PV Nano Cell, Profactor Publish Results of Printed Embedded Passive Components

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PV Nano Cell, Ltd., an innovative provider of inkjet-based conductive digital printing solutions and producer of conductive digital inks and PROFACTOR GmbH (Steyr, Austria) an applied production research company in the field of industrial assistive systems and additive micro/nano manufacturing, published the first results of printed embedded passive components including silver and carbon-based resistors and capacitors. PV Nano Cell, Profactor and other partners are part of the EU inkjetPCB project (E! 113206, supported by the prestigious eurostars™ program in the Horion2020 framework) which is focused on the fabrication of multilayer printed circuit boards with embedded printed passive components.

As previously published, the use of electronic devices is increasing and so does the demand for high performing, smaller-sized products. One way to enable such products is by implementing embedded passive components such as resistors and capacitors. Instead of placing these components on the PCB (Printed Circuit Board), the components can be embedded within the PCB layers. Such an approach clears valuable real estate on the top or bottom side of the PCB allowing for more powerful CPUs or batteries to be incorporated in the electronic device. Existing PCB manufacturing technologies are complex and involve many production stages. Furthermore, such subtractive technologies where production material is removed during the production are very costly due to the high use of material and production waste. Digital printing however, is an additive technology where material is added only where required and therefore solves these problems and offers new advantages.

PV Nano Cell’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Fernando de la Vega, commented, “PV Nano Cell is aiming to commercialize digital printing of embedded passive components very soon, using a technology based on our DemonJet printers and Sicrys™ inks. We will enable the industry to print embedded conductive traces, resistors, capacitors and coils allowing new electronic designs. Some of the development efforts are within the scope of InkjetPCB project. InkjetPCB is a European consortium funded by eurostars™ framework, technical-led by our partner Profactor, a world leader applied research institute focusing in additive manufacturing of electronics. The project is focusing on Inkjet-based fabrication of multilayer printed circuit boards with embedded printed passive elements as a commercially viable process. As an outcome of this collaborative innovation project, PV Nano Cell plans to deliver to its customers a “Complete Solution” for the digital additive manufacturing of enhanced PCBs including materials, equipment and process guidelines. These efforts are aligned and actually complement market trends including other efforts such as the ones published by Nano Dimension.