Flexible, Hybrid and Printed Electronics

Conductive films based on the CondAlign technology can form a new category of elements enabling new solutions and products.

A Growing Market

The field of flexible, printed and organic electronics represented just over $30bn in 2018 and is predicted to double by 2024 (IDTechEx).

This is a wide field that contains a range of materials and manufacturing processes, used in components and products applicable to many industries.

Flexible electronics and the display industry dominates in the field, with displays rapidly transitioning from being on glass substrates, to rigid plastic, to ultimately being bendable. However, other market areas, like healthcare, consumer electronics, aerospace and military are also well represented.

A New Trend

The flexible and printed electronics technology has been in development for over 20 years and is still dominated by mature applications. However, today we see a transition towards increased use of novel elements from the field of flexible electronics. Hybrid electronics is a good example of conventional components being used on flexible substrates, and we expect this trend to accelerate and develop.

A strong growth in the market is expected because the technology offers components and processes fulfilling the demand for lower costs and improved performance. We satisfy the needs of cost-effective manufacturing and the industry’s continuous search for new functionality.

Why CondAlign?

Advantages of using materials made with our alignment technology are based on the versatility of the process.

With our technology you have the freedom to choose a bonding material that fulfills your specific requirements and specifications. Another advantage is the properties of the chosen material will be retained due to the low particle loading. Together with the fact that a pitch down to 10µm and below can be achieved, this provides a very powerful advantage over other bonding techniques and materials.

A Complete Electronic Design

One exciting application of CondAlign’s films is to create a substrate with embedded VIAs, for printing of conductive ink circuits and then bond electrical components to it. By combining patterns of conductive ink and insulating material, it is possible to build a complete electronic design with several layers and components.

This process can be an alternative in prototyping work as well as volume production. Using our film as a flexible substrate will effectively remove multiple steps in the current manufacturing process, enabling reduction in time and cost for PCBs, copper plating, etching materials and soldering.

Bonding Applications

Anisotropic conductive adhesive films allow for bonding of extremely small components on fine conductive patterns as well as flex tails on PCBs, and numerous other combinations of components and substrates.

Conductive adhesives enable curved and flexible displays and are used in LCD screens, smart cards and several other applications. Replacing soldering with anisotropic conductive films (ACFs) is a growing trend, partly because tin-lead solders are a source of health hazards.

The market for anisotropic conductive adhesive films is expected to pass $1,2bn in 2021 and $2bn in 2025, where approximately 50% is used in the display industry (IDTechEx). The sheer volume of products containing conductive adhesives makes this a highly attractive market for CondAlign.

A New Alternative on the Market

Our material is an alternative to traditional ACFs. These require both heat and pressure during the bonding process, while CondAlign’s anisotropic conductive adhesive films can be applied with no additional heat and minimal pressure.

For emerging applications, the traditional ACFs may not be suitable with regards to cure speed and the compatibility with non-noble metallization. There is also a push for curing temperature to drop from 170ºC to 120ºC to allow for plastic substrates. By choosing our materials you eliminate these issues, as no heat is required for the bonding process.

With our current pitch down to at least 10µm, we can achieve bonding of fine structures and small components, also on large areas. This can open for new ways to design and assemble miniaturized products where neither soldering nor traditional ACF are applicable.