OPTOMEC BLOG
Avoiding The Downfall Of Bond Wires With Printed Interconnects
In a previous post, we discussed the shortcomings of round bond wires for RF applications from both a performance and reliability standpoint. Today we are taking a step back and discussing wire bonding in general and how to avoid basic pitfalls. Wire bonding is a popular interconnect technology due to its reliability, versatility and performance. Each year, our industry creates [...]
Automated Laser Cladding Saves Cost in Aircraft Engine Maintenance
The global aircraft Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) market was valued at USD $75.71 billion in 2018 according to Grandview Research and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.7% from 2019 - 2025. Whether carried out by OEMs or outsourced to aerospace Engineering Service Providers (ESPs), a significant amount of money is spent every year on MRO activities [...]
World’s Most Advanced Machine-Brain Interface Enabled by Aerosol Jet
The human brain is a complex biological computer with billions of neurons that are able to send and receive small electrical signals throughout your nervous system. These signals are the basic communication method for your brain to do everything from picking up an object with your hand to composing a symphony. The signals are electrical and as a result, can [...]
Controlling Power Density with Optomec’s New Laser Deposition Head
In the early days of Optomec, LENS processing typically included laser powers of around 300 to 500 W (LENS, or “laser engineered net shaping”, is a form of DED using a laser heat source to melt the substrate and metal powder that is blown with argon gas into the molten pool). Nowadays with technical advancements in lasers and processing capabilities, [...]
In Search of Better-Performing MM-Wave Interconnects
Bell-bottom interconnects For years RF designers have spent a great deal of effort searching for an alternative to wire bonds for a host of reasons. Lately, this effort has really cranked up as we work to implement mm-wave designs and take advantage of the benefits that these short little waves with their wide frequency bands have to offer. In general, [...]
Direct On-Chip 3-D Aerosol Jet Printing With High Reliability
Printed electronics offers some significant advantages in terms of cost, design flexibility and time to fully functional prototype. However, these advantages normally come with issues related to reliability and circuit performance due to the material properties of printed electronic conductors and insulators not meeting the high-performance standard of materials developed specifically for that application. Work being done at Northrop Grumman [...]
Quick Guide to Metal Additive Manufacturing for Industrial Components
Are you looking for new ways to produce metal parts? Do you repair or replace metal parts due to corrosion or wear? Are you responsible for maintaining high-value metal parts? Is it time you added metal additive manufacturing to your company’s capabilities? Metal additive manufacturing has been around for decades now. What was once just an interest in scientific research [...]
Printed Interconnects vs. Bond Wires for RF Circuits
The Challenge: Can Printed Interconnects Match the RF Performance of Bond Wires for Microwave Interconnects? The shortcomings of round bond wires for RF applications are well-known to RF designers. From a performance standpoint, the high and inconsistent loop heights of bond wires can be a detriment to low-loss coupling, especially with increasing circuit frequencies. Likewise, from a reliability standpoint, bond [...]
Directed Energy Deposition for Repair of Industrial Components: How 3D Metal Printing Saves Time and Lowers Costs
Additive manufacturing is being more broadly adopted in industrial applications – not only for producing new metal parts but also for repair and replacement of existing parts. Billions of dollars are spent in the U.S. annually to repair or replace metal parts due to corrosion or wear. Approximately one-third of these costs could be reduced by broader application of metal [...]