiconductor packaging, today announced a business partnership with IDS, Inc. (Integrated Deposition Solutions) for advanced printing on 3D surfaces and printed microelectronics, such as sensors and antennas. IDS will now use Electroninks metal complex inks after both companies worked together to test printing longevity, fine feature printing, and a newly designed in-situ UV curing system.
When evaluating metal complex inks, IDS had a long list of requirements for a partner in reference to the properties of their inks. Specifically, these inks had to be super stable, cause zero nozzle clogging, set up once without the need for additional recalibration, be suitable for low-temp applications, be capable of printing microelectronics (super fine resolution) with less than 10um line printing, and have a high aspect ratio. To fit the company’s needs, IDS chose Electroninks metal complex inks.
Electroninks’s silver inks are formulated for aerosol printing and for applications that require high conductivity and low curing temperatures. The ultrasonic inks are also capable of fine line <20 um printed features. Electroninks’ new particle-free gold ink is designed specifically for non-contact aerosol jet printing of high-conductivity traces on 3D surfaces.
“Successful demonstrations for our clients is a three-part formula involving the deposition machinery, the printing material, and the application design,“ stated Dov Phillips, sales manager at IDS. “Having a materials partner with expertise in crafting and supplying customer-ready inks for aerosol printing is crucial to our success and Electroninks provides that to IDS and our customers.”
“We are proud to collaborate with IDS to support our mutual customers. The combination of Electroninks’s revolutionary metal complex inks and the cutting-edge precision of IDS Nanojet system brings a broad array of solutions for the advanced packaging and additive manufactured electronics,” stated Yuan Gu, Director of Applications at Electroninks. “This is another example of Electroninks working hard with our ecosystem printing partners to bring total solutions to customers.”
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Electroninks continues global expansion with new facility and increased production capabilities
AUSTIN, TX – April 24, 2024 – Electroninks, the leader in metal complex inks for additive manufacturing and advanced semiconductor packaging, today announced the official opening of the company’s APAC facility in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. The facility includes offices, a full technical/field support lab, as well as full ink production for customers using Electroninks’ metal-complex inks in-region. The new operation enables increased and redundant ink production capabilities, with additional engineering staff to work with customers directly in APAC. In addition, the company has also hired Takashi Mochizuki as Head of Asia Business, KY Liu as Taiwan Application Development Manager and Kazutaka Ozawa as Technical Director. Combined, these new members have more than 40 years of experience in conductive inks and semiconductor industries. They will work closely with the rest of the global operations and customers.
In addition to the new reactors and ink production tools, there is a full QA/QC lab and analytical equipment for ink qualification. The APAC facility also has a full engineering support lab complete with printing tools including new screen printers, spray coaters and inkjet printers – that match equipment going into production lines at customer sites. With the new staff and additional equipment, global customers will receive significantly improved logistics with shorter product lead times and faster technical support.
“This new facility marks an important milestone of growth and achievement for our company, and significantly improves our ability to serve the global market,” stated Melbs LeMieux, president and cofounder of Electroninks. “We appreciate the support of the local officials and our partners in Kaohsiung to bring this project to completion.”
Key domestic supplier of advanced materials fortifies executive leadership with financial and operational expertise on pathway to commercialization with expanding customer base
AUSTIN, TX – January 8, 2024 – Electroninks, the leader in metal complex inks for additive manufacturing and advanced semiconductor packaging, announced today the appointment of Dhaval Patel as their chief financial officer and Michael Vinson as chief operating officer. Mr. Patel joins the executive leadership team to deliver the company’s financial and strategic objectives as it enters its next phase of growth. Mr. Vinson will supply his expertise and vast industry experience in operational development and material production to bolster Electroninks’ quality assurance and product readiness.
Mr. Patel brings a wealth of relevant experience to Electroninks, most notably in corporate strategy, M&A, corporate finance and investor relations. Prior to joining Electroninks, Dhaval was most recently VP of Investor Relations at Shoals Technologies and prior to that was SVP of Investor Relations, Corporate Strategy and M&A at Pactiv Evergreen. Prior to Pactiv Evergreen, he was Managing Director at Nuveen Asset Management overseeing portfolios with a focus on the materials sectors. At Electroninks, Mr. Patel will focus on strategic financial planning and budgeting, M&A, and other financial responsibilities to achieve longer term company goals.
Mr. Vinson brings a wealth of experience to his new role with an extensive background spanning 11 years in relevant markets and an even more substantial tenure in the electronics and semiconductor sector. In his capacity as COO, Mr. Vinson will collaborate closely with the senior leadership team, working alongside the President and CEO. His responsibilities will include the oversight of Electroninks’ day-to-day operations and the implementation of strategic initiatives to achieve the company’s commercial and manufacturing objectives.
“Everything we do at Electroninks is rooted in the ability to grow smart and fast,” stated Dr. Brett Walker, chief executive officer of Electroninks. “As we start rapid commercialization of existing and new products, it’s imperative that we have the best people at the helm and both Dhaval and Mike bring the exact experience and expertise required to support the continued success of our organization and the development of our product lines.”
New ink enables narrow linewidth features
Electroninks, the leader in particle-free metal inks and advanced conductive materials, announced the confirmation of an enhanced particle-free silver ink product with aerosol jet printing compatibility for ultra-fine line printing requirements for Electroninks’ commercial customers.
As a recognized industry leader of metal complex particle-free conductive inks, Electroninks developed an enhanced particle-free silver ink designed for fine-line, low temperature curing with aerosol jet printing that delivers a best-in-class combination of print resolution, electrical performance, and process temperature.
The new ink product has broad impacts as aerosolized printing heads are compact, can be easily integrated into production lines, or placed on robotic arms for multi-axis additive manufacturing of conductive interconnects and circuits. This manufacturing technique is ideal for highly precise semiconductor packaging, aerospace, display, and biomedical applications. The use of the particle-free ink with aerosol jet printing makes it possible for manufacturers to reduce the size, power and weight of devices, making it ideal for interconnects and metallization in mobile and wearable products, foldable displays, biomedical devices and sensors, and conformal 3D parts.
“At Electroninks, we are committed to providing our customers with the highest performing products and solutions to meet the demands of their emerging manufacturing technologies and products,” said Electroninks co-founder and President, Melbs LeMieux. “Our new enhanced particle-free silver ink product is compatible with aerosol jet printing technology and allows our partners and commercial customers to meet difficult specifications.”
Aerosol jet printing is an additive manufacturing process that prints commercially available conductive, dielectric, semiconductor, and biologic inks onto a variety of 2D or 3D plastic, ceramic, and metallic substrates. Electroninks particle-free inks provide versatile, low-cost, domestically produced, all-in-one additive manufacturing solutions.
Electroninks’ novel particle-free ink formulation and capabilities interested In-Q-Tel, Inc., the strategic investor to the U.S. intelligence community, which joined with Electroninks as an additional strategic partner and investor. The partnership with In-Q-Tel will allow Electroninks to deliver its products at scale to its government partners in national security as well as for broader commercial usage.
“In-Q-Tel understands the value that Electroninks’ technology and team know-how can provide to the manufacturing of interconnects,” said Victoria Chernow, Ph.D., Technology Architect, In-Q-Tel. “We believe our strategic investment in Electroninks will contribute to our partners’ mission needs.”
Electroninks is delivering a more cost-effective and efficient use of many noble metals through its particle-free ink formulations, including gold, platinum, nickel, and copper. Its particle-free silver ink delivers higher conductivity, flexibility and cost-effectiveness making them ideal for today’s smaller, lighter, more highly functional electronic products.
The aerosol jet printing compatible particle-free silver ink is capable of being printed at <15um resolution, with up to 10um height, up to 3x bulk conductivity of silver, while being cured at no higher than 120C, while maintaining certain manufacturing and throughput specifications.
Development Team Quotes:
“The newly developed silver ink combines best-in-class electrical performance with fine feature printing,” said Garret McKerricher, Senior Scientist, Electroninks. “The ink is capable of ultrasonic aerosol jet printing and demonstrates fine feature printing at less than 20um resolution with high aspect ratios.”
“The new silver ink provides good resistivity at a low curing temperature, and has high volume output, ” said Yuan Gu, Senior Scientist, Electroninks. “Combined with room temperature printability, the ink is ideal for3D surfaces printing on wrap-around and other flexible surfaces.”
About Electroninks
Electroninks Inc. provides high-performance, advanced materials that enable technology and manufacturing breakthroughs with our innovative customers to turn promising ideas into profitable new products. The company’s portfolio of products based on its proprietary particle-free conductive metal inks provides cost-effective, highly stable and reliable solutions for applications in semiconductor packaging, consumer electronics, and medical devices. The company is the first to provide particle-free conductive inks in silver, gold, platinum, nickel, and copper. Electroninks’ novel formulations are ideal for the design and manufacturing of today’s smaller, lighter, more highly functional electronic products as well as agile manufacturing and rapid maintenance needs.
Electroninks has forged strategic partnerships with Applied Materials, Merck, FujiFilm, the DoD and other Tier 1 equipment and supply chain partners that allow the company to focus on innovation, while still meeting customers’ demands for quality, reliability and scale. To date, Electroninks has raised Series A and B funding from firms known for material science development and defense integration including Applied Materials, In-Q-Tel, Inc., Band Gap Ventures, ITIC, and M-Ventures. Electroninks is located in Austin, Texas.
Broader selection of metals fuels innovation in product development and provides greater flexibility in manufacturing
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Jan 12, 2022– Electroninks, the leader in particle-free conductive metal inks and advanced materials, today announced the addition of gold (Au) and platinum (Pt) particle-free conductive inks to its catalog of products. The addition of gold and platinum inks gives makers of consumer electronics, medical devices, sensors and semiconductors the ability to make lighter, less expensive, and more environmentally friendly products.
The demand for powerful microelectronics packed into consumer and industrial products of different shapes and sizes has never been greater. From foldable displays in new 5G phones to medical sensors in athletic wear to new materials and architecture in semiconductor packaging, powerful tiny circuitry is making it possible, and Electroninks’ broader line of conductive inks is enabling greater innovation in this field.
Electroninks has already established a superior particle-free ink in the market with its conductive silver ink. The new gold and platinum metal inks consist of metal-organic precursors that decompose cleanly at lower temperatures than nanoparticle inks and can be UV-cured. The inks are unique to the market, providing deep savings on material use (and waste) and costs for customers by enabling similar electrical and reliability properties of vacuum or plated films of gold and platinum.
Opening additional doors in product manufacturing, the new inks are catalytically active (may serve as a seed layer) and have a high corrosion resistance — ideal for protective circuits, gas, thermal and biological sensors. Unlike traditional gold and platinum inks that are based on metal nanoparticles dispersed with organics/polymers which degrades performance, Electroninks’ particle-free inks enable reliable printing and manufacturing in non-typical and even space-like environments for its aerospace and defense customers.
Commitment to the Customer
Electroninks first developed silver inks based on the philosophy that pure metallic films are the best way to increase performance and reliability while reducing overall cost of manufacturing and ownership. Aligning with its mission to fundamentally change the way its customers develop new hardware technologies and improve manufacturing processes, Electroninks developed gold and platinum inks to fill the need of a wide range of applications in electronics, including forming contacts in microelectronic devices, high temperature, electrochemical and catalytic applications. The gold and platinum inks provide high performance and reliability at high temperatures, making them ideal for use in aerospace and biomedical devices.
“As electronic materials and supply chains become more critical due to their usage in nearly all products that impact our lives, the demand for innovation and products making it all possible has hit a tipping point, as we have seen in the past year. Electronics are now miniaturized, wearable, foldable and manufactured with new methods all at the same time,” said Melbs LeMieux, co-founder and president, Electroninks. “Entirely new solutions providing greater design flexibility are needed. We are committed to providing our customers with the highest quality inks to meet new technological demands that will shape the future of every electronic product.”
The Particle-Free Difference
Electroninks has developed particle-free inks to provide the markets with a material that can withstand high temperatures and humidity, making them ideal for use in an increasing variety of applications. With the excellent reliability of the material combined with iso-certified manufacturing, Electroninks is the only company to deliver this level of quality and performance from gold and platinum materials. The company aims to be the main supplier of true high-volume manufacturing particle-free metal complex inks on the market. These inks are a direct replacement for nanoparticle inks, metal paste, and sputtered or deposited metals.
Electroninks’ inks resulting films are stretchable, highly reflective, RoHS compliant, catalytically active, and antimicrobial, allowing developers to utilize multi-hour printing to produce products showcasing extreme detail. Particle-free inks also have a longer shelf-life than nanoparticle solutions because traditional binders and surfactants are not used in Electroninks’ metallo-organic inks. Electroninks inks are free from impurities – approaching 99.99% metal in resulting films, providing superior environmental stability and reliability.
Due to the superior conductivity that Electroninks’ particle-free inks offer, the same device performance can be achieved by using much less material at a fraction of the regular production costs. The high prices of gold, platinum and other precious metals have limited their widespread use in the advanced manufacturing industry. Electroninks’ particle-free inks are able to reduce prices without sacrificing quality, which can have a broad impact on the overall conductive precious metals market and their sustainable usage.
About Electroninks
Electroninks Inc. provides high-performance, advanced materials that enable technology and manufacturing breakthroughs with our innovative customers to turn promising ideas into profitable new products. The company’s portfolio of products based on its proprietary particle-free conductive metal inks provides cost-effective, highly-stable and reliable solutions for applications in semiconductor packaging, consumer electronics, and medical devices. The company is the first to provide particle-free conductive inks in silver, gold, platinum, nickel and copper. Electroninks’ novel formulations are ideal for the design and manufacturing of today’s smaller, lighter, more highly functional electronic products as well as agile manufacturing and rapid maintenance needs.
Electroninks has forged strategic partnerships with Fortune 500 companies, the DoD and other Tier 1 equipment and supply chain partners that allow the company to focus on innovation, while still meeting customers demands for quality, reliability and scale. To date, Electroninks has raised Series A and B funding from firms known for material science development and defense integration including Applied Materials, InQTel, Band Gap Ventures, ITIC, and M-Ventures. Electroninks is located in Austin, Texas.
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Company Wins $1.5M Contract for Phase II SBIR Program from Rapid Sustainment Office
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Oct. 28, 2021– Electroninks, the leader in particle-free conductive metal inks and advanced materials, today announced that it has received nearly $1.5M in Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding to develop advanced manufacturing hardware and particle-free conductive inks for printed circuit boards from the Air Force Rapid Sustainment Office (RSO).
The Air Force will use Electroninks’ advanced manufacturing hardware and particle-free conductive inks both at home and in rapid and austere (remote) environments to provide an agile manufacturing solution for printed circuit boards (PCBs) on demand and at the point of use. The solution better enables the Air Force to reduce waste and extend aircraft and other systems lifespans — all while driving down costs and increasing mission readiness.
PCBs are used in every electronic device from modern aircraft to guidance systems.
The current manufacturing process to produce PCBs, which are tailored to individual applications, can take weeks or longer, plus the market is currently dominated by foreign manufacturers, causing supply chain risks. Electroninks’ contract enables an economical, rapidly deployable and portable additive manufacturing solution for PCBs.
“Electroninks particle-free inks and CircuitJet printers have the potential to provide a highly reliable and flexible solution required for development of printed circuit boards needed to help sustain important Air Force systems,” said Leslie Edmondson, RSO Innovation & Integration Program Manager.
Electroninks particle-free inks provide versatile, low-cost, domestically produced, all-in-one additive manufacturing solutions. Electroninks CircuitJet I and Circuit Jet II printers can print PCBs on demand and with a 90 percent reduction in the cost of metal inks.
“The U.S. Air Force is known for leading innovation in technology and science. At Electroninks, we are committed to using the power of advanced materials to enable and manufacture the products of the future,” said Brett Walker, Electroninks CEO. “This SBIR contract places Electroninks at the forefront of major developments that will help change and shape the Air Force of the future.”
Electroninks highly conductive inks are the first and only high volume manufacturing particle-free inks to work with inkjet printing. The company’s proprietary inks are formulated in silver, gold, platinum, nickel and copper and are stretchable, highly reflective, RoHS compliant, catalytically active and antimicrobial. The company does not use traditional binders and surfactants, providing superior environmental stability and reliability. Electroninks inks are free from impurities – approaching 99.99% metal.
About Electroninks
Electroninks Inc. provides high-performance, advanced materials that enable technology and manufacturing breakthroughs with our innovative customers to turn promising ideas into profitable new products. The company’s portfolio of products based on its proprietary particle-free conductive metal inks provides cost-effective, highly-stable and reliable solutions for applications in semiconductor packaging, consumer electronics, and medical devices. The company is the first to provide particle-free conductive inks in silver, gold, platinum, nickel and copper. Electroninks’ novel formulations are ideal for the design and manufacturing of today’s smaller, lighter, more highly functional electronic products as well as agile manufacturing and rapid maintenance needs.
Electroninks has forged strategic partnerships with Applied Materials, Merck, FujiFilm, the DoD and other Tier 1 equipment and supply chain partners that allow the company to focus on innovation, while still meeting customers demands for quality, reliability and scale. To date, Electroninks has raised Series A and B funding from firms known for material science development and defense integration including Applied Materials, InQTel, Band Gap Ventures, ITIC, and M-Ventures. Electroninks is located in Austin, Texas.
About the Air Force Rapid Sustainment Office (RSO)
Established by the Secretary of the Air Force in 2018, the RSO increases mission readiness by rapidly identifying, applying, and scaling technology essential to the operation and sustainment of the United States Air Force. http://www.afrso.com/
We are proud to announce that Electroninks is listed among the recipients of the Small Business Innovation Research Phase II continuation funding as a result of #RSOPitchDay21 held in July.
Northrup Grumman publishes paper on fundamental limits of silver conductive ink performance that highlights and utilized Electroninks particle-free metal complex inks
Via Northrup Grumman
To find out more, see the entire paper.