What is the current state of microscale 3D printing?

Microfabrication is the process of fabricating miniature structures of micrometer scales and smaller. Historically, microfabrication was first used in the electronics industry to miniaturize the size of devices. In fact, over the years, you might have noticed your electronic devices have been getting smaller and sleeker. Component sizes that were in tens of micrometers became single-digit micrometers, and then hundreds of nanometers, and then went down to a few tens of nanometers, where they stand today. As a result, what used to be called microfabrication was rebranded as nanofabrication, although the governing principles have remained essentially the same. To meet the challenge of shrinking component size in the electronics industry, new tools and techniques are continuously being developed. One of these techniques is microscale 3D printing. So what applications are enabled by microscale additive manufacturing? And more generally what are the benefits of micro 3D printing?

First of all, we should note that in the world of additive manufacturing, the electronics industry is one of the least well versed in the technology. If we consider that aerospace was one of the first sectors to adopt and develop 3D printing, electronics is essentially the opposite. Nevertheless, additive manufacturing can bring benefits and new capabilities to this sector by enabling a new-level of customization for micro and nanoscale components.

To meet the continuing challenge of shrinking component size in microelectronics, new tools and techniques are continuously being developed. The main driver of this technology being integrated circuits, such as the one above.

Indeed, microscale additive manufacturing was first developed to benefit the electronics industry, but today the technology is moving beyond this field. For example, the technique could be used for medical applications, where nano-sized components could enter the body to cure diseases, or for micro-optical elements. In the following piece, we look at multiple angles of the relationship between additive manufacturing and micro/nano fabrication to give you an overview of the current state of this technology and its applications in and beyond the electronics sectors.