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Hummink: High Precision Capillary Printing (HPCaP)

Hummink is a Paris company that makes equipment and inks for printing at the micron and sub-micron scale. Its printing method grew out of atomic force microscopy research at the École Normale Supérieure, PSL University, CNRS and the Institut Pierre-Gilles de Gennes. The first patent was filed in 2018 and the company was founded in 2020.

The method is High Precision Capillary Printing (HPCaP). A glass or quartz pipette filled with ink oscillates just above the surface, and when its meniscus touches down, capillary force draws the ink out as the stage moves. It works without masks or UV exposure, so a pattern goes straight from a drawing file to the substrate. Hummink’s research printer is the NAZCA, which prints lines from about 75 µm down to 500 nm wide. Hummink also makes its own inks and pipettes, and works with manufacturers on building HPCaP into their own production equipment.

SiSTEM Technology is Hummink’s distributor for the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. We quote and supply NAZCA printers and consumables, arrange demonstrations and sample prints on your own substrates, and support installation and training with Hummink’s engineers. We’ve supplied NAZCA printers to the University of Southampton and to DTU in Denmark. Contact us to talk through what you’d like to print.

From physics research to printing

HPCaP came out of atomic force microscopy research at ENS, PSL University, CNRS and IPGG. It was patented in 2018, and Hummink was founded in Paris in 2020.

Lines down to 500 nm

Line width is set mainly by the pipette tip. Quartz pipettes from 300 nm to 700 nm print the finest lines, and glass pipettes from 1.5 µm to 50 µm cover the wider ones, up to about 75 µm.

Thick inks on most surfaces

NAZCA prints inks up to 100,000 cP on wafers and glass as well as flexible films, and follows the topography of the surface as it prints.

Bumps, pillars and repairs

Silver bumps and pillars print in a single step, so HPCaP is used to repair open defects in display panels and semiconductor packages as well as for prototyping.

Published results

Duke University printed carbon nanotube transistors with 500 nm gaps between electrodes, and Université Paris Cité's ITODYS laboratory uses NAZCA to print biosensors.

Supplied and supported by SiSTEM

Demonstrations, sample prints, quotes, consumables and installation support across the UK, Ireland, the Nordic countries, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.