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What It Takes A Flexible PCB Supplier To Manufacture Quality Products?
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For every flexible circuit, there are some important aspects that the manufacturer and Flexible PCB Supplier must understand. Flex circuits do not share the same electrical properties as rigid printed circuit boards, so Flexi manufacturers must take care to ensure certain design rules are followed than the Rogers PCB Manufacturer
Selective Pad Plating
Flexible PCB Assembly involves the application of photoresist onto the substrate. A pattern is then transferred into the resist using an exposure tool (e.g., a laser beam) that can image through the transparent photoresist layer. Copper is applied to the top side of the substrate via electroplating. The substrate is imaged again, and the remaining resist is removed. This process continues until the desired number of layers is achieved.
Flexible PCB Supplier uses the term “Coverley” to describe a sheet of polyimide film that is placed over the surface of a PCB (printed circuit board) during assembly. Coverleys are typically used to protect components such as integrated circuits (ICs), resistors, capacitors, and inductors from damage caused by handling.
Polyimide Coverley Manufacturing
Due to the required versatility, flexible materials are much thinner and lack any internal reinforcement (i.e., fiberglass mesh in rigid boards). These materials will also expand during Flexible PCB Assembly and contract as they are subjected to changes in temperature and humidity, requiring additional attention during processing.
Material Dimensional Tolerances
Laser Profile Cutting
Polyimide materials can be easily cut with a laser, allowing for very accurate and complex profiles. They eliminate the need for costly hard punching and die tooling at prototyping and lower production volumes. Laser cutting leaves a small amount of carbon on the part edge, but is considered acceptable by IPC standards (IPC Standard 708). You can get a Flexible PCB Quote to understand it better.
Plasma Desmear and Etch Back
The material properties of polyimide and flex adhesive are substantially different from those of rigid board materials. To achieve the correct processing characteristics, the substrate must be processed using specialized equipment and procedures. Etching back a rigid board with a plasma etch is difficult due to the nature of the process.