Research Projects

Interconnect faults such as opens and shorts reduce the reliability of electronic circuits. For applications such as space (eg. circuits in satellites) and defense, such failures are not acceptable. We propose a smart material that can identify and repair an open circuit fault automatically. The material is a dispersion of electrically conductive micro or nano particles in an electrically insulating fluid medium. Upon the occurrence of an open fault, the particles polarize, chain up and form a conductive bridge across the gap resulting in repair. The main objective of this proposal is to use this concept to develop a “product-ready” prototype patch with the self-healing mechanism integrated within. A primary feature is that such a patch can be stuck on to existing printed circuit boards to add the self-healing feature and improve reliability. This objective will be accomplished by first identifying key parameter that permit high speed self healing, the stability of the bridge and integration with a proper encapsulant.