Design & Integration
American Semiconductor provides Design and Integration services for Flexible Hybrid Electronics including:
- Flexible Circuit Board (FCB) Design & Layout
- IC design support (specific to new pad layouts and optimization for packaging)
FCB Design & Layout
Flexible Circuit Boards are similar in concept to traditional printed circuit boards (PCBs) in that they form circuitry for connecting ICs, passives, and other functions in a system design. However, FCBs are significantly different than PCBs in how they are manufactured and can be split into two categories: Flex and Printed.
Flex FCBs are typically fabricated by etching traces from copper sheets laminated on non-conductive polyimide layers. Flex is generally the preferred choice when fine feature size and high performance are needed. Multi-layer materials are available and include a variety of copper weights and polyimide types and thicknesses. A variety of solder masks and overcoats are generally available. Unlike PCB vendors, FCB manufacturers do not have a high level of pdk capability. American Semiconductor has established a well-defined design flow that can be used to layout desired FCB systems with pre-qualified FCB vendors.
Printed FCBs can be fabricated with additive techniques where the conductive traces and dielectrics are printed onto non-conductive substrates. Conductive materials can be layered with non-conductive materials to form multi-layer FCBs. Printed FCB manufacturers have the same pdk limitations as is common for flex. American Semiconductor has developed well-defined design flows for PET, PEN and other printed materials that can be used to layout desired FCB systems with pre-qualified FCB vendors.
For more information on design services contact sales@americansemi.com.
