Low-cost PCBs and flex circuits are readily produced in volume by screen printing, but this process is currently limited to a practical resolution of about .00295" (75 microns). But in numerous applications, there is a growing need to push the resolution beyond this limit without adding excessive process complexity and cost. A new type of laser direct patterning (LDP) process meets this requirement and can already deliver resolution down to .00059″ (15 microns). It has been successfully tested with several types of metals patterned on common polymer substrates including Kapton, Upilex, Kaladex, Melinex and Mylar. Because this LDP process is compatible with fast reel-to-reel web processing and batch processing, it is very cost-effective. It is already in production use by a medical sensor manufacturer patterning gold on PET films.
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