A state-of-the-art review on aerosol jet printing (AJP) additive manufacturing process

The goal of this work is to forward a comprehensiveframework, relating to the most recent research works carried outin the area of flexible and hybrid electronics (FHE) fabricationwith the aid of aerosol jet printing (AJP) additive manufacturingprocess. In pursuit of this goal, the objective is to review andclassify a wide range of articles, published recently, concerningvarious aspects of AJP-based device fabrication, such as materialsynthesis, process monitoring, and control.AJP has recently emerged as the technique of choice forintegration as well as fabrication of a broad spectrum ofelectronic components and devices, e.g., interconnects, sensors,transistors, optical waveguides, quantum dot arrays,photodetectors, and circuits. This is preeminently because ofadvantages engendered by AJP process. AJP not only allows forhigh-resolution deposition of microstructures, but alsoaccommodates a wide renege of ink viscosity. However, AJP isintrinsically complex and prone to gradual drifts of the processoutput (stemming from ink chemistry and formulation).Consequently, a large number of research works in the literaturehas focused on in situ process characterization, real-timemonitoring, and closed-loop control with the aim to make AJP arapid, reliable, and robust additive manufacturing method for themanufacture of flexible and hybrid electronic devices. It isexpected that the market for flexible electronics will be worthover $50 billion by 2020 [1].