Ultra-Fine Pitch Connectivity for Minimalist Wearable Designs.
Inherent problems with Wearable Flexible Hybrid Electronics (FHE)
Durability
Wearable FHE applications are limited due to the difficulty in bonding components for fully hybrid electronics
Cost
The materials needed to bond component into wearable FHEs are costly due to silver loading and need for secondary encapsulation
Manufacturability
For common wearable electronic application, the widely used substrates are woven textiles and TPU which cannot be soldered to, and are hard for other conductive adhesives to bond to
ZTACH® ACE validated value proposition in wearable application:
- Due to drastically reduced particle loading in ZTACH® ACE, and the anisotropic nature of the electrical interconnection, ZTACH® ACE underfills the entire component only making electrical connection in z-axis. This creates a 5-10x increase in bond strength to the conductive pads and substrate. As a result, ZTACH® ACE holds components to both TPU and textiles with superior mechanical bond and improved environmental stability
- ZTACH® ACE contains less than 5% silver versus 75-90% of conventional ECAs, and the need for additional layers of underfill or encapsulation are typically eliminated, a process using ZTACH® ACE can reduce the component bond costs from 25-75% depending upon size and number
- Typical substrates used in wearable electronics like TPU or woven textiles are very difficult to bond components to. Patterning an ECA on Textiles is incredible hard to process due to cure time and temperature, and the bond is very weak. ACP or ACF’s are nearly impossible to use on these surfaces and solder cure temperatures are way too high for TPU and will not work on Textile. ZTACH® ACE eliminates these manufacturing hurdles and give low resistance, high bond strength to both textile and TPU printed circuitry.
In a study using UV ZTACH® ACE for fire pitch wire and sensor attach for continuous glucose monitoring device, we validated the value proposition:
- 80% reduction in mfg. cycle time with UV ZTACH® ACE
- 40%-60% reduction in mfg. space required for UV or Thermal ZTACH® solution
- Increases number of wire or sensor to PCB connections by 2 to 4x within the same space with improved yield (component pitch down to 90 µm)
- Reduction in manufacturing process steps by eliminating need for underfill
- 4x Increase in bond strength
- =/>30% decrease in contact resistance
Problem 1
Micro-wires used in medical devices
like catheters and neurostim leads
have extremely small diameters,
posing challenges for reliable
interconnections.
Problem 2
Repeated flexing and bending of
these micro-wires can lead to fatigue
and failure over time, compromising
device performance and patient
safety.
Problem 3
Conventional techniques like laser
welding, soldering, and epoxy bonding
are complex, error-prone, and costly,
leading to manufacturing challenges and
delays.
Solving Mechanical Fatigue in Smart Clothing with Dynamic Flex Interconnects.
Wearable Applications
Flexible Hybrid Circuits
Next-Gen Biosensor Arrays
Smart Textile Interconnects
Stretchable LED Systems
Design Advantages
Minimized Device Footprint
Skin-Safe Thermal Control
Integrated Structural Support
Multi-Substrate Versatility
Ultra-Thin 50µm Precision
Engineering Benefits
Bio-Interface Neutrality
Sweat & Moisture Shield
Dynamic Flex Endurance
Low-Loss Signal Integrity
Heat-Sensitive Cure Cycles
Manufacturing Benefits
Pressure-Free Z-Axis Bond
Surface Irregularity Adaptive
Simplified Maskless Process
Zero-Defect Production Yields
Scalable Roll-to-Roll Speed
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