Salt Lake City – Using an inexpensive inkjet printer, University of Utah electrical engineers produced microscopic structures that use light in metals to carry information. This new technique, which controls electrical conductivity within such microstructures, could be used to rapidly fabricate superfast components in electronic devices, make wireless technology faster, or print magnetic materials.

High-speed Internet and other data-transfer techniques rely on light transported through optical fibers with very high bandwidth, which is a measure of how fast data can be transferred. Shrinking these fibers allows more data to be packed into less space, but there's a catch: optical fibers hit a limit on how much data they can carry as light is squeezed into smaller and smaller spaces.

In contrast, electronic circuits can be fashioned at much smaller sizes on silicon wafers. However, electronic data transfer operates at frequencies with much lower bandwidth, reducing the amount of data that can be carried.

A recently discovered technology called plasmonics marries the best aspects of optical and electronic data transfer. By crowding light into metal structures with dimensions far smaller than its wavelength, data can be transmitted at much higher frequencies such as terahertz frequencies, which lie between microwaves and infrared light on the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation that also includes everything from X-rays to visible light to gamma rays. Metals such as silver and gold are particularly promising plasmonic materials because they enhance this crowding effect.

"Very little well-developed technology exists to create terahertz plasmonic devices, which have the potential to make wireless devices such as Bluetooth – which operates at 2.4 gigahertz frequency – 1,000 times faster than they are today," says Ajay Nahata, a University of Utah professor of electrical and computer engineering and senior author of the new study.

Using a commercially available inkjet printer and two different color cartridges filled with silver and carbon ink, Nahata and his colleagues printed 10 different plasmonic structures with a periodic array of 2,500 holes with different sizes and spacing on a 2.5" x 2.5" plastic sheet.

The four arrays tested had holes 450 microns in diameter – about four times the width of a human hair – and spaced one-25th of an inch apart. Depending on the relative amounts of silver and carbon ink used, the researchers could control the plasmonic array's electrical conductivity, or how efficient it was in carrying an electrical current.

"Using a $60 inkjet printer, we have developed a low-cost, widely applicable way to make plasmonic materials," Nahata says. "Because we can draw and print these structures exactly as we want them, our technique lets you make rapid changes to the plasmonic properties of the metal, without the million-dollar instrumentation typically used to fabricate these structures."

Plasmonic arrays are currently made using microfabrication techniques that require expensive equipment and manufacture only one array at a time. Until now, controlling conductivity in these arrays has proven extremely difficult for researchers.

Nahata and his co-workers at the University of Utah's College of Engineering used terahertz imaging to measure the effect of printed plasmonic arrays on a beam of light. When light with terahertz frequency is directed at a periodic array of holes in a metal layer, it can result in resonance, a fundamental property best illustrated by a champagne flute shattering when it encounters a musical tone of the right pitch.

Terahertz imaging is useful for nondestructive testing, such as detection of anthrax bacterial weapons in packaging or examination of insulation in spacecraft. By studying how terahertz light transmits through their printed array, the Utah team showed that simply changing the amount of carbon and silver ink used to print the array could be used to vary transmission through this structure.

With this new printing technique, Nahata says, "we have an extra level of control over both the transmission of light and electrical conductivity in these devices – you can now design structures with as many different variations as the printer can produce." Nahata says these faster plasmonic arrays eventually could prove useful for:

Wireless devices, because the arrays allow data to be transmitted much more quickly. Many research groups are actively working on this application now.

Printing magnetic materials for greater functionality (lower conductivity, more compact) in different devices. This technology is more than five years away, Nahata says.

Although the Utah team used two different kinds of ink, up to four different inks in a four-color inkjet printer could be used, depending on the application.

Source: University of Utah College of Engineering 

Rock Hill, S.C. - 3D Systems officials announced an expansive new seminar series designed to inform, educate, train, and inspire local businesses, entrepreneurs, designers, and other professionals world-wide on the new paradigm of 3D printing-powered design-to-manufacturing technology available. The seminars include demonstrations from the company's 2014 product line spanning more than 20 new printers, design solutions and advanced materials; all of which are at the core of 3DS' 3DPRINTING 2.0 initiative. This seminar series consists of over 300 total events between March and June 2014 at 3DS reseller locations throughout the globe from North America and Europe to the Middle East and Asia, and it will give attendees a firsthand look how 3DS' newest printers can benefit the full spectrum of high-end manufacturers down to prosumers.

3DPRINTING 2.0 represents the exponential advancement in speed, capacity and performance materials that the company's new roster of products brings to its entire 3D content-to-print platform for companies large and small, independent entrepreneurs, prosumers, and consumers alike.

This seminar series will give clients a close look at the diversity and power of 3DPRINTING 2.0 as resellers demonstrate many of 3DS' new products, spanning industrial-grade to desktop 3D printers, advanced materials and new scan-to-design and inspection tools for the engineer and designer's desktop. Participants will see:

• New developments in ColorJet 3D printing with full-color plastic
• Expanded capabilities with multi-material composite parts in a single print
• Fab-grade performance from the ProX(TM) 950, the latest SLA 3D printer for high-volume manufacturing
• Production-grade SLS capabilities and part quality on par with injection molding from the ProX 500
• Enhanced, low-cost jewelry and dental casting pattern capabilities with the Projet(R) 1200
• Sub-$5,000, multi-material prosumer 3D printers
• Sessions detailing how to evaluate the range of technology and choose the right 3D printer for any application

"This seminar series not only represents our commitment to providing the most complete set of 3D printers and expanding our portfolio, but it also exemplifies our dedication to our clients and to helping them find the right mix of cost and 3D printing capabilities that will drive their business into a successful future," said Michele Marchesan, COO, 3DS.

Source: 3D Systems Corp.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. – DMG MORI USA announces it will host The Association for Manufacturing Excellence AME Values Veterans Symposium on March 14, 2014, at its U.S. headquarters in Hoffman Estates, Ill. The one-day event offers training, coaching, and advocacy for organizations that pledge to hire and retain veterans, transitioning guardsmen and reservists.

The program will teach manufacturing industry best practices for meeting current and future hiring needs through the employment of veterans.

“Our goal is to drive down veteran unemployment while improving business performance through improved workforce productivity,” says Doug Pierce, chief learning officer at DMG MORI Academy. “The leadership, teamwork and global technological skills veterans possess, make them a huge asset to any employer, but their attention and respect for procedures make them uniquely qualified to work in a modern manufacturing environment.”

Presentations are centered on how to hire and retain veterans, exposing truths and myths surrounding employing them and expert panel Q&A.

Speaker lineup includes:

• Joe Barto: Founder & President TMG Inc.
• Warren Young: Chairman, ACME Industries
• Randy Harland: Executive VP, DMG MORI USA
• Doug Pierce: Chief Learning Officer, DMG MORI Academy
• Nancy Wajler, Executive Director of Education and Training, Association for Manufacturing Excellence
• John Caman Jr., Operations Team Leader, StandFast Inc.

“If you are a supervisor, manager, human resources representative, and/or training coordinator, we encourage you to attend and learn more about leveraging this tremendous American resource,” Pierce adds.

Event information:

AME Values Veterans Symposium
Friday, March 14, 2014
8:30a.m. - 4:00p.m.

DMG MORI U.S. Headquarters
2400 Huntington Blvd.
Hoffman Estates, IL 60192

AME member fee:  No Charge
Non-member fee: $75

Register at www.ame.org

Source: DMG MORI U.S.

The retail environments where products are sold look nothing like the industrial environments where they are produced (think of the difference between a new car dealership and an automotive manufacturing plant).

Yet the same RFID products developed for retail stores and supply chain operations are heavily marketed to manufacturers for production operations. These products may have different housings or IP ratings than their general-purpose cousins and may work fine in warehouses, but that does not necessarily qualify them as industrial grade.

Production environments often have their own ruggedness, performance, and connectivity requirements that only purpose-built industrial equipment can reliably satisfy. For example, general-purpose RFID equipment may have the physical Ethernet port needed to connect to a PLC, but will not support EtherNet/IP, Profibus or other industrial protocols that run PLCs and other industrial automation equipment. The reader will need to be supported with additional protocol conversion, which slows system performance and adds to implementation time and expense.

EtherNet/IP and other industrial protocol support is just one example of the many features that separate true industrial RFID solutions from products that can be used in industrial environments. When evaluating RFID equipment, it is important to make the distinction between what is possible for use in the environment and what is optimal. This white paper helps system planners make that distinction, by providing an overview of the features and capabilities that differentiate true industrial RFID equipment.

Three fundamental qualities determine if RFID systems will perform reliably in demanding production environments:

• Will the RFID system integrate seamlessly with industrial control systems?
• Will it provide the reliability and speed that production and information systems require?
• Can it maintain uptime and performance long term – will it last as long as the production line?

Click here to download the full white paper from Balluff.

Source: Balluff