Circuit boards flexible

Polyimides for microelectronics use are of two basic types. The most commonly used commercial materials (for example, from Dupont and Hitachi) are condensation polyimides, formed from imidization of a spin-cast film of soluble polyamic acid precursor to create an intractable solid film. Fully imidized thermoplastic polyimides are also available for use as adhesives (for example, the LARC-TPI material), and when thermally or photo-crosslink able, also as passivants and interlevel insulators, and as matrix resins for fiber-reinforced-composites, such as in circuit boards. Flexible circuits are made from Kapton polyimide film laminated with copper. The diversity of materials is very large readers seeking additional information are referred to the cited review articles [1-3,6] and to the proceedings of the two International Conferences on Polyimides [4,5]. 

PEI resins have been used in a variety of applications such as electrical connectors, internal computer parts, printed-circuit boards, flexible circuits, optical fiber connectors, fire helmets, large appliances, aircraft interiors, trays, microwave cookware, reflectors, motor parts, gears, pumps, lubrication systems, wire coating, industrial applications, bearings, small appliances, films, and fibers. Polyetherimides are used in a wide range of applications. A few of the key markets for PEI resins and some of the benefits they bring to the application are summarized below. 

This type of coil was prepared from copper cladded printed circuit board material by applying photolithographic techniques. The p.c. board material is available with difierent copper thicknesses and with either a stiff or a flexible carrier. The flexible material offers the opportunity to adapt the planar coil to a curved three dimensional test object. In our turbine blade application this is a major advantage. The thickness of the copper layer was chosen to be 17 pm The period of the coil was 100 pm The coils were patterned by wet etching, A major advantage of this approach is the parallel processing with narrow tolerances, resulting in many identical Eddy current probes. An example of such a probe is shown in fig. 10. 

Manufacture of Printed Wiring Boards. Printed wiring boards, or printed circuit boards, are usually thin flat panels than contain one or multiple layers of thin copper patterns that interconnect the various electronic components (e.g. integrated circuit chips, connectors, resistors) that are attached to the boards. These panels are present in almost every consumer electronic product and automobile sold today. The various photopolymer products used to manufacture the printed wiring boards include film resists, electroless plating resists (23), liquid resists, electrodeposited resists (24), solder masks (25), laser exposed photoresists (26), flexible photoimageable permanent coatings (27) and polyimide interlayer insulator films (28). Another new use of photopolymer chemistry is the selective formation of conductive patterns in polymers (29). 

Since the invention of integrated circuits (ICs), polyimides as heat-resistant organic polymers have been applied to insulation materials in electronics devices such as flexible printed circuit boards (FPCs), interlayer dielectrics, buffer coatings, and tape automated bonding (TAB). A polyimide thin layer is easily... 

The plastic film with interconnection layers, denoted (2) in Fig. 16.1, can be made by a process similar to that used to manufacture flexible circuit boards. First, plastic films coated with copper foil are processed by a numerically controlled (NC) drilling machine to make via holes. Plating is then used to make interconnections between top and bottom sides though via holes. Finally, the copper layers are patterned by conventional photolithography and etching. Gold plating is occasionally employed to improve electronic interconnections. 

JP 05125345 (Japanese) 1993 Poly(vinyl butyral) blend adhesive composition for flexible printed circuit boards Ube Industries, Japan H Inoe, S Takabayashi, T Muramatsu, T Funakoshi Formulated resins having good flexibility and heat resistance are useful adhesives for polyimide/Cu foil laminated circuit boards Maleimide-terminated siloxane-imide block copolymers were formulated with poly(vinyl butyral) and melamine resins to give adhesive compositions. 

JP 05311144 (Japanese) 1993 Heat-resistant adhesive compositions containing polyimide-siloxane block copolymers Ube Industries, Japan H Inoe, S Takabayashi, T Funakoshi, K Sonoyana Useful for Cu-clad laminates of printed circuit boards and tape-automated bonding with good flexibility and heat resistance Formulated compositions containing siloxane-imide block copolymers made from aromatic tetracarboxylic acids and aromatic diamines and aminosiloxanes... 

Bonding embossed or die-stamped printed-circuit boards Bonding copper foil to dielectric material (laminates or flexible film)... 

Matsuwaki [5] prepared polyimide films, (V), having molecular orientation in the machine direction that were used in high-density mounting of flexible printed circuit boards. 

W.Y. Lin, Embedded Capacitors for Electronic Circuits Based on Flexible Laminate Multichip Module/Printed Circuit Boards, Contract DM1 9561712, NSF SBIR Phase 1 Grant, 1996. 

This chapter presents an overview of performance plastic polymers in commercial planar and 3-dimensional circuit board products, and describes in detail one approach (two-shot molding) developed as an integrated 3-D circuit manufacturing technology. The distinctions between conventional planar (2-dimensional) circuitry, based on thermoset laminates and "subtractive etching processes, and the enhanced design flexibility afforded by expanded interconnection capacity in three axes are discussed. Specific examples of 3-dimensional interconnect protoypes and products are described and pictured. 

A film made from a poly(ester-imide) containing trimellitic anhydride, an aliphatic diamine and substituted hydroquinone is made by extrusion and is then laminated onto a metal layer. Flexible printed circuit boards were made from this [269]. 

When molded or premolded packages cannot be used for whatever reason, for example, a need for hermetic sealing, modules using ceramic substrates (or PCB-printed circuit board) offer almost unlimited flexibility. They can be used for simple multichip modules containing two or more elements (e.g., a sensing element and an evaluation circuit), may include external components, or may be used to construct complete systems. Stress-optimized package configurations for sensitive microsystems and sensors are no problem (Fig. 5.8.4). 

Printed circuit boards follow worldwide standards that are well established and cost effective. They offer unsurpassed flexibility, especially when considering circuit size and complexity as well as contacting concepts. PCB technologies and applications have been described in many textbooks. 

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are a structurally diverse group of compounds including aromatics, cyclic aliphatics, phenolic derivatives, ahphatics, and phthahc anhydride derivatives (Figure 31.3). The most common BFRs are tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), and polybrominated biphenyls (PBB). The primary use of TBBPA is as reactive additive in epoxy resin circuit boards, while decabromodiphenyloxide (DBDO) is primarily used in high impact polystyrene for electronic enclosures. PBDEs are typically used as the additive type of flame retardant in high impact polystyrene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, flexible polyurethane foam, textile coatings, wire and cable insulation and electrical connectors. 

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