Manager, PCS Advanced Development & Project Management Molex, IL, United States
Advancements in the development of flexible hybrid electronics (FHE) technologies and materials continue to progress rapidly; however, high-volume manufacturing of complex FHE-based products remains elusive. Two significant challenges limiting the high-volume manufacturing of FHE products are the materials used to fabricate conductive traces and interconnects, and the complexity of assembling and interconnecting the printed materials with disparate types of components in a manner conducive to high yields and low cycle times, while providing high mechanical robustness and environmental reliability. During this presentation, Molex LLC and SunRay Scientific will present recent results in the development of a novel ultraviolet (UV) curable anisotropic conductive adhesive, UV ZTACH® ACE, for high-volume surface mount assembly of electrical components. Results of material and process improvements related to throughput, conductivity, shadow curing, and yield, optimized using Design of Experiments, root cause analyses, and statistical data analysis, will be discussed. In addition, we will review product demonstrators fabricated with commercially available screen printable copper inks for FHE applications. Electrical and mechanical performance of test patterns and prototype devices fabricated using UV ZTACH® ACE and screen printable copper ink will be provided, as well as comparisons to thermal-cured ZTACH® ACE and screen-printed silver.
