The ability to create 3D ICs can significantly increase transistor packing density, reduce chip area and power dissipation leading to possibilities of large-scale on-chip integration of different systems. A promising process for this application is the microscale additive manufacturing (AM) of 3D interconnect structures and capability of writing 3D metal structures with feature sizes of approximately 1 μm on a variety of substrates. Current microscale AM techniques are limited in their capabilities to produce 3D conductive interconnect structures. This paper presents the design and development of a new micro AM technique — microscale selective laser sintering (μ-SLS) — which overcomes many of the limitations of other micro AM processes to achieve true micron sized, electrically conductive features on a variety of substrates.
This paper will present preliminary results from set of sintering experiments on copper (Cu) nanoparticle (NP) ink using the continuous wave (CW) laser to be employed in the μ-SLS system which will be compared to Cu NP sintering results produced with other laser sources such as nanosecond (ns) & femtosecond (fs) lasers. This study is important to estimate the optimum working range of fluence/irradiance to be used in the μ-SLS setup depending upon the laser employed. In general, it provides an experimental estimate of the sintering fluence/irradiance range of Cu NPs depending upon the type of laser used and compares their sintering quality based on morphology of sintered spots.
