HRL Interposer Enables Pixel Fan-Out and Curved Sensor Stacking

HRL Laboratories' additive manufacturing team demonstrates 3D-printed interposers with previously impossible slanted and curved vias with diameters of less than 10µm. Vias are small openings in insulating layers of integrated circuits that allow conductive connections.

HRL is now 3D printing vias in polymer and ceramic materials with 2 µm resolution, allowing for complex routing. The vias are then metallized to electrically connect different devices and integrated circuits.

“We have printed arrays of straight and curved vias with an aspect ratio of at least 200:1. There is still room to increase this ratio using the low-viscosity preceramic resin that we developed in house,” said HRL Lead Engineer Kayleigh Porter.

HRL Laboratories’ development effort is currently funded by DARPA’s Microsystems Technology Office under the Focal arrays for Curved Infrared Imagers (FOCII) program.