Products

Flex Circuit

GENERAL INFORMATION: For applications where the use of a rigid board or conventional polyester circuit is not possible, GGI International offers complete design and manufacturing capabilities for Kapton Flex Circuit assemblies. Be sure to contact GGI's technical team to find out more about this exciting circuit option.

Some Benefits of Kapton Flex Circuitry:

  • An excellent solution when total package thickness is not available or intricate bending is required
  • Flexible circuits allow unique designs which solve interconnection problems. The formability of a flexible circuit enables a package size reduction and intricate bends to take place
  • Reduction in total package weight and overall thickness
  • Can be used as a jumper or interconnect as apposed to a wire harness assembly again reducing weight and overall space
  • In the case of a flex jumper, connection can be achieved by the use of a ZIF or LIF connection on the mother board
  • Thickness can be as thin as .004" (.10mm) in total
  • Dynamic Flexing

Note: The maximum bend radius of a flex circuit is approximately 10 times the material thickness and is calculated taken at least .050" away from a plated through hole.

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Specifications:

  • RoHS Compliant Flex Circuits and Assemblies
  • Typical Flex board size:
    • Single Sided: 22" x 28" - (558.8mm x 711.2mm)
    • Double Sided: 16" x 22" - (406.4mm x 588.8mm)
  • Hole Size:
    • Non-Plated Through Holes .010" (.25mm) min. drilled hole size. Tolerance +/- .0015" (.038mm)
    • Plated Through Holes .010" (.25mm) min. drilled hole size. Tolerance +/- .003" (.076mm)
    • Smaller holes are achievable; please contact GGI International's technical staff for further details
  • Line Width and Spacing:
    • .005" (.12mm) Minimum Line
    • .005" (.12mm) Minimum Spacing
    • Finer lines are achievable; please contact GGI International's technical staff for further details
  • Conductor to Edge of Circuit/Blanking:
    • Soft Tooling Outline dimensions +/- .010" (.25mm)
    • Hard Tooling Outline dimensions +/- .003" (.076mm)
  • Drill Position:
    • Tolerance of +/- .003" (.076mm)
  • Layers:
    • Up to 6 Conductor Layers
    • Shielding Layer - copper and silver
    • Pads on Plating Layer
  • Standard Materials
    • Base Materials: Polyimide film from Dupont
    • Thickness: Polyimide .0005" to .005" (.012mm - .127mm)
    • Flame Retardant Laminates and Coverlay
    • PEN (Contact GGI technical staff for further details)
    • LCP Variety of constructions
    • Duroid Material Non plated through hole applications
  • Base Copper:
    • 1/2 oz. - .0007" (.018mm) thick copper
    • 1 oz. - .0014" (.036mm) thick copper
    • 2 oz. - .0028" (.071mm) thick copper
    • Copper thickness to 0.010"
  • Solder Mask:
    • Polyimide coverlay: .0005" to .005" (.012mm - .127mm)
    • Polyester coverlay: .001" to .003" (.025mm - .076mm)
    • Soldermask
    • Photoimageable Coverlay
  • Surface Finish:
    • Hot Air Solder Level (HASL)
    • Tin Plating - electroless and electrolytic
    • Hard and Soft Gold over Nickel
    • Nickel
    • Silver
  • Rigidizers/Stiffeners:
    • G10/FR4
    • Aluminum
    • Polyimide
    • Polyester

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Design details:
Single-sided flexible circuits
GGI's single sided flex circuit assemblies can be manufactured with or without the presence of a coverlay and consist of a single copper conductor layer on a flexible dielectric film.

Double-sided flexible circuits
GGI's double sided flex circuit assemblies can be manufactured with or without the presence of a coverlay and consist of two copper layers encapsulated by dielectric and more often than not connected with a plated thru-hole.

Coverlay:
Material applied to the outside layers of a flex circuit providing insulation for the copper conductors.
Coverlay materials:
- Polyimide
- Polyester

Shielding options:

  • Solid Copper; this is the most common shielding option used
  • Crosshatched Copper
  • Conductive Silver
  • Contact GGI International's technical staff for further details

Stiffeners: Stiffeners are used to provide support in strategic areas where required and are commonly used when connector termination options are either ZIF or LIF. Types of Stiffeners commonly used:

  1. Material: FR4/G10 material
    • Thickness: Available in a variety of thicknesses ranging from .010" (.25mm) up to .062" (1.57mm).
    • Adhesion: Both pressure sensitive adhesives and thermal set adhesives are used to bond the stiffeners to the flex circuit.
  2. Material: Polyester or Polyimide.
    • Thickness: Available in a variety of thicknesses ranging from: 0.001" (.02mm) up to 0.015" (.38mm).
    • Adhesion: Both pressure sensitive adhesives and thermal set adhesives are used to bond the stiffeners to the flex circuit.

GGI International's technical staff will recommend optimal stiffener location depending on the custom circuit design and will ensure the coverage of possible stress points avoiding premature circuit damage.

Termination options:
Some of the more common options are:

  • ZIF Connectors
  • LIF
  • Thru-Hole Connectors
  • Surface Mount Connectors
  • Crimped Contacts and Displacement Connectors

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Overview  |  Description/General Specifications  |  PCB Specifications  |  Flex Circuit