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This article is the third and final part of methods for imaging etches resist. The first part discussed screen printing; the second part discussed traditional photo exposing. The third part discusses laser direct imaging (LDI).The basic process sequence for LDI is...

While a well-designed flexible circuit will eliminate many connectors, ultimately most flexible circuits need to connect to something. Probably the most common entity that a flex circuit connects to is a rigid printed circuit board, but cable harnesses, polyester...

Plating copper through holes or vias is a requirement for double sided and multilayer circuits. In a previous blog we discussed the plating process; specifically copper seed coating using electroless copper and shadow® plating, which is then followed with an electro...

There are many reasons an end user will specify the copper thickness of a printed circuit. The most obvious reason would be for current carrying capacity, but copper thickness also directly impacts thermal performance and impedance. All these are vital properties...

I heard one of our Applications Engineers describe our product as “making sandwiches”. It is a pretty good metaphor as it helps visualize a cross section of a printed circuit with several layers of dissimilar materials. Most flexible circuits and PCB’s have multiple...

In the right application, flexible circuits can reduce wires, eliminate connectors and rigid circuits. They might also simplify component assembly and reduce wiring errors. But competitive products such as rigid circuits, wires and connectors also have their place in...

It is common for many designers and engineers to think of a flexible circuit as a printed circuit board (PCB) that can bend. While it is true that a flex circuit and PCB perform the same electrical function, the structural and mechanical differences are significant,...

Button plating describes a fabrication process widely used in the flex circuit industry to selectively electroplate copper to the vias and onto the pads capturing the vias. The rest of the copper traces do not have plating. Another industry term used to describe this...

The most common methods for component attachment on flexible circuits and rigid printed circuit boards involve soldering. The basic principles for soldering are the same for both flex and hard board, but soldering components to flexible circuits involves certain...