2009 Volume 2 Issue 1 Pages 40-45
Previously, the common understanding with traditional polymer-based thick-film flexible circuits is that their low circuit density with low electrical conductivity is because of an organic matrix in the conductor materials. The organic matrix does not allow any soldering for the polymer thick-film circuits. It is the major reason why thick-film circuits could not be the mainstream technology in the printed-circuit-board industry and semiconductor substrate industry even though the technology provides a much lower manufacturing cost and high productivity without wet chemical waste compared with traditional copper-etched circuits. However, advanced screen-printing processes using new conductive materials are making remarkable improvements to overcome the technical barriers, and are generating application opportunities as new electronic packaging technologies.
