Wire Bond Research Articles

Surface-Mount Zero-Ohm Jumper Resistor Characterization in High-Speed Controlled Impedance Transmission Lines.

Zero-ohm resistors, also known as jumpers, are commonly used in early radio frequency (RF) prototypes as they can help engineers identify the most optimal engineering solution for their system or create application-specific hardware configurations in products. One of the key considerations when using zero-ohm jumpers in RF circuits is the potential for signal loss and interference. Every circuit connection creates a small amount of resistance and impedance, eventually adding up over long distances or in complex circuits. This paper proposes a quantitative characterization summary of standard 0201-, 0402-, 0603-, and 0805-size surface-mount package jumpers, as well as lead-free and lead solder wires, in high-frequency applications by means of time domain reflectometry (TDR) and S-parameter measurements. The typical offset from the target 50 Ω impedance was measured to be around 3 Ω, or 5.8% relative to the measured reference value. According to S-parameter measurement results, no visible impact on attenuation was spotted up to 5 GHz compared to the reference S21 curve.

Inkjet-printed electrical interconnects for high resolution integrated circuit diagnostics

As semiconductors continue to shrink in size and become more three-dimensional in shape, the size of defects that can induce a failure also reduces, pushing the need for better fault isolation. The resolving capability of microscopes used in failure analysis (FA) is frequently limited by how close the microscope can be brought to the circuit under test. Accessibility is often restricted by the presence of probe needles or wire bonds that are needed to power up the device during the measurement. Here, I describe a robust, rapid and cost-effective method to overcome the contacting bottleneck by re-routing the probe pads with a low-profile redistribution layer, realized by conductive inkjet printing. I demonstrate that the method enables analytical FA with high spatial resolution on a backside power delivery network structure in combination with the optical beam induced resistance change (OBIRCH) technique. Electrical and structural characterization of the printing process are also reported.

Investigation of CuAl IMCs Corrosion in Chloride Environment and its Prevention Strategy

Abstract In most current wire-bonding applications, electrical interconnection is accomplished by fine Cu wires bonded to Al bonding pads microfabricated on an IC chip and external contact pins of the PCB board. Corrosion-related failure defects between the Cu wire and Al bond pad have been an ongoing un-trackable reliability issue plaguing the IC packaging industry for the past ten years, despite approaching ppb levels. Most prior studies hypothesized that intermetallic compounds (IMCs) like Cu9Al4, and CuAl2 were responsible for the observed acute wire-bond lift-off corrosion defects. Further studies sought to quantify the rates of corrosion of these IMCs and explore the effects of mitigation efforts of adding Pd, relevant to Pd-coated Cu wire-bonding. However, utilizing a novel real-time corrosion screening approach, we previously established that peripheral bimetallic contact between Cu ball-bonds and Al bond pads also plays a substantial role in the aggressive Al pad corrosion, induced by chloride ion penetration, which often leads to device failure. In this work, we further explored the role of IMCs corrosion in wire-bond lift-off failure utilizing fundamental electrochemical studies to quantify rates of galvanic-induced corrosion of IMCs within the broader context of an interconnected stack of Al bond pad, Cu-Al IMCs and Cu bonding wire. We also explored the use of a corrosion inhibitor to suppress the galvanic corrosion currents of Al bond pad, and Al-rich IMCs when electrically connected to Cu wire or Cu-rich IMCs.

Insulated, Passivated & Adhesively-Promoted Bond Wire Using All-in-One Al2O3 Coating

Insulated, Passivated & Adhesively-Promoted Bond Wire Using All-in-One Al2O3 Coating

Digital Twins and Smart Manufacturing for Wire Bonding

Low cost, excellent flexibility, and high yield rate have long been the drivers of wire bonding technology. In the past decade, advancements in wire bonding technology have significantly improved wire bond reliability and strengthened the adoption of the technology while maintaining its competitive advantage. Digital twins of wire bonding can now simulate and optimize 3D wire loop shapes to facilitate design-for-manufacturing (DFM), increase design flexibility, reduce product development time, and improve overall package yields. In particular, the benefits of digital twins have been realized in system-in-package (SiPs), large stack-die memory applications, and complex high pin count packages with multiple looping tiers. With increasing package complexity and modular package configurations, the need for smarter functionalities is imperative. More recently, technological developments in wire bonding have been targeted toward furthering design, quality, and time-to-market (TTM) from an Industry 4.0 smart manufacturing perspective. In this paper, we will introduce new digital twin simulation techniques to detect potential interference between wire bond capillaries and wire loops, various dies, passive components, and other structures within the package. These advanced capabilities are demonstrated on a real application and shown to help in the detection of design issues early in the product cycle and aid in the selection of capillary, wire, as well as optimization of the package layout. All these factors significantly improve the overall TTM of semiconductor packages. Technologies that provide improvements via autonomous monitoring and optimization are also strongly desired. We will also explore new on-bonder process monitoring capabilities to detect wire sway such that wire shorts and resultant yield losses can be minimized. Additionally, vision-guided enhancements to on-bonder loop height monitoring capabilities will also be discussed. These new advancements significantly improve production quality and yield, paving the way for smarter factories

New Packaging Technology for 2-dimensional VCSEL Arrays and Their Electro-Optical Performance and Applications

At IMAPS2021, we reported on 1-dimensional VCSEL arrays and the packaging technology developed for these arrays, but this time we present the manufacturing workflow and look at the challenges presented by the packaging of special long-wavelength 2-dimensional vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) arrays in various dimensions. We will show that available packaging technologies for epoxy application by silk screening, die- and wire bonding can be adapted for the unique properties of the 2D VCSEL arrays, delivering high accuracy for production with great overall yield. Proof of the excellent reliability and lifetime will be given through mechanical and electro-optical testing results. The technologies developed for 2D laser arrays will enable new devices for various new applications like high channel count interconnects for data communication and high power VCSEL solutions for 3D sensing. The perfected wire bonding process secured a homogeneous monometallic structure of the wire bonds, a reduced, well defined bond loop height, with sufficient clearance of the bonding wire above the VCSEL surface. Properly set-up manufacturing procedures for the packaging of the VCSEL arrays are necessary to achieve high performance and reliability of the products presented. Processing of large 2D-VCSEL arrays will be part of the paper. 2D arrays have enabled VCSEL technologies to address a wide range of new laser-based sensing applications. VCSEL products vary from laser chips with only a few emitters for proximity sensors up to several thousands of emitters for LiDAR systems. Applications include systems for the automotive, industrial, medical and consumer markets. There is a strong and growing market opportunity for long wavelengths VCSELs, e.g. based on InP material enabling single mode and multi-mode 2D-VCSEL arrays from 1.3 to beyond 2 µm. For 3D sensing systems and free-space optical communication, long wavelength 2D-VCSEL arrays offer improved eye safety and further benefits. The long wavelength VCSELs discussed in this paper can be deployed in a wide range of sensing and optical communication applications.

An Organic Package Designer’s Guide to Transitioning to FOWLP and 2.5D Design

Many package designers have many years of hands-on experience designing organic FR4/HDI build-up BGA/LGA substrates. We’ve memorized the design guidelines and the substrate fabrication is well understood. We know how to wield our design tools like precision scalpels to get the design completed on-time, on-specification and on budget. Whether it’s flipchip attach, wire bond or a stacked die combo the design methodology is well understood. Then management mentions that the next generation of designs are going to be “heterogeneously integrated”, utilizing new integration platforms such as RDL-based fan-out wafer level and/or interposers. Suddenly, people start mentioning things like “Assembly Design Kits”, “Stream-out”, “sign-off using PDK’s”, multi-pass degassing, seal rings, assembly LVS and HBM stack routing. The suggestion is made that new design tools might be needed – semiconductor P&R tools that only work on Linux and are all TCL/TK script driven. We start doing some research online and attend a conference or two and listen to some of the EDA tool vendors and you could easily arrive at a point where you start to think, “Am I obsolete? Do I really need to learn to use silicon P&R tools? What is “assembly LVS”, multiple-pass degassing and why do my metal planes need to be hatched and offset?” For many of us, the shift in technology can be overwhelming. Do not despair; yes, there is new terminology to understand and many new design techniques to be understood and mastered, as well as a completely new design process and flow. The good news is that this can all be overcome without having to learn silicon P&R design tools. This paper will discuss real-world experiences of organic package substrate designers who have transitioned and mastered RDL-based FOWLP and 2.5D silicon and organic interposer design, while still using (and preserving) the majority of their existing packaged design tools and skills.

High Robustness of Coated-Ag Wire Bonding

Formation of free air ball (FAB) within the range of certain processing parameters leads to excellent bondability (distributed intermetallic coverage (IMC) at the center and periphery of the bonded ball interface, bonded ball concentricity, etc.) on bonding to aluminum (Al) bond pad and Au/Ag plated surfaces. The wire revealed zero stoppage and 0.8M bond touchdowns when tested under laboratory conditions. Thermal aging of bonded interface showed absence of Kirkendall voids until 192h at 250°C where Al diffuses into Ag bonded ball up to a depth of 5.3µm, consuming the complete Al bond pad and thus transforming into silver-aluminide containing 5 to 12wt% of Al and rest silver (Ag). Traces of coated gold (Au) and alloyed palladium (Pd) are noticed at the bond interface.

Algorithm for Ultrasonic Wire Bond Outlier Classification

Wedge bonders use ultrasonic energy to bond metal wires onto metal substrates in a process that takes milliseconds. In high-volume production, failures cause downtime and costs. On-line monitoring systems are used to reduce the failures and determine the root cause. We developed and tested an algorithm to classify outliers in ultrasonic wire bond production. The algorithm is used in large wire wedge bonders to measure and analyze process signals and detect and classify bond outliers. It helps bonder operators, production supervisors and process engineers to detect process deviations and fix the underlying root causes. The algorithm measures bond signals, such as deformation, ultrasonic current, and ultrasonic frequency. Bonds are automatically divided into subgroups based on bond order and process parameters, and the signals within a subgroup are then normalized. For outlier classification, the features are extracted from the normalized signals and combined into failure class values. The failure classes such as contamination, no wire, high deformation, misaligned wire, and unstable substrate, are calculated independently. We measured the detection rates for large wire aluminum bond failure classes and demonstrate how the algorithm calculates failure class values from the signals. Additionally, we show how new signal features and failure classes can be defined to detect production-specific or rare failure classes.

Metal Oxide Removal Using Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Technology for Electronic Applications

Copper is one of the most commonly used metals in the electronics industry. For example, it is extensively used as a lead frame material in integrated circuit packaging due to its superior thermal and electrical conductivity and low production cost. However, the formation of a native oxide on the surface along with the presence of organic contaminants hinder wire bond strength. The work presented here will focus on a novel approach to remove copper and other oxide layers using a nitrogen/hydrogen (95%/5%) gas plasma chemistry that does not require a vacuum environment. The processes are run at temperature conditions lower than 200°C, and at speed up to 150 mm/s which make the technology attractive for industrial upscaling. Results from the elemental analysis using scanning electron microscopy (EDS-SEM) of the plasma-treated versus as-received copper surfaces will be presented. Also, a brief analysis of the gas plasma-surface interactions, process parameters leading to oxide reduction of various metals (Cu, Sn) and equipment details will be discussed. Aside from improving wire bond strength to lead frames and pads, plasmas can be used to improve die attachment to various metal solder materials for flip chip and other electronic applications.

A Comprehensive Evaluation of Al Heavy Wire Bonding and Ribbon Bonding Application in high power WBG Power Modules

Targeting at a comprehensive Multiphysics evaluation for Al wire and ribbon bonding technologies for WBG power module, this paper investigates and compares the stray inductance, heat dissipation and fatigue life between these two bonding schemes in an XHP packaging designed in house. During calculation, it was tried to keep equivalent volume for the Al ribbon when substituting local Al wires for fair comparison. Results of stray inductance show extremely limit bonding-type dependence in ranges from 1 kHz to 10 MHz, and further expanding ribbon size to varied levels still presents negligible impact. The two bonding technologies do not prove their capability in sharing either static or transient thermal loads when the baseplate bottom is efficiently liquid cooled. Detailed study confirms that heat dissipates dominantly in vertical direction to the Cu baseplate rather than through Al bonds. Ultimately, the only noticeable benefit of Al ribbon in our multiscale analysis is its improved reliability during temperature cycling, with data supporting a 2.17× times longer lifetime of Al ribbon when comparing to its Al wire counterpart.

Optimization of the Copper Microstructure to Improve Copper-to-Copper Direct Bonding

Advanced packaging solutions and heterogeneous integration are key technologies to enable devices with improved operating characteristics, including higher performance, increasing power efficiency, and decreasing form factor. Packages with high interconnect densities are required to efficiently combine, e.g., processing and memory units but impose restrictions to the pitch of the interconnects. Conventional technologies, including wire bonds and flip chip bonds are limited to larger pitches and, therefore, not suitable to meet the requirements of upcoming packaging technologies with respect to interconnect densities. Direct copper-to-copper interconnects are supposed to allow such small pitches of 10 µm or even below. However, formation of such bonds usually requires high temperatures and pressures. Temperature-sensitive devices like DRAM components restrict the maximum temperature that can be applied to the package. Thus, copper material is required, which allows bond formation at relatively low temperatures. In this context, hybrid bonding processes were discussed that involve initial bond formation via the usually oxide-based dielectric at room temperature followed by copper-to-copper bonding at elevated temperatures. The copper material is usually prepared by electrolytic deposition and the properties of the respective deposits may be modified by properly designed organic additives as well as process parameters. Strong bond formation of the copper should be obtained upon grain growth over the interface of the two deposits, which are brought into contact during the bonding step. In order to facilitate such growth at relatively low temperatures, suitable microstructures need to be prepared. Ideally, morphologies should be chosen in a way that they can be maintained throughout all process steps after the electrolytic deposition but, at the same time, allow grain growth over the interface during copper-to-copper bonding. Various strategies to enable improved seamless grain growth but maintain a metastable microstructure throughout the preceding process steps and the corresponding unique copper microstructures will be compared. In this context, different electrolytic copper deposition processes, the resulting microstructures, as well as their respective advantages and challenges with regards to copper-to-copper bond formation will be discussed.

Printed Microstrip Interconnects for Improved RF Performance in mm-Wave Packaging

Printed microstrip interconnects are gaining attention as designers seek a more-compact, lower-loss scheme to replace wire bonds. Aerosol Jet® printed interconnects have the potential to lower insertion losses by creating conductors with arbitrary geometries and zero loop height. Printed dielectric and conductor materials typically have inferior electrical properties compared to bulk-deposited materials. There is a question whether these properties will produce unacceptable S21 losses in printed interconnects. This work presents calculations of the effect of the printed material’s properties on S21. HFSS modeling from 0.1 to 100 GHz was conducted on two representative interconnect structures. A trench in an RF substrate filled with dielectric and a dielectric ramp from a substrate up to a GaAs die. The microstrip (or transmission) line over a filled trench represents the filled region around a die that sits down in a “pocket” in the dielectric and contacts the ground plane. Conductors modeled include a pure copper reference along with conductors with four and ten times the resistivity of bulk silver. The dielectric constant of the insulator varied from 2.8 to 4.3 and the loss tangent varied from 0.004 to 0.04. For simplicity, an unpatterned GaAs die was used in place of an RF IC. The work focuses on estimating any degradations in performance of an ideal reference circuit caused by the material properties of real printed materials. Also presented are the dielectric properties of our current materials along with properties of candidate materials that have better thermo-mechanical properties (shrink, CTE, Tg…).

Monitoring Chip Branch Failure in Multichip IGBT Modules Based on Gate Charge

The reliability of the multichip insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) modules has been a concern. Condition monitoring is an effective approach to enhance reliability and improve the quality of customer service. This paper proposes a method for monitoring the chip branch failure due to bond wires fatigue in the multichip IGBT modules. The idea is based on the cumulative effect of the gate charge deviation when the chip branch fails. By integrating the turn-on gate current of multiple switching cycles, the health state of multichip IGBT modules is characterized by the capacitor voltage as a health-sensitive parameter that can be extracted in the proposed monitoring circuit integrated into the gate driver. The capacitor voltage decreases significantly when the chip branch occurs due to bond wires fatigue. It is stable during sampling and has a strong immunity to junction temperature, collector current, and collector-emitter voltage. Besides, the method is non-intrusive and has the potential for real-time and online monitoring. These characteristics make the method reliable, easy to implement, and convenient for health status identification. The confirmatory experiment is carried out to verify the feasibility of the method.

Insights into atomic‐electronegativity‐controlled excited state intramolecular proton transfer behavior for the novel oxazolonapthoimidazo[1,2‐a]‐pyridine (ONIP) compound: A time‐dependent density functional theory study

AbstractIn this work, we mainly focus on probing into the effects of atomic electronegativity on photo‐induced hydrogen bond (i.e., O–H···N) effects and excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) processes for a novel fluorescent chemical probe ONIP derivatives (i.e., ONIP‐O, ONIP‐S, and ONIP‐Se). First, insights into optimized structural geometries and related infrared vibrational spectra, we clarify that the hydrogen bond O–H···N interaction could be strengthened via photoexcitation. Further, via predicting hydrogen bonding energy EHB, we quantificationally present that the S1‐state hydrogen bonding strengthening behavior should be more distinct with lower atomic electronegativity. When it comes to vertical photo‐induced excitation, the intramolecular charge transfer process happens and the charge redistribution plays roles in promoting ESIPT behavior. It is worth mentioning the energy gap between highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital show that low atomic electronegativity should be more favorable to ESIPT process. Finally, based on the restricted optimization method, we construct the potential energy curves along with hydrogen bond wire for ONIP‐O, ONIP‐S, and ONIP‐Se. By exploring the conformation of potential energy curves and potential energy barriers, we disclose the detailed atomic‐electronegativity‐controlled ESIPT dynamical behaviors for ONIP system.

Development of Integrated Thermoelectric Sensors for Power Components

Power components such as High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs) are used for high power and high frequency applications. These tend to overheat and destroy their packaging and connections to the wire bondings. This paper presents planar micro-thermoelectric sensors (μTESs) developed to measure partial heat flow dissipated by the HEMTs to avoid the HEMTs from reaching critical temperatures. These sensors use the same active materials as well as the same fabrication process as the HEMTs, enabling them to be fabricated simultaneously for a simple integration. The HEMTs’ active layers consist in AlGaN/GaN heterostructures resulting in the formation of a 2D Electron Gas (2DEG) at the interface. Tension factors of 47 mV/(K.mm2) were obtained with these sensors and heat flows of 0.2 W to 7 W were measured.

Toward Ultrasonic Wire Bonding for High Power Device: A Vector Based Resonant Frequency Tracking and Constant Amplitude Control

The electrical packaging for high power devices such as IGBT or MOSFET is achieved by heavy aluminum ultrasonic wire bonding. In this process, the amplitude stability of ultrasonic transducer determines the bonding quality, which demands more accuracy in resonant frequency tracking (RFT) and constant amplitude control (CAC). In this investigation, we proposed a vector based resonant frequency (VRFT) tracking and vector based constant amplitude control (VCAC) to control the ultrasonic transducer. The current of dynamic branch was conducted by calculating the voltage and current vector of ultrasonic transducer. Small signal model of ultrasonic transducer was established and applied into RFT and CAC. A control strategy of fuzzy self-tuning PID closed loop was utilized to RFT and CAC. The PID parameters was calculated by the linear control theories and modified by the fuzzy controller which improved the vibration stability of the transducer. A prototype of 100Watt/60kHz ultrasonic driver was self-developed to verify the VRFT and VCAC. It demonstrated that the locked frequency of VRFT can be controlled within less than 0.04 millisecond when staring from the swept frequency, and the vibration response is fast with the varying bonding pressure. The amplitude of fuzzy PID VCAC is more stable and robust compared to the classical PID control, which improved the bonded joint quality in heavy aluminum wire packaging. Note to Practitioners—This article was motivated by the reliability and efficiency of IGBT/ MOSFET device packaging through ultrasonic aluminum wire bonding. This bonding process requires more amplitude stability of the ultrasonic transducer to achieve acceptable bonded quality. Currently, the resonant frequency tracking (RFT) by classical PID control is in slow speed, and the amplitude of the transducer cannot be controlled constantly due to the inherent static capacitor of the transducer. These issues for the ultrasonic control are originated from the engineer’s experience or simple heuristic rule instead of advanced approaches. To improve the vibration performance, we proposed a vector based model consisting of the relationship the dynamic branch current and the total current of the transducer, to control the RFT and constant amplitude control (CAC). Moreover, the vector based is utilized into the fuzzy PID control, where the calculation is reduced by area coefficient defuzzy. The verification experiments prove that the response time of the proposed vector based RFT and CAC, and the bonded joint quality is optimized obviously. It is noted that in our control strategy, the RMS value, the phase of voltage and current of the transducer are acquired by DSP processor, and the calculation of fuzzy PID controller is not complicated, which is feasible to implement in application. This significantly benefits the demand of accurate control to the ultrasonic power in electronic packaging.

IGBT Junction Temperature Estimation Using a Dynamic TSEP Independent of Wire Bonding Faults

Despite that many temperature-sensitive electrical parameters (TSEPs) have been discovered for the online estimation of the junction temperature of IGBT devices, their wide adoption in the field is yet to come. This is because they are most susceptible to both the aging status and operating points of IGBTs, which can result in inaccurate results if not attended. In this study, a novel dynamic TSEP, the gate voltage undershoot <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">V</i> <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">GE(np)</sub> of the complementary IGBT switch, is proposed. It is based on the crosstalk effect and measured during the turn- <sc xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">off</small> switching transition of the controlled IGBT switch for its temperature estimation. Its monotonic temperature dependence has been identified with implications for the changing load current and bus voltage, which are experimentally verified using a 1200 V/450 A IGBT module. The theoretical analysis and experimental results also show that <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">V</i> <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">GE(np)</sub> is independent of bond wire failures while providing comparatively high relative sensitivity. The MMC power equivalent experimental results are given to verify the feasibility of the proposed method in commercial engineering applications. Finally, the multivariate linear regression method is used to improve the ability to estimate the IGBT's temperature by accounting for the operating point.

Investigation of failure mechanism of aluminum-scandium wire bond contact under active power cycle test

The failure mechanism of aluminum-scandium (Al-Sc) wire bond in comparison with pure Al wire bond under active power cycle (APC) test was investigated. To monitor the degradation of the bond quality, bond shear forces (shear force) were measured over the testing cycles at different level of temperature swing (ΔT). The results show that the Al-Sc wire bond was much more robust than the pure Al wire bond when the ΔT (Tmax) was mild. On the other hand, as the ΔT was increased, the shear force reduction in the Al-Sc wire bond became more and more remarkable. In the cross-sectional analysis of bond contact after the APC tests, a significant crack propagation was observed even for low ΔT conditions for the pure Al wire, and the crack progressed primarily on the wire side of the bond area. As for the Al-Sc wire, while the bond crack was efficiently suppressed for low ΔT conditions, a significant progress of crack was observed at high ΔT conditions, and the crack grew mainly through the Al pad side of the bond area. A detailed analysis at the bond interface after the APC test at high ΔT condition revealed three phenomena at the Al pad side of the bond area: grain coarsening, precipitation of Cu particles, and large void formation. As the material strength is compromised by these effects, the crack grew more easily through the Al pad side of the contact area, resulting in a rapid reduction of shear force at high ΔT. The bond failure mechanism obtained in this study will provide a valuable insight for the future development of high reliability power semiconductor device.

Aerosol Jet Printed Interconnects for Millimeter-Wave Components

As millimeter wave RF device applications expand above traditional microwave frequency bands in the global communications, automotive and Mil-Aero markets, the need to limit interconnect signal losses related to parasitic elements has never been more important. As the frequency increases, device designers are facing numerous challenges, complications, and costs when fabricating interconnects with techniques such as copper pillar bumps, wire, ribbon or wedge bonding in 3DIC packaging. Printing conformal interconnects with Aerosol Jet® direct-write technology can offer package designers and RF engineers a new approach for optimizing interconnect transitions to active die, tailoring the loss characteristics to specific application requirements and eliminating the need to compensate for high signal transmission losses. Printed interconnects can be digitally designed into the package with a variety of metallic and dielectric materials. As these interconnects are conformally printed on the 3D surface of the package, the trace length can be minimized with zero loop height, reducing parasitic inductance to active die circuitry specifically for die on board, die in trench, or die on die with pads-up packaging configurations. In this work, Aerosol Jet® printed interconnects with silver nanoparticle inks are compared with the gold microstrip transmission lines as well as traditional gold bond wires, for performance up to 110 GHz. We will share examples showcasing that the printed interconnects can have similar RF transmission performance to microstrip, with significantly lower loss than bondwires especially at high frequencies. We will also discuss design effects for Aerosol Jet® printed RF interconnects up to 110 GHz based on a set of results for different line heights with a given line width printed with a silver ink.