Development and Application of Molded Interconnect Devices

Abstract

With the improvements of electromechanical systems' automation and intelligence, contradiction between the high integration, high performance and miniaturization, low cost has become the principal reason restricting the development of electromechanical system. The emergence of molded interconnection device (MID) technology provides a new way to resolve this contradiction. Integration of the mechanical and electrical functions in electromechanical system onto the same polymer molded base structure, replacement of the tradition printed circuit board (PCB), design and processing of 3D circuit system on polymer molded base structure surface distinguishes MID technology from others. MID technology can not only save space occupied by the electromechanical system and improve the system integration, but also can simplify the assembly process and lower the cost. In this study, present research and future development of MID technology were introduced first. Then the main technical problems involved in MID processing including the design method of MID, materials technology, equipment technology, surface mounted devices (SMD) assembly technique, and so on were analyzed systematically. Finally, using the ultrasonic micro embossing technology, a manufacturing method of polymer circuit board, radio frequency identification (RFID) antenna, microelectrode arrays, and some other polymer foil MID was proposed. Based on the in-depth analysis of polymer foil MID's characteristics, polymer foil MID are expected to have a broad application in the field of microfluidic chip.