Embedded components in printed circuit boards: a processing technology review

Abstract

It is evident that embedded passive components (EPCs) allow packaging substrate miniaturization and have the potential to reduce costs. Moreover, they exhibit superior electrical behaviour with respect to the minimization of parasitic effects. However, as for most emerging technologies, there is no well-established process or method for EPCs that lead to the desired result, but many have been and are still being investigated. This article attempts to review the state of the art of resistor and capacitor EPCs, including an assessment of the pros and cons of the various technologies pursued.In the review, it is found that compared to discrete surface mount devices, EPCs provide (in order of current importance): space reduction of 30% or more, better HF signal integrity and potential cost reduction. Embedded resistors in thin-film technology are, in general, restricted to small resistance values up to a few kΩ. Embedded resistors in ceramic thick-film technology require a high temperature curing process and much care during lamination, but they can be combined with embedded capacitors and exhibit high stability. Whereas embedded resistors in polymer thickfilm technology require a low curing temperature and can be combined with capacitors, they exhibit poorer electrical properties and stability. Moreover, tolerances of embedded resistors after manufacturing are exceeded by 15%, independent of the manufacturing technology, which means that laser trimming is required.Embedded capacitors are based mostly on barium-titanite with a dielectric constant of only approximately 20, which limits the capacitance density to a few nF/in 2 . Ferroelectric material with a dielectric constant up to 2000 for embedded capacitors has been investigated but not yet established. Besides the traditional

Dielectric characteristics of CaCu3Ti4O12/P(VDF-TrFE) nanocomposites

“…Polymer-based composites, especially 0-3 composites in which a polymer matrix is filled with particles of other dielectrics, such as ceramics [1], with a high dielectric constant, are desired for applications ranging from embedded capacitors and high energy-storage devices to electromechanical materials [2][3][4][5][6]. In these composites, ceramic particles of ferroelectrics and relaxor ferroelectrics, such as Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 [6], Pb(Zr,Ti)O 3 [7], BaTiO 3 [8], and (Ba,Sr)TiO 3 [9], are widely used as filler since it is well known that these ceramics exhibit a high dielectric constant [10].…”

Interfacial Effect on Dielectric Properties of Polymer Nanocomposites Filled with Core/Shell‐Structured Particles

“…Their advantages, such as flexibility, easy processing, and tunable properties, make them potentially applicable in various fields. [1][2][3] Because of their flexibility and good compatibility with organic printed circuit boards (PCBs), polymer nanocomposites with high dielectric constant are promising candidates as dielectrics in the embedded passive-component technology, [4][5][6] by which the capacitors are embedded into the PCBs without occupying the surface area of the integrated circuit boards. Many efforts have been made to prepare polymerbased composites with high dielectric constants.…”

Resonant marker design and fabrication techniques for device visualization during interventional magnetic resonance imaging

“…This may open up a further possibility of fabricating resonant circuits directly onto the instrument. Further fabrication techniques might be low temperature cofired ceramics (LTCC) [25], flexible printed circuits (FPC) [38] and polymer thick film (PTF) technology [34,43].…”