DARPA Explores Additive Manufacturing’s Revolutionary Potential for Futuristic Microsystems
March 12, 2024 | DARPAEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
DARPA played a seminal role in establishing materials science as a discipline. One of the latest disruptive efforts in new materials and applications, the Additive Manufacturing of Microelectronic systEms (AMME) program, seeks to launch microsystems manufacturing far beyond today’s state of the art.
AMME takes aim at revolutionizing the manufacture of microsystems through technological breakthroughs in producing novel, multi-material microsystems at incredible speeds, volumes, and resolution. This additive manufacturing process would enhance commercial devices with innovative add-on technologies and create the ability to rapidly respond to mission requirements – innovations similar to additive manufacturing’s transformation of complex prototyping. With AMME, DARPA aims to overcome fundamental limits specifically for microsystems.
DARPA seeks groundbreaking advances in additive manufacturing by achieving a trifecta of material quality, high resolution, and massive print throughput. The goal of AMME will be to make it possible to create microsystems with new geometries that would be able to integrate mechanical, electrical, or biological subcomponents.
“AMME is inspired by new insights from selective material synthesis and volumetric additive manufacturing that would enable a new class of microsystems,” said Michael Sangillo, AMME program manager. “We want to remove design rules imposed by traditional manufacturing tools and demonstrate novel microsystem technologies that create new opportunities for national security and emerging applications.”
Today’s methods are hamstrung by the inherent tradeoffs between resolution and throughput of traditional manufacturing: such as precise 3D printing that may be ultra-high resolution but subject to low throughput, or volumetric printing that’s high throughput but limited to lower resolution and one material at a time. AMME researchers will work to simultaneously synthesize high-quality multi-materials at unprecedented resolution levels and throughputs.
This will require AMME performers to invent radically new approaches for 3D additive manufacturing of complex geometric microsystems. This includes creating precursor material combinations that allow for rapid, multi-material printing that is not possible today. An additional challenge will be creating a fabrication process capable of printing at sub-micron resolution and extremely fast speeds. If successful, AMME will print a penny-sized microsystem (with 500 nm resolution) in about three minutes.
“Our objective is to demonstrate a novel, functional microsystem that achieves additive manufacturing advances not possible today – advances like the ability for astronauts to make on-demand repairs in space,” Sangillo said. “AMME will also focus on the commercialization approach, so we can produce a manufacturing system that can be quickly adopted by the broader industrial community, including DOD and other U.S. government organizations.”
Suggested Items
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
05/10/2024 | Marcy LaRont, PCB007 MagazineSpring is a renewal each year as dormant flora bloom, and baby ducklings and geese are ever present in local bodies of water. Even though it is beginning to get hot, I love this time of year in Arizona, with the sun waking me around 5 a.m. It fills me with an energy that I often lose in the dark winter months. Wherever you find yourself in the world, I hope you are enjoying Spring and that you are filled with energy and enthusiasm for all the great work part of our daily lives in this industry.
ViTrox Presents Next-Gen Intelligent Manufacturing Solutions at SEMICON Southeast Asia 2024
05/10/2024 | ViTroxViTrox, which aims to be the world’s most trusted technology company, is pleased to announce its participation as an exhibitor and Platinum sponsor at SEMICON Southeast Asia 2024! Join us from May 28-30 at Booth #1504 in Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC), KL, to experience our advancement in technology and manufacturing.
Podcast Review: On the Line with… Designing for Reality
05/09/2024 | Duane Benson, Positive Edge LLCAs a technologist, if I were forced to come up with just one recurring theme that I might call a professional “nemesis,” it would be the difference between theory and reality. A lot of technology we have at our disposal works well in theory but falls short when reality hits. That’s not the only reason I chose to listen to and review On the Line with… Designing for Reality, featuring a series of conversations with ASC Sunstone’s Matt Stevenson, but it certainly helped that the title caught my eye.
NEOTech Positions Itself as Microelectronics Industry Leader with High-Technology Investments
05/09/2024 | NEOTechNEOTech, a leading provider of electronic manufacturing services (EMS), design engineering, and supply chain solutions in the high-tech industrial, medical device, and aerospace/defense markets, announces a significant investment in acquiring new Palomar 8100 wire bonder machines, enhancing the company’s positioning as a leader of cutting-edge microelectronics assemblies for mission-critical applications.
MKS’ Atotech, ESI to Participate in CPCA Show
05/09/2024 | MKS’ AtotechMKS’ Atotech, and ESI will participate in the CPCA Show 2024. The show will be held from May 13 to 15, 2024, at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) and will bring together domestic and international manufacturers in the electronic circuit industry.