PFI-TT: Microscale Laser Sintering to Fabricate High-Density 3D Structures

Award ID: 2141044

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project advances a technology to lower the cost and improve the performance of products, such as cloud web services and mobile computing. Furthermore, it will enable new high-performance embedded applications, such as self-driving vehicle technology and internet-connected medical devices. The proposed research develops a semiconductor packaging process to improve the manufacturing speed by a factor of 3x. This grant expands the pool of engineers from diverse backgrounds through the active engagement and mentoring of students from traditionally underrepresented populations. The proposed project develops microscale selective laser sintering (-SLS) to overcome many of the current limits in advanced packaging applications through the direct, high-throughput fabrication of 3D metal structures with feature sizes of less than 5 m and aspect ratios greater than 20:1. The envisioned system will fabricate high-density, high-aspect-ratio, freeform 3D, microscale interconnect structures at rates up to three times faster than existing technologies. The specific aims of this proposal are to address the nanoparticle coating and sintering processes through improved understanding of: (1) The nanoparticle coating process to facilitate more uniform and repeatable layers within the layer-by-layer additive manufacturing process, (2) The multilayer sintering process to create higher quality and higher resolution 3D interconnect structures, and (3) The factors that create defects and limit yield in the -SLS process through the integration of improved metrology and process control systems. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Program Director: Jesus Soriano Molla