Fraunhofer Institute researchersare also pursuing interdisciplinary developments in newtechnologies for manufacturing printed circuit boards. The expertsat the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology andApplied Materials Research IFAM are adapting rapid prototypingprinting technology to the requirements of board and modulemanufacturers.
The nanomaterialsfor PCB tracks and for insulating intermediate layers canconsequently be applied to a substrate layer by layer. The ISC teamdeveloped a new ORMOCER® for this and furthermore contributedknow-how in handling the nanometer-sized hybrid polymers. Theexperts from the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIStook over the design of test chips, while their colleagues from theFraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration IZMhandled the testing and design of the board itself.
The new method isideal for manufacturing prototypes and small series of complexprinted circuit boards with high integration levels. Popallexplains, "Although the manufacturing takes longer than whenclassic lithographic methods are used, and it is also not cheap, itis possible to eliminate the very expensive manufacture of masksand to gain design flexibility."