New electrical connection technology for microsystems using inktelligent printing® and functional nanoscaled INKS

A new electrical connection technology for highly miniaturized systems based on functional printing has been studied. INKtelligent printing^reg with its ability to print structures in micrometer size uses electrically conductive inks with functional nanoparticles to provide MEMS devices with electrical contacts. Due to large dimensions of conventional packaging technologies like flip chip or wire bonding, INKtelligent printing^reg will dramatically increase size of assembled systems. Here, an aerosol beam technology - also known as Maskless Mesoscale Material Deposition (M³D^reg) or Aerosol Jet^reg - is presented. Tests have been done to characterize conductivity, contact resistance, long term stability and temperature dependency as also applications with flow sensors.