Description of the Design

Application/ How does it work/Based on:

This Design can be used for hardware IT-security issues, to protect a semiconductor chip against espionage, and reverse engineering by opening a chip housing.

AME can provide bare chips with individually printed housing.

Active chips with dissipation power represent a potential hotspot for thermal aspects. The 3dimensional footprint for chip assembly shall transport heat from this hotspot to the outer area. (first use case)

Using AME technology within the heatsink design, electronic functionality can be created. By designing different conductive structures, capacitor performance also relies on the heatsink. In addition to the heatsink thermal function as well a measurable capacitance can be produced. (second use case)

If the heatsink with the capacitor is damaged or cracked, an open or shorted circuit is immediately replaced by the expected capacitance. This electronic stage can be detected and can help to identify unwanted threads on the semiconductor assembly.


Future field of application: 

o Design improvements for cooling structures by thermal simulation.

o Engagement in printable materials for high thermal conductivity.

o Reproducibility of capacitance as electronic key performance indicators


Current technology challenges:

o Verified reproducibility as essential step for qualification of AME-process

o Limits of resolution

o Slicer limitations

o z-axis conductivity for 3dimensional routing


Design experiences (Which tools are missing):

o Needs for 3D-wiring design eCAD-Tools to enable more automatic routing

o Thermal simulation