Assembling

A number of laser-activatable plastics with high degrees of thermal shape stability, such as PA6/6T, LCP and irradiation cross-linked PBT are reflow solderable and therefore compatible with standard SMT processes.

Solder can be applied using stencil printing. However, this is only possible with flat surfaces at the same level. Dispensing should ideally be used if different heights are required or solder is to be applied in cavities.

The same applies to assembling SMD components. If all of the components are at the same level, automatic assembly can be carried out using standard automatic placement devices. Raised surfaces can only be automatically assembled if the pick-and-placer has a z-axis. Automatic assembly is more complicated on slopes or free-form surfaces which usually have to be assembled manually.

In addition to the assembly of SMD components, MIDs manufactured using the LPKF-LDS method are also suitable for chip contacting methods such as bonding. Bond connections are made using thick aluminium wire, or thick/thin gold wire with e.g. 25 µm diameter.