Laser Printing Circuit Boards and Electronics

Although significant progress has been made toward digital printing of electronics using inkjet technologies, the potential of laser printing for digital fabrication has been largely overlooked. Despite their speed and resolution capabilities toner-based systems are often regarded as incapable of handling conductive materials. This research reports recent laser printing development and its potential to replace conventional printed circuit board manufacturing steps, including conductive track deposition. The research had a dual focus, demonstrating proof of concept with conventional office laser printers (for artwork masks, etch resists, and seed layers for overplating), and used industrial laser printers with developmental toners to support direct production of electronics (conductive tracks, dielectric layers, and legends). The results confirm that laser printing can complement other digital printing approaches for directly depositing resists and conductive tracks.