Aurora plasma technology for manufacturing flexible electronic components
Flexible electronics is one of the most popular and rapidly emerging technologies. Worldwide, designers and engineers are developing smart, wearable electronic systems with useful, often complex functions. These applications range from radio frequency product identification devices (e.g., RFID price tags) to sensors, organic displays and e-newspapers.
To help accelerate the adoption of these exciting products, a good deal of intensive work is still needed to refine the process, machinery and system integration. To help this industry, Plasmatreat has developed novel coating solutions that prevent creep corrosion around metal contacts. This makes these devices more reliable and durable.
Flexible electronics are commonly made with flexible, high-performance polymers handled in R2R (roll to roll) processes. These materials lower the cost of to manufacture flexible electronics and reduce the product’s weight.
Plasma technology shines as an important new tool for surface treatment:
- Plasma etching
- Plasma etching and lithography are used to create microstructures on ultrathin polymer polymeric films.
- Plasma oxide removal (reduction)
- Process gases that are introduced to the plasma react with oxygen atoms embedded in the part surface and remove these atoms from the material.
- Plasma microfine cleaning
- Embedded contaminations are often introduced to the web by unwanted organic carriers. These contaminants are effectively removed by the plasma cleaning process. This process also improves wettability so that liquid coatings can be applied bubble-free, and without air pockets. Unlike corona treatment, plasma is potential-free and the surface is not physically damaged.
Plasmatreat has more than 30 years’ experience pretreating polymer surfaces using low-pressure plasma. This experience spans cleaning, adhesion promotion and plasma deposition of barrier coatings and conductive layers. Scientists, engineers and technicans in our Silicon Valley laboratories work closely with manufacturers and suppliers to develop ground-breaking surface treatment solutions.
