TABLE OF CONTENTS Edward J. Kelley
Sanmina Corporation, Derry, New Hampshire
The field of base materials can appear deceptively simple. In simple terms, base materials are made up of just three components: the resin system, the reinforcement, and the conductive foil. However, the variants in each of these components and the many possible combinations of these components make the discussion of base materials much more complex. One of the primary reasons for this complexity is the fact that printed circuits are used in so many differing applications. This results in many different sets of requirements in terms of cost and performance, and therefore many grades of base materials.
Also, because base materials are the most fundamental components of the printed circuit itself, they interact with virtually every other printed circuit manufacturing process. Therefore, not only are the physical and electrical properties of the materials critical, but their compatibility with manufacturing processes is also of great importance. Many of the key interactions between base materials and printed circuit manufacturing processes are discussed in subsequent chapters. This chapter discusses grades and specifications of base materials.
The various types of base materials can be classified by the reinforcement type,...
