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Foster-Miller developed a new type of circuit board that can handle thermal and mechanical stress. Navy aircraft require avionics that can withstand a wide range of operating temperatures, and high levels of shock and vibration. Current rack-mounted circuit boards need heavy air and water cooling so that thermally induced strains do not cause electronic components to fail at the surface mounted solder joints. Foster-Miller made electronic substrates with liquid crystal polymer (LCP) dielectric layers from 0.05 to 0.5 mm thickness to support and interconnect electronic chips.
We controlled the processing of the LCP substrates to achieve a coefficient of thermal expansion matched to the printed circuits and electronic chips. The dielectric constant of LCP is less than 3.2, and moisture absorption is less than 0.025 percent, further improving the performance of the circuit substrates. Testing showed that these new interconnect substrates had better reliability and were lighter in weight than either fluoropolymers or fiber reinforced composite dielectric substrates. Foster-Miller’s LCP circuit substrate technology was licensed to a major electronic laminate manufacturer and is being used in flexible and rigid printed circuit boards for high-speed digital circuit applications.
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