Heraeus Electronics develops new flexible end termination inks suitable for production

Heraeus Electronics is pleased to announce the development of flexible passive component termination inks suitable for production. ET2010 flexible end termination inks are the first materials on the market to utilize advanced polymer technology. Compared to thermosetting epoxy-based inks on the market today, Heraeus’ solutions are easy to ship, store and handle at room temperature.

Manufacturers of passive electronic components such as multilayer ceramic capacitors, chip inductors, chip varistors, chip resistors, and chip fuses are accustomed to working with electrode and termination inks at room temperature conditions, except for flexible termination inks. Current flexible termination inks use epoxy-based thermosetting polymers that require rapid freezing and special handling conditions to keep the epoxy from reacting.

Passive component requirements continue to grow, especially with increasing use in the automotive, consumer, and industrial electronics industries. In automobiles, a current ICE automobile contains, for example, 2000-3000 capacitors. This increases by a factor of 5-10 (15-20k capacitors) for EVs, with more emphasis on reliability and safety given the media and financial impact of product recalls. It can also be applied to shock testing, vibration, or almost any other high reliability application where thermal stability is a concern. The value (price) of these high-reliability components is also expected to rise.

Heraeus’ new ET2010 not only delivers these reliability improvements, but also offers a production-friendly solution to industry-standard epoxy materials. The customer’s cost of ownership was fully considered during development. Shelf life, shipping, storage, paste utilization, and silver scrap savings are all improved compared to current materials.

Easy-to-use and reworkable, ET2010 inks offer 6 months stability at room temperature compared to epoxy-based pastes that require freezing or refrigeration. The optimized chemistry consists of high temperature thermoplastics instead of thermosets (epoxies), making them more resistant to thermal cycling and more flexible. Using the ET2010 eliminates the need for ice packs/dry ice, which reduces transportation costs, lowers waste rates (Ag savings), and eliminates costly storage. In addition, its low silver (Ag) content (around 5-10% lower Ag content) is a significant savings given today’s Ag market pricing.

A drop-in solution, the ET2010 offers improved reliability with excellent bend test capability up to 10 mm with minimal change in electrical properties in addition to providing excellent moisture and solder heat resistance represents.

For more information on Heraeus Electronics, please visit: www.heraeus-electronics.com.