Flex Capability

A cost-effective and reliable flex circuit design depends on several factors, including:

  • Capabilities and specifications of your flex design
  • Proper material selection
  • Requisite process tolerances
  • Proper manufacturing logistics
  • Experienced flex supplier

At PCB Trace Technologies Inc. our experts assist with your design aiming to reduce overall program cost. You can refer to our standard flex materials and capabilities. Should your design require special process treatments or tighter tolerances, please let us know.

Manufacturing Capabilities for Flex

PCB Trace Technologies Inc. creates high quality bare flex boards, and this has been our major manufacturing capability for flex for the past few decades.

It does not matter whether if you need only a few custom PCB assembly boards done fast, require several boards for meeting your production schedule, boards with a single breakout, or highly complex RF/Microwave/Motherboard, PCB Trace Technologies Inc. will provide you with an efficient service.

Flex Capabilities

CapabilityStandardNon-Standard
Layer Counts2-layers6-layers
Thickness (min)0.008” ±0.002”0.006” ±0.002”
Board Size7” x 13”7” x 21”
Trace / Space0.005” / 0.005”0.002” / 0.002”
Pad Size0.012”0.008”
Pad to Copper spacing0.005”0.004”
Hole Size (min)0.004” ±0.002”0.003” ±0.002”
Via Land0.005”0.004”
Hole to Board Edge0.015”0.010”
Dim (SM to SM)0.01”0.005”
SM to Copper0.015”0.005”
SM ColorYellowYellow
Routing Tol±0.006”±0.002”
FinishENIGENIG

Material selection, process tolerances, manufacturing logistics, and your flex supplier all play an important role in producing a cost-effective and reliable flex circuit design.

At PCB Trace, we will assist you in design for manufacturing to minimize overall program costs. Listed are standard materials and capabilities.

Come speak with us should your design require tighter tolerances or special process treatments.

Material Selection

Polyimide Thickness0.0005″ (12 um), 0.001″ (25 um), 0.002″(50 um), 0.003″ (75 um), 0.005″ (125 um)
Copper (thickness)0.25 oz.(9 um), 0.33 oz.(12 um), 0.5 oz. (17 um), 1 oz.(35 um), 2 oz.(70 um)
Copper Foils(rolled-annealed)Polyimide, Polyester, LPI (liquid photo imageable), PIC(photo imageable cover coat)
StiffenersFR-4, Polyimide, Metal, or customer supplied
Thermo-bond AdhesivesAcrylic, Phenolic Butyral, Modified Epoxy
Surface FinishesSolder (hot air leveling or tin/lead plating), Electrolytic Soft Bondable Gold, Hard Gold, ENIG (electroless nickel immersion gold), Entek 106A, & Immersion Tin

Process Capabilities and Tolerance

Minimum Trace/Space0.0015″/.002″ (0.33 oz.) 0.002″/.0025″ (0.5 oz.) 0.003″/.0035″ (1 oz.)
Minimum Via Hole Diameter (before plating)0.006″ (NC Drill) 0.002″ (UV Laser)
Minimum Blind Via Diameter (before plating)0.004″ (UV Laser)
Trace to Edge Distance0.010″ ( NC Route ) 0.008″ (Die Punch) 0.001″ (UV Laser)*
Trace to Edge Tolerance0.005″ ( NC Route ) 0.003″ (Die Punch) 0.001″ (UV Laser)
Cover Layer Aperture Positional Tolerance0.005″ (Cover Film) 0.002″ (LPI and PIC) 0.001″ (Laser Ablation)**

* Trace to edge distance should be greater than 0.003″ for proper copper insulation
** Laser defined apertures created by ablating cover layer material

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Increased Production Panel Output

We can now ship 100 production panels of 18"x24" in 5-7 working days for 2 to 10 layer designs.

Certifications

Looking for an expert solution for your company?

PCB Trace Technologies Inc. specializes in higher layer count PCBs, exotic materials, laser drill micro-vias, blind/buried vias, as well as conductive and non-conductive via fill.