3D Printing for Semi­conductors

Cooling and heating plates are essential in a wide range of semiconductor-powered applications: from automotive and telecommunications to medical and industrial equipment, where precise thermal control ensures device reliability and performance. Traditional metal or ceramic plates often lack the thermal efficiency and design flexibility required by modern systems.

3D-printed Aluminum Nitride (AlN) plates overcome these limitations by enabling fully three-dimensional internal structures, like gyroids or lattices, that are impossible to machine conventionally. This allows for highly efficient heat transfer, compact form factors, and targeted thermal regulation.

AlN combines high thermal conductivity (150–260 W/m·K) with excellent electrical insulation, thermal stability, and resistance to chemical corrosion, making it ideal for harsh operating environments. These plates deliver long-term durability, precise performance, and design customization for next-generation cooling in demanding semiconductor-based technologies.

The ceramic gas injector developed by Bosch Advanced Ceramics, additively manufactured using Lithoz LCM 3D printing technology, is designed for etching processes in the semiconductor industry. Made from high-purity aluminum oxide (99.8%, Lithalox 350), it offers exceptional chemical resistance, thermal stability, and particle-free operation. The component combines the customer’s originally two-part design into a single injector with 3 internal 6 mm channels, 62 fine openings with 0.2 mm wall thickness, and a flow-optimized honeycomb structure. This integration improves gas flow precision, reduces assembly complexity, and increases process reliability. Bosch produces up to 2,000 units annually (six per print job), supporting efficient, contamination-free wafer production with long service life and simplified maintenance.

This 15“ diameter alumina gas distribution ring was manufactured by Alumina Systems and designed by Plasway Technologies using Lithoz LCM technology. Alumina is used to ensure a constant gas flow and pressure even when using reactive gases. Capitalizing on the design freedom of Lithoz LCM technology, the part manufactured performed more effectively than conventionally produced rings thanks to a more complex design, allowing for an exceptionally lightweight and thinwalled structure. Material usage was reduced in key areas and the part could be manufactured onsite, making digital warehouses a reality and saving on storage costs.

In semiconductor manufacturing, precise gas control is crucial for consistent layer quality and accurate structuring. Gas equalizers and gas injection nozzles perform different tasks in controlling the gas flow to ensure repeatability and maximize process performance.

A gas distribution nozzle made of yttria (yttrium oxide, Y₂O₃) is a high-performance component used in semiconductor manufacturing, particularly in plasma etching, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and atomic layer deposition (ALD). These nozzles ensure uniform gas distribution across semiconductor wafers during critical process steps.

Our high-end 3D-printed alumina gas equalizer offers a revolutionary solution for precise gas distribution in the semiconductor industry. By uniquely combining the outstanding chemical and thermal resistance of aluminum oxide with the flexible design freedom and accuracy of 3D printing, this component enables a uniform and stable gas flow – even under demanding process conditions. Specifically designed for modern production lines, the gas equalizer supports maximum process stability and extended lifetime, especially in applications such as plasma etching, CVD, and ALD. Thanks to its innovative design, which would not be feasible with conventional production methods, it ensures improved efficiency and quality in semiconductor production and gives manufacturers a clear competitive advantage.

With clear growing demand for ceramic 3D printing at an industrial scale across industries, the success of Lithoz’s partners and technology in serial production is becoming ever more visible. Lithoz will showcase the arrival of “The Ceramic 3D Factory”, uniting Lithoz technology and service bureaus all over the world in one global network for interconnected serial production across fields such as semiconductor production, aerospace and more. This global “Ceramic 3D Factory” network is strengthened by the new CeraControl software, which allows for up to 100 globally interconnected CeraFab S65 3D printers. With consistently reproducible precision, Lithoz is ushering in the era of globally connected ceramic printer farms — from semiconductor manufacturing to aerospace and medical technology.

This high-pressure nozzle with ultra-narrow outlet is printed from alumina and was manufactured by Steinbach AG for a customer in the automobile industry. The original application consisted of several single metal components which consequently led to considerably higher weight and a massive 50 mm cross-section.

Steinbach AG redesigned and optimized the entire component to make use of the LCM technology’s full potential in precision and material strength. By achieving significantly more intricate inner structures, an extremely narrow outlet and much smoother surfaces in one single 3D-printed piece, the entire construction could be miniaturized by 60 %. Thanks to the excellent corrosion resistance, the alumina part showed much less wear than the previous metal component, too.

LithaLox 360 is specially optimized for designing high-resolution features thanks to a modified binder formulation and a purity level of 99.8%. With this aluminum oxide, even the thinnest channels, narrowest lattice structures and finest holes in miniaturized components can be achieved. For example, tubes of less than 200 μm diameter and bridges below 100 μm can be produced. Alumina components are electrically insulating and puncture resistant, therefore making them suitable for a wide range of applications, such as in the semiconductor industry or for medical nozzles.

This 3D-printed mixing nozzle, printed by Bosch Advanced Ceramics, is used in rotors for mini-pumps. As a part being used in chemical applications, the corrosive resistance of alumina as a ceramic material makes it the top material for the job. The complex guiding blades and small holes were also easily achieved using the geometrical freedom of 3D printing, with the diameter of the holes being just 0.2 mm allowing for an increased number of holes and therefore improving mixing performance.

This functional part was designed and 3D printed by Steinbach AG from the flexible alumina material LithaLox 360. It was part of a joint development project to optimize the cleaning of the highly complex structures that can be achieved with this newly developed alumina slurry, which is able to create the thinnest channels, narrowest lattice structures and finest holes in miniaturized components.

The heat exchanger’s characteristic features are its narrowly positioned cooling fins of only 0.45 mm edge widths at a depth of 3.5 mm measured from the fin’s edges to the tube’s structure. The diameter of the inner tube forming the axis is only 2 mm, whilst the connected central struts have a thickness of a mere 0.45 mm.