Extensive rigid-flex expertise
Types of flex circuits
Single-Sided Flexible Circuits
Single copper conductor layer on a flexible dielectric film.
Double-Sided Flexible Circuits
Double-sided copper clad material with top and bottom cover films. The two conductive layers have an insulating layer between.
Multi-Layer Flexible Circuit Boards
A combination of single and/or double-sided flex circuits laminated with adhesive onto a single and/or double-sided material.
Rigid Flex Circuits
Used to accommodate the entire conductor pattern of electric circuit within one component.
Rigid-Flex advantages
Reliability and Durability. Flex circuits can absorb and reduce effects of shock and vibration.
Heat Dissipation. Flex circuits can dissipate heat at much better rates than do other dielectric materials.
Economical. Designers can reduce the packaging and material costs because the thin and flexible polyimide film requires a far smaller area.
Flexibility. The elastic nature of flex circuits allows them to be packaged, folded, and positioned around folds and edges.
Weight and Space Savings. Typically, flex circuit boards take up only 10% of the weight and space of wires within a device. Flex circuits also can decrease the dimensions and weight of devices by up to 60%.
Bending Cycles. Flexible circuit boards are made with polyimide as the standard base material, capable of as many as 200,000 bending cycles.
Material consideration
Consider cost and availability when selecting materials for your design.
Other considerations are:
Impedance (Controlled Impedance) – Dielectric Constant and Thickness
Circuit Density. Common flex film thickness =.0005″ – .006″
Signal Loss (Loss Tangent / Df Dissipation Factor)
Dynamic Flex vs Bend to Install
Copper Thickness. Standard is .5 oz or 1 oz.
Differential Copper (Uneven Copper Weight on Each Side) – 2 over 1, 1 over half, etc.
Rigid-flex and flex capability highlights
- High-layer count
- Adhesive and adhesiveless
- Book binder
- Stiffeners
- Laser skiving
- Laser-drilled microvias
- Epoxy fill
- Heavy copper
- Extra-long flex “cables”
- Turnkey assembly
- View all capabilities
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