Flex Technology

When building single or double sided Flex Boards R&D Circuits utilizes a soft pin-less tooling system. This allows down to 24 hour delivery and optimum panel utilization. This system consists of laser drilling, routing and measurement which is used to capture drilled panel movement in order to scale film prior to imaging. When utilizing .001" adhesive Flex material down to .001" laser vias may be incorporated into your designs.

Flex material is available from .001" to .005" thickness in .001" increments. Also, flex cover coats and solder masks are available. There is a limit to the radius you can bend a Flex circuit the general rule of thumb being 6x over all material thickness for two sided boards and 12x for multilayers. Flex cores may also be utilized in rigid stack-ups in order to reduce overall thickness.

Design Recommendations

Use the thinnest material possible for Dynamic Flex applications
Use the thinnest adhesive & cover coat or [soldermask in lieu of cover coat]
Use 1/2 oz. copper for trace & grounds instead of 1 oz when possible
Use rolled anealed copper instead of ed copper for longer Flex life
Eliminate plated through holes in Flex areas
Even distribution of conductors across bend regions
Conductors should be perpendicular to bend axis
No legnd inks in bend regions
R&D Circuits utilizes a .001" laser beam to cut Flex Boards out of panel. However, 90° corners should be avoided on dynamic bend regions to avoid tearing. Taper all such regions as such(Pic)
If possible utilize & cross hatch pattern in ground areas to minimize stress.