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Plastics and electricity form a true dream team, as plastics are outstanding insulators. This discovery heralded the triumphal entry of polymers in the developmental process of electrical and electronic devices. Yet plastics are much more versatile and offer many possibilities beyond insulation, namely, when suitably modified they can also conduct electricity. Matchless plastics property balances together with design/processing methods often provide economical solutions that justify their supremacy in the E/E market. New resins, additives and fillers have been developed to meet thin wall and high temperature requirements for molded parts. Engineering thermoplastics and other high performance polymers play an increasingly vital role in the production of E/E components and microelectronic devices. Compounds made of high-temperature thermoplastics, such as liquid crystal polymer and polyethersulfone used in molded interconnect devices, are expected to experience strong growth, as will low-k dielectric polymers used for semiconductor fabrication. With the continuing drive for higher circuit density and very high-speed data processing the search for new polymeric materials to use in microelectronics has intensified.
Two four-letter abbreviations, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) and restriction of certain hazardous substances (RoHS), are becoming common vernacular to anyone in the E/E supply chain. They are acronyms for two European Union (EU) environmental directives that directly impact E/E equipment with enormous impact both on the development of plastic materials used in the production of E/E devices and how these devices are manufactured. Plastic electronics, based on inherently conductive polymers (ICPs) and flexible substrates, are expected to change the face of the electronics industry. Future products include roll-up displays to be used with computers and mobile phones, flexible solar panels that can be laminated to walls and ceilings or used to power portable equipment, and ultra-low-cost radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. New materials such as carbon nanotubes and organic molecules, with conducting and semiconducting properties, will enable a new generation of plastic electronic displays for cellular phones and other portable devices.
Plastics material and processing development is contributing to lowering the cost and enhancing the performance of more established consumer and industrial electronics manufacturing technologies while other R&D is under way using advanced plastics and plastics-related materials to develop new approaches to electronic devices. SmarTire Systems Inc. is manufacturing a novel low-cost system for tire pressure monitoring, based on the United States safety tread mandate legislation finalized last year and due to take effect by the 2008 model year. Polyplastics Co., Ltd. and Otsuka Chemical Co., Ltd. have jointly developed a high dielectric constant liquid crystal polymer (LCP) and polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) resin compound series, enabling plastics processors to replace ceramics in high-performance electronic components used in high frequency (microwave and millimeter wave) applications.
Advances in nanotechnology and inherently conductive polymers (ICPs) are making possible the development by Konarka Technologies Inc. of new photovoltaic (PV) cells that promise to make solar energy inexpensive, unobtrusive, and readily available. The German Research Foundation (DFG) has successfully sponsored research work at the University of Erlangen to develop polyetheretherketone (PEEK) high temperature resistant films as a new base material for flexible printed circuit (FPC) boards. The substitution of rigid printed circuit boards with new flexible circuit carriers is an important aspect in the development of lightweight miniaturized electronic solutions. Ambient Devices is pioneering in delivering useful/timely online information through ‘glanceable’ devices supported by the company’s low-cost wireless bit-trickling applications. These innovations and others in the succeeding chapters illustrate ongoing advanced plastics in electronic device technology trends.
Published: Oct 2006
For more information on Advances in Plastics for Electronic Devices,
contact trisha.bradley@frost.com
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