Semiconductor-free, monolithically 3D-printed logic gates and resettable fuses
Name
Semiconductor-free monolithically 3D-printed logic gates and resettable fuses.pdf
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8.37 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
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Author(s) •
Cañada, Jorge
Velásquez-García, Luis Fernando
Date Issued
September 21, 2024
Journal
Virtual and Physical Prototyping
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Citation
Cañada, J., & Velásquez-García, L. F. (2024). Semiconductor-free, monolithically 3D-printed logic gates and resettable fuses. Virtual and Physical Prototyping, 19(1).
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Additive manufacturing has the potential to enable the inexpensive, single-step fabrication of fully functional electromechanical devices. However, while the 3D printing of mechanical parts and passive electrical components is well developed, the fabrication of fully 3D-printed active electronics, which are the cornerstone of intelligent devices, remains a challenge. Existing examples of 3D-printed active electronics show potential but lack integrability and accessibility. This work reports the first active electronics fully 3D-printed via material extrusion, i.e. one of the most accessible and versatile additive manufacturing processes. The technology is proof-of-concept demonstrated through the implementation of the first fully 3D-printed, semiconductor-free, solid-state logic gates, and the first fully 3D-printed resettable fuses. The devices take advantage of a positive temperature coefficient phenomenon found to affect narrow traces of 3D-printed copper-reinforced, polylactic acid. Although the reported devices don’t perform competitively against semiconductor-enabled integrated circuits, the customisability and accessibility intrinsic to material extrusion additive manufacturing make this technology promisingly disruptive. This work serves as a steppingstone for the semiconductor-free democratisation of electronic device fabrication and is of immediate relevance for the manufacture of custom, intelligent devices far from traditional manufacturing centres.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Microsystems Technology Laboratories
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1080/17452759.2024.2404157