Invited Paper TF-TuA1
Flexible Hybrid Electronics Process Maturation using Printed Inks

Tuesday, October 22, 2019, 2:20 pm, Room A122-123

Flexible hybrid electronics (FHE) are at the intersection of additive electronics and printed electronics. This is achieved through the utilization of additive methods on flexible and/or stretchable substrates. FHE leverages the low manufacturing cost of additive manufacturing due to fast processing time and low material waste. There are many applications that benefit from small low-cost sensor arrays and wireless networks, including new data collection devices on both manufacturing floors and aerospace systems to enable big data analytic capabilities.

In 2016, Boeing joined the NextFlex Manufacturing Innovation Institute established by U.S. Department of Defense Manufacturing Technology Program to support industry-wide improvements in the manufacturing readiness level (MRL) of Flexible Hybrid Electronics. Boeing's Radio Frequency Manufacturing and Sensing Technologies (RFMaST) laboratory in Huntsville, AL is working in concert with a dozen companies and university partners on seven different NextFlex efforts to improve manufacturing processes and produce industrially relevant technology demonstrators.

The results to date, document an MRL 6 or higher capability for flexible hybrid electronics technologies. Current and previous work has improved the design interface for the nScrypt additive liquid dispense tool, and pushed the industrial supply chain for thinned Integrated Circuits. Additionally, we have documented repeatable printing processes multilayer passive elements on 2D and 3D surfaces, generated Flexible Antenna Array Technologies (FAAT) for GHz frequency applications, and developed in-situ monitoring approach for FHE print processes. Most recently, Boeing and its partners have shown a demonstrator for the Condition Monitoring Sensor Array (CMSA) project that combines a flexible battery, Bluetooth Low Energy, edge processing, and four sensors onto a single flex circuit. Over the next two years, our team will widen these efforts to include UAV flight applications, composite health monitoring, multilayer flexible PCBs and dozens of other sensing applications.

Coupling these achievements with materials characterization, in-situ process monitoring, and large area digital printing will provide Boeing and the US industrial base with MRL 7 small-scale production capabilities for the next generation of electronic sensors. Today, our company has the manufacturing readiness to vertically implement new FHE products and help establish the supply chain required for utilization in commercial and military products.