Intrinsiq Materials has partnered with NovaCentrix to create a high-performance, low cost, copper-clad polyimide achieved without the use of adhesives or time-consuming sputtering. These thin layers cannot be produced by traditional lamination processes.
 
The new copper-polyimide is fabricated by directly slot die coating Intrinsiq Material’s CI -Ultra Thin Film (UTF) copper-based conductive ink onto polyimide. The film is then post-processed using state-of-the-art NovaCentrix PulseForge photonic curing tools. The coated copper layer is a fraction of a micron thick or more and can be subsequently plated and etched.
 
These printed electronic thin film substrates can be used to create fine lines for high density interconnects (HDI). Furthermore, the process is the basis to produce trace profiles with very straight side walls facilitating high speed signal integrity. This roll-to-roll process can be configured to manufacture very wide-area web widths for large flexible patterned circuit applications.
 
The CI-UTF ink is formulated with Intrinsiq Material’s own proprietary coated copper nanoparticles to provide excellent stability, and is designed for strong adhesion. Large-area processing capabilities are enabled by the PulseForge photonic tools from NovaCentrix. The PulseForge tools complete the high-temperature CI-UTF copper ink sintering in milliseconds, with no damage to the low-temperature flexible substrates.
 
“The compatibility of our CI-UTF copper ink to work with a roll-to-roll process is the direct result of our team’s formulation and process design expertise to create substrates for fine line, high density circuitry,” said Don Novotny, VP of business development at Intrinsiq Materials. “The partnership with NovaCentrix moves us closer to offering this HDI technology to the global manufacturing industry. Flexible circuit applications that are looking to decrease interconnect real-estate or increase signal fidelity will benefit from this technology.”
 
“We are excited that the unique capabilities of the PulseForge photonic curing tools and our applications engineering team can support this new high-performance flexible circuit manufacturing capability,” Stan Farnsworth, chief marketing officer at NovaCentrix, added. “The processing uniformity and ability to finely optimize the process settings, in conjunction with the quality of the CI-UTF ink from Intrinsiq Materials, will expand applications for economical copper performance on thin flexible substrates.”