Flexural Fatigue Test—A Proposed Method to Characterize the Lifetime of Conductor Tracks on Polymeric Substrates

Abstract

High quality and long product life are two fundamental requirements for all circuit carriers, including molded interconnect devices (MID), to find application in various fields, such as automotive, sensor technology, medical technology, and communication technology. When developing a MID for a certain application, not only the design, but also the choice of material as well as the process parameters need to be carefully considered. A well-established method to evaluate the lifetime of such MID, respective of their conductor tracks, is the thermal shock test, which induces thermomechanical stresses upon cycling. Even though this method has numerous advantages, one major disadvantage is its long testing time, which impedes rapid developments. Addressing this disadvantage, this study focuses on the laser direct structuring of thermoplastic LCP Vectra E840i LDS substrates and the subsequent electroless metallization of the commonly used layer system Cu/Ni/Au to force differences in the conductor tracks’ structure and composition. Performing standardized thermal shock tests alongside with flexural fatigue tests, using a customized setup, allows comparison of both methods. Moreover, corresponding thermomechanical simulations provide a direct correlation. The flexural fatigue tests induce equivalent or even higher mechanical stresses at a much higher cycling rate, thus drastically shorten the testing time.