3D-printing and advanced manufacturing for electronics

Printed electronics currently holds a significant share in the electronics fabrication market due to advantages in high-throughput production and customizability in terms of material support and system process. The printing of traces and interconnects, passive and active components such as resistors, capacitors, inductors, and application-specific electronic devices, have been a growing focus of research in the area of additive manufacturing. Adaptation of new 3D-printing technologies and manufacturing methods, specifically for printed electronics, are potentially transformative in flexible electronics, wireless communications, efficient batteries, solid-state display technologies, etc. Other than printing new and reactive functional electronic materials, the functionalization of the printing substrates with unusual geometries apart from the conventional planar circuit boards will be a challenge. Building the substrate, printing the conductive tracks, pick-and-placing or embedding the electronic components, and interconnecting them, are fundamental fabrication protocols new 3D-printing systems should adopt for a more integrated fabrication. Moreover, designers and manufacturers of such systems will play an important role in scaling 3D-printed electronics from prototyping to high-throughput mass production. This review gives a groundwork for such understanding, defining methods and protocols, reviewing various 3D-printing methods, and describing the state-of-the-art in 3D-printed electronics and their future growth.