Selectively Metalizable Stereolithography Resin for Three-Dimensional DC and High-Frequency Electronics via Hybrid Additive Manufacturing

Direct manufacturing of customized end-use electronic products is becoming an emerging trend of additive manufacturing (AM). This highly demands the evolution of the conventional AM processes from simply building single-material parts to simultaneously delivering complex structures and end-use functionalities. In this work, we propose a novel hybrid additive manufacturing solution that combines stereolithography (SLA) three-dimensional (3D) printing and laser-activated electroless plating for the manufacture of 3D fully functional electronic products. With our newly developed functional SLA resin that can be 3D printed, laser-activated, and thereafter selectively metalized, high-resolution circuitry can be free-formly patterned on 3D structures. In virtue of high-performance electrical materials, this technology is capable of creating not only 3D direct-current (DC) electronics but also 3D high-frequency devices like microwave/millimeter-wave antennas, which cannot be fabricated via traditional printed circuit board (PCB) technology and not even by most AM processes. This study represents a significant advance in additive manufacturing technologies, and more importantly offers a unique opportunity for the mass customization of fully functional 3D electronic products, which shows great potentials in consumer electronics, communication engineering, and automobile and aerospace industries.