The proposal addresses the need to advance the state-of-the-art in direct-write technology. In an effort to reduce feature size, the trend in the thick and thin-film industries has been toward increased manufacturing and write speed, decreased feature size and increased versatility of powder based features. The dry powder deposition of fine powders (1-10 micron) is currently a weak link in that there is not an adequate way to feed these powders accurately and reliably to existing approaches to direct-write can be investigated and accelerated. Under this proposal, a powder gun will be developed that is capable of accurately and reliably feeding fine powders in a narrow beam with high density. This prototype powder gun will be used to demonstrate a new approach to direct-write meso-scale electronics involving the writing of small feature sizes of adhesive followed by application of a fine powder by the powder gun. This approach promises higher write speeds with smaller features, less powder waste and increased versatility than current direct-write technologies. Phase II will focus on a functional direct-write machine using the developed technology and commercialization through strategic partners.
