Shifting Research: From Additive Manufacturing to Power Systems and Back Again

Abstract: The Laboratory for Physical Sciences (LPS) is a partner-funded laboratory, where projects are often driven by partner needs. As a result, pivots in research focus can be frequent and significant. In this talk, I’ll describe my initial additive manufacturing research program in laser direct structured circuits and the transition to a new project in power systems, and then reinitiating laser direct structuring and 3D printed RF structures research upon completion. Laser direct structuring (LDS) is a process in which 3D laser ablation activates a catalyst in the surface of a material, for subsequent selective electroless copper plating. At LPS, in 2021, LDS was demonstrated for antennas directly on RF ceramics, as well as elastomeric silicone¹ and fabric. Also in 2021, the Power System Simulator (PSS) project began, with the goal of creating a broadband software simulation tool and physical testbed for evaluating communication signal propagation over low-voltage power system components; progress and current status of the PSS will be presented. Recently, LDS and 3D-printing projects have resumed, with demonstrations of subsurface laser-structured circuits on sapphire wafers for enhanced heat sinking, and graded index RF lens structures 3D-printed in Rogers Corporation Radix™ photoresin material; preliminary results on those projects will also be presented.

Bio: Dr. Bowen graduated from Cornell University with a BS in Electrical Engineering in 2006, with a focus on analog microelectronics, and from the University of Maryland, College Park with a Ph. D. in Electrophysics in 2011. He completed a post-doctoral appointment at The Laboratory for Physical Sciences in 2014, researching circuit-board embedded broadband communication transformers, after which he joined the technical staff at LPS. Since then, his research has spanned many topics, including magneto optic indicator (MOI) films, the spin Hall effect, network hardware security, compressive sensing and single pixel imaging, high-density interconnects for semiconductor interposers, 3D printing and laser direct structuring, and power line communication. In 2017, he received the Exceptional Achievement Medal from the Director of National Intelligence for his work in network hardware security. Since 2014, he has been an adjunct faculty for the UMD Electrical and Computer engineering department, teaching courses on electrical machines and power systems. He is also currently serving on the IEEE Heterogeneous Integration Roadmap subcommittee for additive manufacturing techniques.

[1] Byungseok Yoo, David Bowen, Nathan Lazarus, and Darryll Pines, “Laser Direct Structured 3D Circuits on Silicone,” ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 2022 14 (16), 18854-18865 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.2c01029