Polymers for Electronic Components

Rapra Industry Analysis Report Series

Polymers for Electronic Components

K. Cousins

Europe’s leading plastics and rubber consultancy with over 80 years of experience providing industry with technology, information and products

Polymers for Electronic Components

A Rapra Industry Analysis Report by

Keith Cousins

July 2001

Rapra Technology Limited Shawbury, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY4 4NR, UK Tel: +44 (0)1939 250383

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http://www.rapra.net

The right of Keith Cousins to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with Sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

© 2001, Rapra Technology Limited ISBN: 1-85957-281-2 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise—without the prior permission of the publisher, Rapra Technology Limited, Shawbury, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY4 4NR, UK.

Polymers for Electronic Components

Contents 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ............................................................................................................. 1 1.2 The Report .............................................................................................................. 1 1.3 Methodology............................................................................................................ 2 2 Executive Summary ....................................................................................................... 3 3 Review of Materials and Properties................................................................................ 9 3.1 Introduction.............................................................................................................. 9 3.2 Polymers for Electronic Components..................................................................... 10 3.2.1 Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene (ABS)............................................................. 10 3.2.2 Acetal Copolymer (POM) ................................................................................ 10 3.2.3 Polyarylamide ................................................................................................. 10 3.2.4 Liquid Crystalline Polymers (LCPs) ................................................................. 11 3.2.5 Polyamide (PA) ............................................................................................... 11 3.2.6 Polybutylene Terephthalate (PBT) .................................................................. 12 3.2.7 Polycarbonate (PC)......................................................................................... 12 3.2.8 Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) ......................................................................... 13 3.2.9 Polyetherimide (PEI) ....................................................................................... 13 3.2.10 Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) ................................................................ 13 3.2.11 Polyethylene (PE) ......................................................................................... 13 3.2.12 Polypropylene (PP) ....................................................................................... 13 3.2.13 Polyphthalamide (PPA) ................................................................................. 14 3.2.14 Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS) ........................................................................ 14 3.2.15 Polystyrene (PS) ........................................................................................... 14 3.2.16 PS-Modified Polyphenylene Oxide (PPO) ..................................................... 15 3.2.17 Polysulfone (PSU)......................................................................................... 15 3.2.18 Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) ..................................................................... 15 3.2.19 Polyurethane (PU)......................................................................................... 16 3.2.20 Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) ............................................................................... 16 3.2.21 Polyvinylidine Fluoride (PVDF)...................................................................... 16 3.2.22 Styrene-Acrylonitrile Copolymer (SAN) ......................................................... 16 3.2.23 Elastomers .................................................................................................... 16 4 Electronic Components ................................................................................................ 19 4.1 Enclosures............................................................................................................. 19 4.2 Batteries ................................................................................................................ 22 4.3 Cable Glands......................................................................................................... 23 4.4 Cable Ties and Markers......................................................................................... 23 4.5 Capacitors ............................................................................................................. 23 4.6 Coil Formers.......................................................................................................... 27 4.7 Connectors ............................................................................................................ 27 4.8 Heaters.................................................................................................................. 32 4.9 Membrane Keypads .............................................................................................. 32 4.10 Plugs and Sockets............................................................................................... 32 4.11 Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) ............................................................................. 33 4.12 Relays ................................................................................................................. 37 4.13 Resistors ............................................................................................................. 37 3

Polymers for Electronic Components 4.14 RFI Screening ......................................................................................................38 4.15 Sensors................................................................................................................39 4.16 Switches ..............................................................................................................40 4.17 Terminals .............................................................................................................40 4.18 Touch Screens.....................................................................................................40 4.19 Other Components...............................................................................................41 5 Overview of European Electronic Component Markets.................................................43 5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................43 5.2 Market Analysis......................................................................................................44 5.3 Telecommunications ..............................................................................................50 5.4 Automotive Applications .........................................................................................56 5.5 IT ...........................................................................................................................58 5.6 Fuel Cells...............................................................................................................59 5.7 Contract Electronics Manufacturing........................................................................61 5.8 Component Distribution..........................................................................................66 6 Key Trends and Developments.....................................................................................67 6.1 Moulding, Machining and Fabrication.....................................................................67 6.2 Polymer Developments ..........................................................................................67 6.3 Supercapacitors .....................................................................................................69 6.4 Lithium Polymer Systems.......................................................................................70 6.5 Flat Panel Displays ................................................................................................71 6.6 Other New Technologies........................................................................................74 6.7 Recycling ...............................................................................................................77 6.8 Chemical Safety.....................................................................................................79 7 Future Outlook..............................................................................................................81 7.1 Optical Applications................................................................................................81 7.2 Bio-Based Polymers...............................................................................................82 7.3 Self-Repairing Polymers.........................................................................................82 7.4 Search For New Products ......................................................................................82 7.5 Bluetooth Technology ............................................................................................84 7.6 QTC Material..........................................................................................................85 7.7 Superconducting Plastics .......................................................................................86 7.8 Low Molecular Weight Liquid Crystals....................................................................86 8 Company Profiles .........................................................................................................87

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Polymers for Electronic Components

1 Introduction 1.1 Background The European plastics manufacturing industry employs more than 70,000 people and has annual sales of over ¼ ELOOLRQ 0DQXIDFWXULQJ LQYHVWPHQW LV RI WKH RUGHU RI ¼ ELOOLRQ ZLWK investment in research and development estimated at ¼ ELOOLRQ $FFRUGLQJ WR WKH Association of Plastics Manufacturers (APME), total plastics consumption, including nonplastics applications (use of fibres or coatings in products which are not seen as plastics products in their own right) was 38,803,000 tonnes in 1998. The percentage division by end-use market is shown in Figure 1.1.

Building/Construction

45% 40%

Electrical/Electronic

35% Agriculture

30% 25%

Packaging

20% Large Industry

15% 10%

Automotive

5% Other Household/Domestic

0%

Source: APME Large industry represents non-packaging uses including machinery not covered by other sections

Figure 1.1 Plastics consumption by end-use market, 1998 According to the APME, plastics represent 20% of the weight of modern electronic electrical applications with this percentage forecast to rise still further due to ‘unbeatable’ properties of plastics. Plastics materials are claimed to make a contribution to weight reduction, thermal insulation, electrical/electronic power control reduced transportation costs.

and the key and

Figures from the APME for 1998 show that 2,381,000 tonnes of plastics were used in the European electronics and electrical sector. Plastics waste, weighing 675,000 tonnes, accounted for less than 0.1% of the sector’s waste by weight. Of this, plastics containing halogenated compounds represented 11% of the total.

1.2 The Report The key findings of the report are summarised in the Executive Summary (Section 2). Brief notes on the properties and applications of the most commonly used polymers by the component makers form the basis of Section 3. Requirements for individual components are considered in Section 4. An overview of European electronic component markets is presented in Section 5 which goes on to review the major component users: 1

Polymers for Electronic Components •

the telecommunications sector, boosted by its constituent mobile phone sector,

•

the automotive sector, with the increasing electronics content of new models compared to predecessors, and

•

the information technology (IT) sector.

The growing use of contract electronics manufacturing is reviewed in this section, which also identifies issues of significance in individual European markets. Key trends and developments affecting the current and future use of polymers in electronic component applications are considered in Section 6, including their use in batteries, capacitors, transistors, displays, fuel cells and rapid prototyping processes. Plastics recycling is also discussed. The future outlook for the use of polymers in the components sector is reviewed in Section 7, and a selection of company profiles of the leading suppliers and consumers in this sector is given in Section 8.

1.3 Methodology This report has been compiled largely by the extensive use of desk research, the internet and the Rapra Abstracts database. I would also like to express my thanks to the many company and trade association representatives I met, mainly at trade exhibitions, and to those companies who responded to my requests for information.

2

Polymers for Electronic Components

2 Executive Summary Designers of electrical and electronic components have a wide choice of polymers at their disposal and this report lists the most commonly used with brief notes on their properties. Industry studies have shown the most popular polymers in Europe for electronic and electrical applications, including wire and cable, to be polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which is used mainly for cable sheathing but also used for cable clips, grommets and shrouds, polyethylene (PE), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), polystyrene (PS) and polypropylene (PP).

PVC 25%

Other 31%

PP 12%

PE 19% PS 13%

Figure 2.1 Breakdown of materials used in electronic/electrical applications Cost is a prime consideration but competition in the market place is imposing ever more stringent specification criteria on the equipment designer who, in turn, is demanding significantly improved performance from his polymer supplier. The mobile phone industry, currently said to be the largest market for electronic components, demands ever smaller components which are lighter in weight. This translates into component outer cases which have thinner, but equally strong, walls which may withstand the handset being dropped on a concrete floor, for example. Mobile phones now incorporate moulded interconnected device (MID) technology which enables functions or tracks to be directly incorporated into the housings. The outer case of a mobile phone handset must also be resistant to everyday chemicals, e.g., sun tan oil. If the owner is sunbathing on a sandy beach, then the mobile phone must be able to tolerate the ambient beach temperature, be sealed against the ingress of sand and also withstand the temperature of the car seat on which it is placed for the journey home. Environmental concerns are also at work as exemplified by the planned (2008) enforced adoption of lead-free solder in Europe for environmental reasons. This will result in higher reflow soldering temperatures with the result that components designed to come into contact with higher temperature solder must now be made from polymers with a higher temperature tolerance. Components built to satisfy military standards have always needed to comply with tighter specifications.

3

Polymers for Electronic Components More compact designs are often accompanied by heat dissipation problems; these have been addressed by the greater use of thermally conductive polymers. Electrically conductive polymers also have their place and may be one solution for components whose outer cases must act as a protective screen against the passage of electromagnetic or radio frequency interference (EMI/RFI). Most components are produced by injection moulding where ever smaller parts demand ever tighter moulding tolerances and such factors as freedom from shrinkage, warpage, creepage and water absorption. These constraints effectively limit the choice of polymers for specific applications. Further constraints in some applications include the use of halogen-free flame retardant materials, again limiting the choice of polymer. The net result is that an electrical connector manufacturer, for example, will offer products moulded from different polymers depending on the end-use for which the connector is being used. For example, a budget design may use PS whereas a top-of-the-range model may be made from polyetheretherketone (PEEK). The European Union market for electronic components, according to the industry’s trade association (European Electronic Component Manufacturers Association, EECA), is dominated by three countries which collectively account for 67% of the total market. Germany leads (with a national market of around ¼ ELOOLRQ  IROORZHG E\ WKH 8. DURXQG

¼ ELOOLRQ DQG )UDQFH DURXQG ¼ ELOOLRQ 

The telecommunications sector is seen as the most important growth element though Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) services will not make a measurable contribution to the figures in 2001. The President of the EECA added his belief that the automotive sector will remain the second strongest market for passive components and will continue to grow. Further growth is to be found in the subcontracting sector. Major growth in the mobile phone sector is tied to the successful launch of third generation (3G) UMTS systems. However, the European Commission (EC) has criticised the high cost of licences and lack of harmonisation in licence conditions from country to country. The Commission believes that this could handicap the launch of 3G services across Europe. The customers for electronic components manufacturers can be categorised in four major groups: catalogue distributors, contract equipment manufacturers (CEMs), original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and overseas distributors. It has been reported that CEMs now account for between 35% and 40% of the component sales of some distributors. However, with the total European components market reported to exceed US$45 billion, the picture across Europe is that distributor sales accounted for only a quarter of the business in 1999, the remainder going to OEMs. The picture is changing dramatically and it is forecast that the distributor percentage will rise to 40% before the end of the decade. A growing number of electronic equipment suppliers have opted to sub-contract their manufacturing operations to specialist contractors. These fall into two distinct categories: the small specialist serving niche markets with an annual turnover of around US$5 million and the major multinationals which move their volume business round the world, largely favouring low labour cost countries notably in Asia, Eastern Europe and South America. Growth in the world contract manufacturing market is exemplified by the 67.5% rise from

¼ ELOOLRQ LQ  WR ¼ ELOOLRQ LQ  RI ZKLFK (XURSH DFFRXQWV IRU  -DSDQ accounts for 18%, America accounts for 31% and South East Asia accounts for 28%.

4

Polymers for Electronic Components Business-to-business e-commerce polymer operations have started with the Omnexus collaboration between leading thermoplastics suppliers, including BASF, Bayer, Blasterfeld, Clariant, Dow, DSM, DuPont, PolyOne, Solvay and Ticona/Celanese, to create a customer-focused global e-market. This will be established as a stand-alone business with an initial investment of US$50 million. Following its US launch in 2000, Omnexus has started its Europe-specific services in France, Germany and Spain as the initial phases of a pan-European launch. Eventually a complete package of business-tobusiness functions (including electronic invoicing, multi-currency purchasing and order tracking) will be available. The main electronic components market for polymers is for passive components which represent around 85% of the number of components on a typical printed circuit board. In 1999, passives accounted for 9% of the world sales of electronic components with active components taking 71%, and electromechanical components taking 20%. However, because of the much higher unit costs of semiconductors, passives only account for around 5% of the total component cost. The year 2000 generated record sales with some suppliers reporting sales turnover increases over the previous year of between 30% and 40%. 2001 is unlikely to be as successful but double-digit percentage sales increases are still expected. Suppliers have brought additional manufacturing capacity on stream and so price levels may come down. The health of the components sector is dependent on the market for electronic products. The consumption of polymers in the communications sector is reported to have grown from 500,000 tonnes in 1996 to an estimated 800,000 tonnes in 2001. Another major market for electronic components is the automotive industry where demand for components is reported to be growing at 17% per annum with up to 10,000 passive components installed in a typical current model of luxury car. The value of the electronic systems in a typical car is said to represent a quarter of its sales value, with the electronic content of the vehicle growing by around 8% per annum to reach around 30% of the car’s value by 2005. In recent years, there has been a move away from thermosets to thermoplastics for automotive components. Thermoplastics are now the preferred choice, usually reinforced with glass fibre. Germany is the dominant location of the automotive electronics manufacturing sector and accounts for approximately 60% of the market. The most successful moulders are those who have been shown to collaborate closely with mould makers and machinery manufacturers. This is because of the growing trend towards partnership between the moulder and his customer in order to react swiftly to changes in market demand. In the field of contract manufacture the most successful companies have been shown to be those with the most up-to-date machinery. Companies in Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand have scored highly in this respect. The major American injection moulding companies have exported their manufacturing expertise to Asia, often owning or investing in those companies which are the beneficiaries of their expertise. The search for greater operating efficiency involves working at higher temperatures thus putting the pressure on polymer suppliers to deliver products with superior performance. DuPont offers high-temperature polyamide (PA) grades with a melting point of around 300 °C, compared to 275 °C for PA. These high-temperature grades are claimed to offer better dimensional stability and greater thermal resistance than PA 66. The arrival of electrically conductive polymers in the late 1970s and now thermally conductive polymers, both of which derive these properties from additives, has opened up

5

Polymers for Electronic Components new application opportunities especially where heat dispersion from an electronic component is a significant design factor. Research is proceeding into the use of conducting polymers in ultracapacitor, also known as supercapacitor, applications. The capacitors will act like batteries to deliver high pulses of power and store energy. Supercapacitors have minimal contact resistance because the conducting polymers can be synthesised directly on to the current collector. The electrode material can be formed as thick films, powders or sub-micron coatings with the latter offering the possibility of diffusion times of the order of microseconds. Polymers have long been used in the manufacture of capacitors with their incorporation in supercapacitors being an extension of this application. However, their employment in batteries, other than as battery container material, is a new trend exemplified by the lithium-ion polymer types. The latest technologies include rechargeable lithium polymer systems in both flat and curved versions. The cathodes are basically lithium nickel cobalt oxide (LiNiCoO2); the polymer construction technology is licensed from Motorola’s energy systems group. Developments in this sector have been driven by the strength of the mobile phone and portable computer markets, stimulated by the need for ever more efficient battery power systems. Not only are polymers being used for power storage but they are also being used for memory storage. Sony has introduced a ‘Memory Stick’ the size of a stick of chewing gum. Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) have traditionally dominated the flat panel display market along with active matrix LCDs (or AMLCDs), which were originally designed for the personal computer market. The polymer dispersed liquid crystal display technology (PDLCD) from Philips is claimed to be a reflective, high-contrast, low-power display which permits the manufacture of flexible displays. The advantages of this polymer-based active matrix include lower production costs, because fewer production steps are involved and the clean room conditions are not as demanding as the more usual production process involving amorphous silicon-based thin film transistors (TFTs) which account for the major cost component of the complete display. The technology of light emitting polymers (LEPs) is another new technology destined to revolutionise the displays sector. Rapid prototyping, a growing products and services market worth around US$500 million worldwide, involves the computer generation of solid components using the technology of stereolithography, which is capable of production tolerances of ± 0.1 mm. The pervasiveness of polymers throughout the electronics industry is illustrated by reports of the commercialisation of Cambridge University research which has discovered the technology to manufacture low cost plastic micro-chips involving plastic transistors. Plastic Logic, a company funded by venture capital and Dow Chemical, has been created to commercialise the technology with the objective of launching demonstration prototypes in the summer of 2001. The process is said to utilise exotic plastic materials with the manufacturing technique similar to that of ink-jet printing. These materials come from such families as the polythiophenes and oligothiophenes which can be doped to change their fundamental insulating properties and thereafter become semiconductors. Polymer recycling is not a feature of the components industry because reprocessed materials may lose their Underwriters’ Laboratories (UL) rating. However, the European Confederation of Telecommunications Manufacturers (ECTEL) is operating a voluntary take back scheme in collaboration with four network operators. The scheme accepts mobile phones for recycling at shops displaying the scheme’s logo. The returned items are separated into handsets, batteries, chargers and other accessories for recycling. The European Union and Norway intend to introduce a compulsory take back scheme.

6

Polymers for Electronic Components On 13 June 2000, the EC published the latest issue of its proposal for the Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), which seeks to establish high recycling targets for certain categories. Such figures are not feasible if several polymers are combined in the same product because of the costs involved in dismantling. Consequently it is unrealistic to expect significant recycling savings in the small components sector. The WEEE draft proposals, which involve separate collection and selective treatment of all components containing halogenated flame retardants, is considered to be neither practical or economical because of increasing integration and miniaturisation in the electrical and electronic sector. The electronics industry is constantly seeking new products which will attain ‘must have’ status. Having recognised that sales of mobile phones cannot maintain their current growth rates, the search is on for new products which will generate greater sales of components. One of the problems manufacturers face is that, in their infancy, these new products are invariably expensive. Volume sales bring down prices but even the most powerful marketing campaign may not generate sufficient sales to build up sales to the levels at which dramatic price cuts become possible. One possible product in this category is the new multipurpose IC-R3 receiver from Icom which combines the functions of television set, video display and radio in one small handheld package powered by a rechargeable battery which provides twenty seven hours of viewing time per charge on a two-inch liquid crystal display. Toshiba is one of the promoters of small molecule light emitting diode (SMLED) technology which offers better visibility and lower power consumption than LCDs. Currently only monochrome screens are on offer but Toshiba has announced the 2002 launch of a six inch full colour screen with laptop full colour screens to follow in 2004 and television set screens to follow shortly afterwards. One of the latest technologies to hit the market is the Bluetooth short range wireless technology networking standard developed by Ericsson and allows personal computers, laptops, hand-held computers, mobile phones, printers and other electronic controlled products to communicate with each other by means of radio links of up to ten metres. More than two thousand companies have signed up to the Bluetooth standard special interest group with many, including Johnson Controls and Visteon, being key members of the Bluetooth Automotive Expert Group which is working on automotive applications of the technology. On average, a car contains approximately fifty embedded chips which could be linked by Bluetooth technology in the future. New materials with great potential include superconducting plastics which have been discovered at Bell Laboratories in America after research extending over twenty years. The material, whose superconducting temperature is below –270 °C, is made by depositing a solution of polythiophene in a thin film. The organic polymer will only act as a superconductor when all its molecular chains are lined up like ‘uncooked spaghetti’, to quote the researchers involved. Future applications have been cited as quantum computing and extremely fast, low power integrated circuits.

7

Polymers for Electronic Components

8

Polymers for Electronic Components

3 Review of Materials and Properties 3.1 Introduction The selection of polymers for component use is governed by the need to manufacture, cost-effectively, a high quality product at high speed with daily production volumes of up to 30,000 units. The criteria for the selection process are summarised below: •

Wall thicknesses are frequently less than 1 mm so the polymer must have good melt flow properties during the moulding process without sacrificing performance in other respects.

•

Having designed the wall thickness to be less than 1 mm, the resulting product must have the necessary mechanical strength to fulfil its design purpose. Within the normal parameters of wear and tear products, made from plastics will have a service life of between five and twenty years though many will have been discarded or replaced by then.

•

Dimensional stability is important so shrinkage and warpage should be minimal since typical tolerances are below 5 µm. This feature is particularly important in the case of printed circuit board (PCB) material

•

Flame resistance should be secured by the use of halogen-free flame retardants where possible.

•

The need to solder components calls for the material to have high thermal stability since the temperature of solder baths is around 270 °C and the reflow soldering process involves brief exposure to high temperatures.

•

The material must be resistant to any chemicals which may splash on or immerse the component. These typically include hydraulic oils, cleaning agents and lubricants.

•

In view of the occasional need for sliding components to work within an enclosure, such sliding should not produce dust and so good tribological qualities are required. These qualities can be varied by the selective use, for example, of additives and modifiers, such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) powder, silicone oil or molybdenum disulfide. PTFE is banned as a lubricant in some areas because of the ‘Blue Angel’ environmental standard. The Blue Angel environmental standard is linked to ISO 14001:1996 (Environmental management systems-Specification with guidance for use). The Blue Angel is a symbol modelled on the United Nations environment symbol which dates back to 1972. Environmentally-friendly products are awarded and carry the symbol for three years. The symbol is awarded by a non-governmental jury on payment of a fee.

•

Complex product geometry, readily attainable with thermoplastics, may be unavoidable in order to achieve the required product specification.

•

The polymer’s electrical performance is also important in applications where the resistivity and tracking performance figures may be laid down in the product specification.

•

Humidity may be a problem in some instances because some polymers are subject to hydrolytic degradation, which results in embrittlement. 9

Polymers for Electronic Components This report also covers the use of composites where a polymer may be combined with a fibre and the choice of fibre type, fibre orientation and matrix options determines its overall physical properties. The objective is to secure optimum performance with minimum weight. Typical advantages possible from the use of composites include equivalent strength and stiffness to steel, high chemical resistance, definable electrical and thermal properties anywhere between an insulator and a conductor, good mechanical performance up to 250 °C and the ability to generate complex shapes. The individual volume of the majority of components involved is less than 1 dm3 and the individual weight is less than 2 kg. Many of the electronic components described below are produced by injection moulding using a variety of polymers. Alternative manufacturing methods include low-cost dip moulding, for which PVC is particularly suitable. Industry studies have shown the most popular polymer in Europe for electrical and electronics applications, including wire and cable, to be PVC (25% of the market), which is used mainly for cable sheathing but also used for cable clips, grommets and shrouds, followed by PE (19%), ABS (14%), PS (13%) and PP (12%).

3.2 Polymers for Electronic Components

3.2.1 Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene (ABS) ABS is a popular choice of polymer for the production of intricate parts and the many manufacturers offer different grades according to the end use. Bayer grades include Lustran and Novodur; Dow offers its Magnum range. Component applications include antenna clips, sealed maintenance free battery containers and transparent window plugs for inspection purposes.

3.2.2 Acetal Copolymer (POM) POM is widely used and has a melting point of 163 °C whereas the related acetal homopolymers have a higher melting point of 175 °C with greater mechanical strength. However, POM is a strong enough material to be used for the manufacture of plastic fasteners of all types. It is resistant to attack by oxidation and by solvents and fuels. POM may also be used for such components as push buttons where there is a sliding contact with a housing. In such an application, the housing would be made from another polymer, typically polybutylene terephthalate (PBT). Several grades of POM are available (including Ultraform (BASF) and Hostaform (Ticona, which claims to be the world’s largest manufacturer). Other branded polyacetals include Delrin (DuPont), an acetal homopolymer, and Ertacetal (DSM).

3.2.3 Polyarylamide This product family, available as IXEF from Solvay, includes some of the stiffest thermoplastics available and which are claimed to have properties almost equal to metal. Applications include growing use in mobile phones where, despite the case getting smaller and lighter in weight, there is still a need for stiffness in order to protect the contents. IXEF is also used in other applications where extra stiffness and precision are needed notably connectors, switches, housings, motor end frames and telecommunications parts.

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Polymers for Electronic Components

3.2.4 Liquid Crystalline Polymers (LCPs) LCPs offer, at a higher price than some competing polymers, better flow characteristics to fill the thin walls of modern connectors, for example. LCPs also possess the improved thermal performance needed by printed circuit boards to withstand the high temperatures experienced during the soldering process. LCPs are sufficiently tough to accept interference fit loading of contacts without cracking and enable production operations to be carried out marginally faster than with other polymers. The toughness should also be sufficient to prevent protruding catches or other projecting items from breaking off. The standard formulation used in the electronics industry involves the addition of 30% glass fibre reinforcement (GFR). Experiments with 45% GFR have also been carried out but the higher glass fibre content was found to lower the tensile strength of the material. The general effect of glass fibre reinforcement on thermoplastics is to improve their mechanical characteristics. Potential benefits include greater strength, better radiation resistance and lower water absorption rate. Electrical benefits include greater dielectric strength.

3.2.5 Polyamide (PA) Polyamides are selected for use in electrical components because of their good electrical and mechanical properties, flexibility and relative immunity to fracture. They are inherently fire resistant without the use of flameproofing agents. AlliedSignal has been developing several grades of non-halogenated, flame-retardant PA 6 which deliver improved environmental performance and reduced corrosion in moulding equipment compared with halogenated PA. Grilon PA 6 is used by the connector maker Lemo for bridge plugs and plugs with parallel sockets, available in a range of nine colours viz. blue, white, grey, yellow, brown, black, red, orange and green. The dimensional stability of PA may be inadequate for interconnected parts. Sales of PA engineering polymers have achieved double-digit sales growth over the past five years with projected further growth of around fourteen per cent over the next few years. Dow estimates that the world market for PA for electrical and electronics applications is around £300 million per annum with annual sales growth of five to seven per cent within the electrical and electronics sector. Of the grades used in component manufacture, the markets for PA 6 and PA 66 are relatively mature with greater sales growth in PA 12. PA 68, PA 11 and PA 46 are also available. Leading suppliers of PA 6 include AlliedSignal, BASF, Honeywell and Rhodic. The main suppliers of PA 66 include DuPont, Radicci, BASF/Bayer and DSM. Dow offers Vydyne PA 66 resins, in partnership with Solutia Inc., for a wide range of electronics applications including cable ties, connectors, housings and screws. PA 6 may also be used for some of these applications. DSM’s Stanyl PA 46, made from adipic acid and 1,4-diaminobutane, has been described by the company as a material which bridges the gap, in terms of heat resistance, between PBT and PA 6, PA 66 and the higher end resins, notably LCPs, polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) and PEEK. Stanyl competes with LCPs for use in connectors. As the temperature beneath car bonnets rises to levels which PA 6 and PA 66 are unable to tolerate, Stanyl is able to take over because it uses the same moulds and the same tooling. Stanyl sales have been growing at an annual rate of between 10% and 12% and DSM increased the manufacturing capability of its Geleen plant in the Netherlands in 1995, 1998, 1999 and 2000.

11

Polymers for Electronic Components DuPont’s Zytel HTN grade competes with Stanyl and the company is experiencing growing demand for the product to the extent that it is doubling the capacity of its Canadian compounding facility at Maitland, Ontario. High viscosity grades of PA 12 are selected for extrusion and low viscosity grades for injection moulding A glass fibre content of either 10%, 20% or 30% will increase stiffness, improve the temperature rating and increase creepage and shrinkage resistance. A layer of PA 12 confers ballistic, rodent and termite resistance to a product.

3.2.6 Polybutylene Terephthalate (PBT) PBT, branded by Ticona as Celanex and by DuPont as Crastin, is used in components because of its high dimensional stability, good electrical and mechanical properties and absence of dioxin- or furan-forming substances. Some PBT grades have improved flow performance which enables much smaller parts to be moulded. DuPont’s Crastin HR PBT grade also benefits from good hydrolysis resistance. PBT also has a high continuous service temperature of 130 °C and a UL rating of UL94 V-0 (tests for flammability of plastic materials for parts in devices and appliances). PBT is typically used with 15% or 30% glass fibre reinforcement. Qualities claimed for Celanex include high strength, heat deflection temperature and rigidity, good creep behaviour, absence of stress cracking and extreme hardness. It is also said to have good electrical characteristics and good resistance to chemicals and weathering. Favourable anti-friction and anti-abrasive behaviour together with high dimensional stability and a gloss finish, even if glass-reinforced, are further qualities claimed for the material. Ticona also offers Vandar (PBT-HI) for technical injection mouldings and extrusions. Vandar offers good resistance to organic solvents, automotive fuels, lubricants and brake fluid. It is also claimed to have good processing properties and high abrasion resistance. GE Plastics’ Valox 71 is unusual in that it has a 600 volt continuous tracking index (CTI). This is an important quality for electrical and electronic components to possess and is unusual to find in thermoplastic materials.

3.2.7 Polycarbonate (PC) PC has high impact resistance, a wide processing temperature range, good resistance to chemicals with the further option of transparency. Around 30% of glass fibre may be added. Brands include Calibre from Dow, Lexan from GE Plastics, Makrolon from Bayer and Xantar from DSM. If the use of PTFE as an additive to assist lubrication is ruled out for environmental reasons, alternatives exist including Lubriloy from LNP in the Netherlands, a lubricated, PTFE-free, halogen-free, flame retardant PC. PC may be blended with ABS to produce a rigid material with a good appearance and good flow properties. One such PC/ABS blend is Bayblend from Bayer, which is used for a wide range of products including thin-walled telephone handsets where its strength and light weight combine to produce a very cost-effective product. Magnetic shielding can be provided by inserting a metal film or metallised plastic film within the housing. Mobile phones now incorporate MID technology which enables functions or tracks to be directly incorporated into the housings. Fire is a potential risk with many polymers but now PC users have the opportunity to specify Nucycle from Dow, which resulted from collaboration between NEC Corporation and Sumitomo Dow Ltd. Nucycle is free of halogen compounds and employs a proprietary 12

Polymers for Electronic Components silicone as its ignition resistance additive. This allows the material to have a UL 94 V-0 rating at 1 mm. Furthermore, the impact strength of Nucycle was found to be much higher than that of PC containing traditional halogen additives though the costs are broadly similar. In the USA, Dow Plastics is marketing Nucycle under the designation PCX. Three grades are available. The first targets a V-0 rating at 0.95 mm and 5V at 2.5 mm. The second grade offers V-0 at 1.5 mm and 5V at 2.5 mm. The third grade contains 20% glass fibre and meets V-0 at 1.5 mm. Dow and NEC have also developed transparent grades of these materials with a flammability rating of V-0 at 2.0 mm.

3.2.8 Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) PEEK is a semi-crystalline polymer, insoluble in all common solvents, and can be used at temperatures of up to 300 °C. It can be injection moulded and because of its cost tends to be used by engineers and designers as a material of last resort.

3.2.9 Polyetherimide (PEI) PEI is one of the intrinsically flame resistant polymers used to manufacture injectionmoulded printed circuit boards.

3.2.10 Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) PET is one of the materials used in flexible printed circuits. In other applications where higher temperatures are likely to be encountered, flame retardant PET may be used. Brands include Impet from Ticona, which has good flow properties enabling complex and thin-walled injection-moulded parts to be easily produced. Impet with glass fibre reinforcement is widely used in the electrical and electronic sectors where it offers high heat deflection temperature, resistance to chemicals and weathering, rigidity and hardness. Other claimed qualities include excellent creep strength, favourable anti-friction and anti-abrasion properties together with very good electrical characteristics.

3.2.11 Polyethylene (PE) High density polyethylene (HDPE) is typically used to produce push-in cable tie clips for insertion in pre-drilled holes in wood masonry and other materials. It is also used in cable clips with small pre-fitted nails to enable cables to be clamped to masonry, wood and plaster surfaces. PE is also used to mould the bushings which insulate the rough cut conduit ends in flexible moulded cable and flexible metallic conduit.

3.2.12 Polypropylene (PP) PP is a relatively low-cost material available in different grades for different applications. For example, the Novolen grade from Targor (now Basell) is claimed to have a wellbalanced relationship between toughness, stiffness and hardness with the additional benefits of high heat resistance, excellent resistance to chemicals, low water absorption and low permeability to water vapour, easy processing and low density. These qualities enable PP to be used for a wide variety of electrical and electronics applications including battery containers, cable retention clips, screws, nuts and washers. Alternatively, long fibre reinforced thermoplastics, including Celstran from Ticona, may be used for battery trays and components because these materials are acid resistant, of low density, lightweight as well as providing high stiffness and stability over a wide range of temperatures.

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Polymers for Electronic Components Inspire Spheripol process-based PP is manufactured by Dow Plastics in Germany and are used in electronics and a wide range of other applications. Borealis offers its PP homopolymer for use as a biaxially orientated dielectric capacitor film which may be metallised. Two super-high quality, ultra-low ash content grades are available with claimed good stiffness, low dissipation factor and outstanding processing capabilities. The metals and chloride content are close to the detection limit. Whilst both the HB311F and HC312BF grades may be used for metallisable film, the latter grade will produce highly consistent rough surface films with easy surface roughness control. Unusual applications include the use of LNP Engineering Plastics’ Verton MFX long fibre reinforced PP injection-moulded cones for Tannoy loudspeakers. The high strength-toweight ratio of Verton MFX enables the cones’ wall thickness to be just 0.4 mm and this feature is claimed to deliver real improvement in sound clarity and a superior performance to that achieved with standard and mineral-filled grades of polypropylene.

3.2.13 Polyphthalamide (PPA) PPA offers the user relatively high operating temperatures and good physical properties. PPA injection mouldings have been selected to replace metal alloy diecastings with the 40% glass fibre grade being comparable to aluminium and brass castings. Leading manufacturers include BP Amoco which offers the Amodel brand and EMS whose Grivory GV grade is seen as a metal replacement. Grivory GV is a high-rigidity PPA material. The high-temperature Grivory HT grade will tolerate up to 270–300 °C and so is suitable for reflow soldering. The adoption of lead-free solder in Europe for environmental reasons will result in higher reflow soldering temperatures. Grivory is also selected for hightemperature tolerant injection mouldings operating below the bonnet of a motor vehicle. Other grades include Grivory HTV, a glass fibre reinforced version with a glow wire resistance of 960 °C, and mineral-reinforced Grivory HTM grades which are claimed to have an excellent surface finish.

3.2.14 Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS) PPS is a crystalline engineering plastic especially known for its high heat performance with heat deflection temperatures in excess of 260 °C. It is claimed to have exceptional processability when injection moulded on conventional equipment. It is also claimed to have outstanding dimensional stability and so is particularly suitable for precision moulding to severe tolerances. It can also be used as a replacement for high-performance thermosets or metal, especially brass, in some applications. Ryton PPS, produced by Phillips Petroleum Chemicals, is used by connector manufacturer Lemo for the over-moulding of some elbow socket shells for printed circuits.

3.2.15 Polystyrene (PS) PS offers good dimensional stability with low water absorption and shrinkage. It is also recyclable. Dow claims to be the world’s largest producer of PS resins for the injection moulding, extrusion and thermoforming markets. Its Styron range includes general purpose, high impact and ignition resistant properties with formulations designed to meet the requirements of specific applications.

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Polymers for Electronic Components BASF offers a range of PS for office and IT equipment including the new Polystyrene 495F grade. BP produces both crystal and impact grades of Empera PS. Its plants at Marl (Germany), Trelleborg (Sweden) and Wingles (France) have a combined PS annual capacity of 400,000 tonnes. Questra, Dow’s proprietary syndiotactic PS engineering polymer, is a metallocene-based crystalline polymer. Questra has a high heat tolerance and relatively low density. It has a high flow characteristic which Dow claims is better than PBT or PPS and which approaches that of LCP over which it has price and weight advantages. Questra is offered for automotive lighting and electronics, electronic connectors, fuse holders, printed circuit boards and circuit breakers. Questra resins are claimed to have the same density of 1.05 g/cm3 in both their amorphous and crystalline regions and to have the same shrinkage rates in both regions. Consequently moulded parts will conform more precisely to the tolerances of the tooling facilitating the production of flat parts immune from warpage. Typical applications include printed circuit board input/output switches and connectors. Questra is recognised as being more expensive initially than some of its competitors but is seen to outperform them in ease of processing and yield. Questra has been targeted at both medium-, where it competes with PBT, and hightemperature applications where it competes with high-temperature PA, LCP and PPS.

3.2.16 PS-Modified Polyphenylene Oxide (PPO) PS-modified PPO is produced by GE plastics and marketed under the trade name Noryl. Applications include UL94 V-0 flame retardant PCB enclosures and glass fibre filled selfextinguishing UL94 V-1 relay bases. The latter application permits 600 V operation with an operating temperature of 110 °C and a short-term tolerance of 135 °C.

3.2.17 Polysulfone (PSU) PSU, branded by BP Amoco as Udel, may be 30% glass filled and can also be blow or injection moulded, extruded or thermoformed. Polyethersulfone (PES) is a related polymer, which also may have a 30% glass fibre content, and is exemplified by BASF’s Ultrason grade; other manufacturers include BP Amoco and DuPont. This is a relatively expensive engineering polymer with good heat resistance, used where other polymers are found wanting.

3.2.18 Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) PTFE is outstanding in terms of its chemical and thermal stability, biocompatibility and superb dielectric properties. PTFE is used in connectors and printed circuits, especially in hostile environments calling for heavy duty models. It can also be used to produce computer chip packages and shielding gaskets, where it can be employed in an expanded form. The selection of PCB material is determined by the application and to achieve the required performance ceramic-filled PTFE composites, with or without the addition of woven or non-woven glass fibre, may be used. PTFE may also be used in heavy duty electrical connectors, and when connectors are moulded on to cables.

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Polymers for Electronic Components PTFE has a reputation for being difficult to process but researchers at ETH Zurich, the Swiss University of Technology, are reported to have discovered a new moulding technique involving the combination of PTFE powders of different molecular weights and viscosities into a dense form capable of being moulded when warm. This technique opens up the possibility of using PTFE to make mechanically strong and complex components which cannot be produced in other ways.

3.2.19 Polyurethane (PU) Polyurethane potting compounds are used to encapsulate electronic devices and their components to give them enhanced mechanical and electrical stability. Polyurethane/polyester copolymer spacers are used for cable retention with polyurethane used for cable ties.

3.2.20 Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) PVC is a partially crystalline plastic which melts at approximately 240 °C and has a glass transition temperature of about 80 °C. Processing is normally in the range 170-200 °C. The polymer often requires the use of lubricants to modify the rheological and frictional characteristics. PVC is used in the manufacture of enclosures and low-cost flexible components.

3.2.21 Polyvinylidine Fluoride (PVDF) PVDF is a fluorinated semi-crystalline thermoplastic which has a continuous use service temperature of up to 150 °C and a very low dielectric constant. The Solvay company has been making and marketing PVDF, branded as SOLEF, for more than twenty-five years. PVDF is used for the manufacture of high-capacity capacitor film and is also used in lithium batteries and telecommunications applications.

3.2.22 Styrene-Acrylonitrile Copolymer (SAN) SAN has the properties of clarity and toughness. It is a stiff resin with good chemical resistance, high heat resistance and good dimensional stability having excellent processability and good surface finish. Dow claims major economic advantages are possible using its Tyril SAN resins, adding that the low cost for such broad engineering property performance is unmatched by any competitive polymer. SAN is used in electrical components and suppliers include Bayer (Lustran), Dow (Tyril) and Enichem (Kostil). SAN can also be blended with other resins including ABS.

3.2.23 Elastomers Elastomers used for connector insulators include polychloroprenes, silicones, fluorosilicones and heat-setting compounds which enable the special characteristics of flame resistance, low toxicity and low smoke, for example, to be incorporated. Polychloroprene is used as spacer material and also for washers where its sealing qualities, good resistance to cracking, rotting, oils and petrol and its good low-temperature flexibility may be beneficial in specific applications.

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Polymers for Electronic Components Silicone rubber is used for key pads of hand-held devices, process controllers, access control panels, military communications and other equipment. Other options include the combination of plastic keytops with a rubber mat. Blending, alloying and compounding are especially important in the production of materials to fulfil demanding specifications. These involve the addition of various fillers and reinforcements, including glass fibre, in order to build in the desired properties. Another option is to use two-component injection moulding techniques, advocated by Ticona, to produce optimised hard/soft combinations. This design development reduces the need for subsequent assembly and favours the production of multifunctional components. Alternatives offered by Ticona include •

Celanex PBT with nitrile rubber, styrene elastomers or polyurethane elastomers,

•

Fortron PPS with nitrile or acrylate rubbers after pre-treatment or silcone rubber without pre-treatment, and

•

Hostaform POM with nitrile rubber, styrene elastomers or polyurethane elastomers. Applications include locating clamps for car CD players and cable clamps for car floor areas.

Composite shapes can be produced by the hot bonding of elastomers on to substrates of different materials including metal alloys, PTFE, polyimide (PI), carbon fibre, and aramid and other textiles.

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Polymers for Electronic Components

18

Polymers for Electronic Components

4 Electronic Components Components are allocated an ingress protection (IP) number, laid down in IEC 60529: 2001-02 (Degrees of protection provided by enclosures (IP code)), which denotes their protection against the ingress of foreign bodies or water as per Table 4.1. Table 4.1 Component IP number (defined by selecting the first digit from the first column and the second digit from the third column) First Second Degree of Protection Degree of Protection Digit Digit No protection against accidental 0 contact, no protection against 0 No protection against water. intrusion of solid foreign bodies. Protection against contact with any large area by hand and 1 Protection against water drips. against large solid foreign bodies 1 with diameter greater than 50 mm. Protection against contact with Protection against water drips the fingers, protection against 2 2 large solid foreign bodies with (up to an angle of 15º) diameter greater than 50 mm. Protection against tools, wires or similar objects with diameter Protection against diagonal 3 greater than 2.5 mm. Protection 3 water drips (up to angle of 60º) against small foreign bodies with diameter greater than 2.5 mm. As above but with diameter Protection against splashed 4 4 greater than 1 mm water from all directions. Full protection against contact. Protection against water spray 5 5 Protection against interior from all directions. detrimental dust deposition. Total protection against contact. Protection from temporary 6 Protection against intrusion of 6 flooding. dust. Protection against temporary 7 immersion. Protection against water 8 pressure. Source: IEC 60529: 2001-02

4.1 Enclosures Portable electronic equipment of all types is invariably packaged within an enclosure, which may be an off the shelf standard design or a customised special. The requirements of the application, and price, will determine the selection of suitable polymers and a selection of these is shown in Table 4.2.

19

Polymers for Electronic Components

Table 4.2 Polymers for enclosures Easy to machine lightweight enclosures with good resistance PC, ABS/PC to chemicals, wide temperature range, transparency option Enclosures for hostile atmospheres, good resistance to Polyester reinforced with chemicals, good temperature range capability, can be used glass fibre both indoors and outdoors Plug cases and enclosures with good resistance to ABS chemicals, lightweight, normal temperatures. ABS can also be flame retardant SAN Standard cases including wall-mounted versions PMMA Where transparency is required High heat and chemical resistance, good dimensional stability PS and low melt viscosity Note: Plug cases incorporate a built-in mains plug to enable the whole enclosure to be plugged into a suitable wall socket, as in the case of a switched mode power supply or compact charging unit for rechargeable batteries. Source: Industry Sources

As in other applications, pressure on costs leads manufacturers to seek savings by reducing wall thickness thus reducing the polymer content of the product. Samsung design engineers faced this problem when seeking to reduce the cost of computer monitor housings. With the help of polymer supplier, GE Plastics, they brought the wall thickness down from 3.2 mm to 2.3 mm. An added bonus was Samsung’s ability to mould the 2.3 mm thick housings on the same machines as those used to mould the thicker housings. Over the course of the six-month project, features were incorporated into the design to maintain the required mechanical strength. These included modifications to the existing rib and boss features with re-design of the vents on the top of the monitor also being necessary. Early fears that warpage and shrinkage would occur were not fulfilled. Another GE Plastics customer was a Samsung competitor who managed to reduce the wall thickness of his product from 3.18 mm to 2.03 mm. This reduced the material cost by over 5%. Further savings in processing costs enabled a total cost saving of approximately 10% to be achieved. The hazards of the polymer selection process are illustrated by the example of an electrical enclosure manufacturer that had been using PBT resins. These proved too difficult to mould to the required dimensional tolerances. Polycarbonate was substituted in order to improve productivity and meet the required tolerances. However, this polymer also proved to be unsuccessful because its higher viscosity made it too difficult to process. The OEM went on to evaluate Dow’s Questra crystalline resin because of its ability to satisfy the dimensional requirements of the specification with further added benefits. These include Questra’s hydrophobic qualities which deliver cost savings because the resin does not have to be dried prior to moulding. This property prevents dimensional changes taking place in the moulded parts during use. Lower resin density than other semi-crystalline resins results in less material, by weight, being required to fulfil production requirements. Before selecting a polymer for a specific application thorough testing is necessary. For example, a mobile phone manufacturer had to switch to PA after discovering that the PC he was using was not resistant to sun tan oil. 20

Polymers for Electronic Components Protection against EMI can be achieved by applying a conductive coating. Electrodag coatings from Acheson Colloids include silver-plated copper, silver-plated copper and silver flake, and silver and tin options. The alternative is to use metal-loaded paints with those containing silver being most commonly specified. In the past the use of harsh solvents, usually methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), aided adhesion to the substrate. With the trend towards the employment of PC/ABS blends to produce thin-walled mouldings has come the need to minimise the effect of the coating on the substrate. This has resulted in the development of safe-onsubstrate paints which use mild solvents and which can be mechanically removed to allow the plastics to be subsequently recycled. In some high volume applications, notably mobile phones, the value of the silver recovered, after removing and burning off the coating, is sufficient to finance the recycling process. Water-based paints are being evaluated and may be introduced towards the end of 2001. Chomerics, a division of the Parker Hannifin Corporation, offers a family of ready-to-spray conductive, acrylic paints. Cho-shield 2054 is a water-borne coating, comprising acrylic/urethane polymer and a silver-plated copper filler, suitable for solvent-sensitive plastics whereas Cho-shield 2056 is a low-cost solvent-based acrylic polymer system containing silver-plated copper and silver flakes. Both systems are claimed to adhere to various substrates including PC, PC/ABS and ABS. They provide a shielding effectiveness of more than 75 dB between 100 MHz and 10 GHz. Chomerics also offers a range of Soft-Shield 4000 EMI protective gasket materials. Other EMI shielding products from Chomerics include EmiClare LF 65 EMI shielded windows which are specifically designed to address EMI problems involving plasma display panels. The product achieves optical clarity by combining the use of a proprietary shielding mesh with precision lamination. Each fully laminated window incorporates front and rear UL94 V-0 rated, optical grade PC, or glass, substrates with optically matched adhesives. Shielding is provided by the enclosed mesh layer, optimised to provide exceptional optical clarity. It is also possible to incorporate an optional infrared (IR) filter at the rear for use in applications where IR transmitting devices, wireless headphones for example, are being used close by. The maximum window size is said to be 95 cm x 150 cm with standard thicknesses in the range 4.4 mm to 4.8 mm. The electrical termination options for these EmiClare windows include a mesh extension over a CR gasket, copper tape over a silver busbar or copper tape over a mesh extension. Applications for this product are in commercial avionics, high definition television displays or other environments where there is a need to comply with specified radiated emission requirements. Chomerics has linked up with Nypro Inc., in a strategic alliance with a joint manufacturing operation at Oldenburg in Germany, to produce insert-moulded conductive gasket products. These shield against EMI interference in mobile phones and other electronic devices. The venture supplies components assembled from Nypro plastic mouldings and Chomerics conductive elastomer over-moulds. Alternatively, DuPont is offering conducting grades of its Zytel DMX modified PA to be moulded into EMI/RFI shielded housings and other devices. These resins are claimed to be able to produce thinner mouldings than PC/ABS alloys whilst still delivering suitable strength toughness and effective shielding. The resulting mouldings are claimed not to

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Polymers for Electronic Components need subsequent coating or painting. A further option is to use electroplating by chemically or electrically depositing a layer of nickel over a layer of pure copper. Other manufacturers of EMC screening products include Schlegel’s Kemtron subsidiary whose 100-300 Series range includes knitted wire mesh over an elastomeric core which is normally silicone or CR. An alternative 400 Series comprises a solid or sponge silicone elastomer (fluorosilicone to special order) in which is embedded Monel or aluminium wires orientated perpendicularly to the mating flange surfaces. A further 500 Series option comprises a thin composite sheet of woven aluminium, expanded Monel, or aluminium mesh impregnated with CR or silicone rubber. To be fully effective, the shielding of an enclosure needs to involve the gasket materials of any sealed apertures. For example, the Schlegel E/E (Environmental/EMI shielding) hybrid gasket utilises a single-flange format and comprises highly conductive cladding over ethylene propylene diene terpolymer (EPDM). This provides both EMI and environmental shielding and gives good weatherproof protection. Alternatively, highly conductive silver-plated PA yarn may be knitted over a soft flexible fire retardant UL 94 approved polyester foam core. Other options are available. Other polymers being promoted for use in enclosures include PVC and rigid polyurethanes. The latter may be cast at room temperature using a mixture of polyol resin and an isocyanate hardener. Benefits of the material include the ability to cast economically in small quantities with low-cost tooling, coupled with the capacity to produce precise and complex three dimensional components. Accuracy and repeatability are good, as is machineability and the facility for thick to thin wall sections. Injectionmoulded polyurethane is also used as a seal material between the enclosure and its cover. Where cost is a prime consideration a general-purpose, black polystyrene may be used.

4.2 Batteries Polymers are use in battery construction in three distinct ways. The polymer may be part of the electrochemical operation of the battery as in the case of the new lithium-ion technology. The polymer may be used in the manufacture of the battery separators, used in traditional cells to provide physical separation of the positive and negative plates whilst permitting electron flow through the electrolyte. The third function is as a battery container material which must resist chemical attack by the electrolyte and give the container mechanical strength. Lithium-ion polymer batteries are rechargeable and offer significant advantages over lead acid and silver zinc batteries in terms of both weight and power. The batteries may be moulded into the shape most applicable to the end product and so are likely to prove particularly attractive to manufacturers of mobile phones, hand-held computers and other physically small electronic products. Lithium-ion polymer batteries are being selected by the US Navy to power its underwater vehicles because they offer a longer cycle life than silver zinc types and this leads to a lower lifecycle cost. Major advantages over lead acid types are a substantially improved energy density and freedom from gassing during the charging process. A wide variety of battery separator materials are on offer including PVC, PE and PE including a small natural rubber content of approximately 20%.

22

Polymers for Electronic Components

4.3 Cable Glands These are used to protect and often anchor cables where they enter housings or pass through panels. The polymers selected for their manufacture are governed by the environmental conditions and include PA 6, which may be reinforced with glass fibre, with CR seals. Low-cost glands are made from glass fibre reinforced PS with soft rubber or PE seals. The Skintop ST PA cable gland from Contact Connectors offers IP 68 protection up to a pressure of 0.5 MPa with an operating temperature range from –30 °C to +80 °C with a short-term temperature peak of +150 °C according to model. The gland incorporates a Neoprene (CR) seal, and depending on application possibly a Perbunan (NBR) O-sealing ring, and features an anti-vibration lock with a multi-entry thread for speedy insertion since only one turn is needed to tighten and protect the cable. Budget-priced designs are made from PS with rubber sealing rings. Accessories include PS blanking plugs to close up preengineered threaded holes no longer required and polyamide hexagon lock nuts.

4.4 Cable Ties and Markers This is an application where PVC is the preferred material choice for markers with PA for ties. UL listing may be needed for export and in these circumstances the least expensive material option is ruled out. For the most demanding applications, polyketones offer a temperature range from –50 °C to +100 °C and are impervious to humidity and exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light.

4.5 Capacitors Capacitors, which enjoy the status of the fastest growing sector of the passive electronic components markets, are available in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and chemical composition. Capacitor safety has recently been addressed by a new industry initiative sponsored by the EECA, the European Passive Components Industry Association (EPCIA) and the main interference suppression capacitor and filter manufacturers in Europe—the ENEC Group. The members will use a single European safety mark, known as the ENEC Mark, which is being introduced in 2001. The scheme will provide the European platform and support for the initiative. Similar initiatives are planned for other passive products including chokes. Speciality polymers are used in solid aluminium electrolytic capacitors. Polymers used in capacitor design include: •

Metallised Mylar

Mylar polyester film is a product of the 50:50 joint venture, dating from 31 December 1999, between DuPont and Teijin Limited. DuPont Teijin claims to be the world’s leading supplier of PET and polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) polyester films and also supplies Melinex polyester film. •

Metallised PC

This category includes extended foil wound, non-inductive types with Mylar tape outer wrapping and specially formulated conductive epoxy end fill to maximise heat exchange. Switch mode power supply applications are available with a choice of axial and tab terminations with a grounded copper shielding option. In these applications 50 V dc, 75 V dc and 100 V dc versions are available in capacities ranging from 1 µF to 50 µF.

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Polymers for Electronic Components However, according to one leading manufacture, polycarbonate types are being phased out in favour of polypropylene. •

Metallised polyester film

This category includes high voltage, 1 kV dc to 15 kV dc, 0.001 µF to 1 µF designs which are self-healing, lightweight and compact with excellent capacitance stability. They will hold charge for several days and so need to be handled with care. They are produced in a wrap and fill tubular configuration with axial leads. Applications include electrostatic copiers, oscilloscopes and high voltage power supplies. The operating temperature range is from –40 °C to +85 °C. Lower voltage versions, extending to 200 µF/30 V dc or 5 µF/400 V dc are constructed from bi-oriented metallised polyester film with Mylar tape outer wrapping with specially formulated conductive epoxy end fill to maximise heat exchange. An option of axial leads or tab terminations is offered. Features of these designs include compact configuration, high current carrying capability, high operating temperature (up to 85 °C), low equivalent series resistance (ESR) and low equivalent series inductance (ESI). The capacitors will also withstand rapid rates of voltage increase. Applications are primarily for use in dc circuits such as blocking, coupling, decoupling, bypass and dc line filtering where the radio frequency and audio components are small in comparison with the dc rating. They have also been used successfully in such alternating current (ac) power applications as power factor correction and ac line filtering. They may be operated at all temperatures from –55 °C to +85 °C with derating to 50% at 125 °C. They are intended for use in sealed encapsulated assemblies. Panasonic Industrial’s metallised polyester film capacitors are claimed to have an inherent safety mechanism which limits the loss in capacitance in the event of any dielectric breakdown. The capacitor structure is composed of a number of discrete units to confine and isolate any dielectric breakdown. The area affected is disconnected by the action of the fuse at the head of each electrode unit. This prevents complete capacitor failure by confining the fault to a localised area. Metallised polyester film types are also offered by Vishay Intertechnology whose capacitance range extends from 1000 pF to 4.7 µF, the latter model rated at 40 V dc and capable of operating between –55 °C and +100 °C. The Electronic Concepts metallised polyester range extends to 200 µF/30 V dc to 5 µF/400 V dc at operating temperatures from –55 °C to +85 °C. •

Metallised PP

These designs utilise a non-inductive, extended foil winding with Mylar tape outer wrapping. Manufacturers offering this technology, with its self-healing properties, include Electronic Concepts (USA), Ducati Energy (Italy), BC Components International (the Netherlands) and Evox Rifa (Sweden), which has production plants in Finland and Indonesia. The PP dielectric separates the electrodes and is able to surround holes created in the electrodes by power spikes. This maintains the insulation and helps to prevent short circuits thus prolonging the life of the capacitor. Capacitor performance deteriorates with time as the number of holes increases.

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Polymers for Electronic Components The Electronic Concepts metallised PP 5MP2 range extends from 10 µF/600 V dc to 1.2 µF/2,000 V dc at temperatures from –55 °C to +105 °C. The MP80 range extends to 50 µF/400 V dc to 5.6 µF/1,500 V dc at temperatures from –55 °C to +105 °C. Special manufacturing techniques may be used to optimise use in high current, high capacitance and low ESR applications. Advantages claimed for PP types include low losses, low dielectric absorption, long-term stability and high insulation resistance. For 450 V ac electric motor applications, the capacitors can be supplied in metal or plastic case styles with stud mounting if required. UL94 V-0 flame retardant materials are used and the capacitors comply with VDE (Verband Deutscher Elektrotechniker), IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) and SEV (Schweizerischer Elektrotechnischer Verein) internationally recognised standards. Added operating safety results from the provision of an internal anti-pressure mechanism. Medium and high power TPC (formerly Thomson-CSF Passive Components) aluminium metallised polymer film capacitors from AVX are available with PP, which account for 90% of its metallised polymer film capacitor sales. PP with higher crystallinity extends the upper working temperature to 120 °C. Versions are available without impregnation or impregnated with rapeseed oil. These designs have controlled self-healing whereby the capacitance is divided into several million capacitor elements. The weak points of the dielectric are insulated and the capacitor continues to function normally free of any short circuit or explosion. The capacitor acts in a similar manner to a battery. It ages during use, suffering a decline in capacitance, finally falling to 5%, or even 2%, of its nominal value at the end of its working life. Medium power designs are available for printed circuit board and also rigid mechanical mounting with voltage ratings from 75 V dc to 3 kV dc; high power designs extend from 1.4 kV dc to 2 kV dc. According to type classification, the medium power capacitor case may be plastic or aluminium and be filled with a thermosetting resin. High power designs may be packaged in rectangular stainless steel cases with brackets. Applications include power supplies, motors and drives, induction heating and military use. These designs are preferred to electrolytic types because of their longer life, high rms (root mean square) current ratings and superior tolerance of surge voltages. Electronic Concepts claims to have developed a new capacitor construction in this sector which incorporates heavy metal electrodes in a very densely packed configuration. The technique is claimed to be able to extract significantly more current per microfarad at rated voltage than competing brands. •

PS

PS acts as an extremely loss dielectric material with low loss dielectric absorption. It offers good long-term stability, with very high insulation resistance and a small negative temperature coefficient. The capacitor construction involves the use of extended foil radial PS in a flame retardant epoxy resin case. High-performance, low-cost, axial PS types are also available, e.g., from LCR Components. •

Other Types

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Polymers for Electronic Components Traditional tantalum capacitors have employed a manganese dioxide cathode plate but this is now being superceded by a conductive polymer cathode which offers very low ESR

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The polymer technology is claimed by Hitachi to offer a more stable dielectric layer which can reduce the necessary level of voltage derating to 20% with consequently better space utilisation. At the manufacturing stage, a forming voltage is applied to the tantalum chip to produce a layer of tantalum pentoxide on its surface. The capacitor’s operating voltage is defined as a percentage of the forming voltage and so 20% derating means that the operating voltage is 80% of the forming voltage. In other types of tantalum capacitor, the operating voltage is much less than the forming voltage and this represents far greater deration. These capacitors have improved capacitance retention at high frequency. One reason is that the resistivity of manganese dioxide is at least 160,000 times that of tantalum. Furthermore, the use of conductive polymers delivers the desired capacitor self-healing properties without the undesirable ignition failure mode. The two main self-healing theories are that localised heating leads to the evaporation of the polymer at that point leading to a breakdown in the connection there. The second theory put forward is that polymer absorbs oxygen and creates a high resistance at that point as would be the case with a manganese dioxide cathode. The manufacturing process involves building up the polymer thickness by repeated dipping and drying. The mobile telecommunications boom led to lengthening delivery times for tantalum electrolytic chip capacitors. The lead time immediately prior to Christmas 2000 was six months but the market downturn early in the New Year brought this figure down to between two and three weeks. There is a world shortage of tantalum and demand in 2000 exceeded supply with some users seeking ceramic and other alternatives. One alternative to tantalum is the closely related element niobium, which in contrast is abundant and inexpensive. Epcos claims to be the first manufacturer to launch capacitors using niobium. These new designs are claimed to offer superior volumetric capacitance with greater capacitance in a smaller space. In high denominations, 100 µF for example, the niobium version is said to be capable of providing between two and three times the capacitance possible from a tantalum version, in the same package volume. Sanyo recently claimed an industry first with the launch of a new family of aluminium electrolytic capacitors with hybrid cathode electrolytes produced by adding electroconductive polymer to the cathode electrolyte. The American NIC Components Corporation offers Surface Mount Specialty Polymer Solid Aluminium Electrolytic Capacitors to replace multiple tantalum chips in high current power supplies and voltage regulator applications. Polymers which are normally insulators can become electrically conductive, and suitable for use in capacitors, by appropriate doping. These polymers include, for example, polyacetylene and polypyrrole where the polymer is employed as a cathode instead of manganese dioxide. This also reduce the capacitor’s ESR. Passive elements may be manufactured using conductive polypyrrole formulations. These formulations, which may include photoinitiators, solvents and additives to give flexibility, can be used along with the methods of the invention to form passive circuit elements including capacitors, resistors and inductors in multichip modules or printed wiring boards.

26

Polymers for Electronic Components Other conducting polymers available to the component designer include polythiophene, polyparaphenylene, polyaniline and polyparaphenylene vinylene (PPV). Kemet’s KO-Cap range extends from 150 µF to 220 µF, with a tolerance of ±20%, to voltages of 3.3, 5 or 8 V dc. The absence of manganese dioxide eliminates the oxygen source which can fuel ignition in the event of device failure due to a short circuit or excessive fault current. Polypyrrole cathodes also reduce the capacitor’s ESR. Premature ageing is one of the problems encountered when using reflow soldering to attach polymer aluminium capacitors to a printed circuit board. Nippon Chemi-Con claims to have avoided the problem, whereby the organic polymer electrolyte breaks down due to the heating effect of the surface mounting process, in its PX capacitor range. The 4 to 25 V dc PX series is designed for digital equipment and incorporates a new conducting functional polymer as its electrolyte. It has a high heat reflow capability and is claimed to be solventproof. The F55 capacitor range of resin moulded, solid organic polymer chip tantalum types from Nichicon extends from 68 µF at 2.5 V to 330 µF at 10 V and will also operate at 105 °C, or down to –55 °C. Solvay’s SOLEF polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) is a fluorinated semi-crystalline thermoplastic which the company has been making and marketing for more than twentyfive years. It has a continuous use service temperature up to 150 °C, a very low dielectric constant and is used for the manufacture of high capacity capacitor film. It is also used in lithium-ion polymer batteries and telecommunications applications.

4.6 Coil Formers Coil formers, which carry windings in inductors, motors and transformers, must be tough and able to withstand the temperatures experienced. Polymers used include PBT and phenolic resins. Moves to the use of Litz triple insulation wire, which can permit the move to smaller bobbins, mean that the wires to be terminated must spend a longer time in a higher temperature solder bath in order to burn off the insulation prior to tinning. Consequently it is necessary to use higher temperature tolerant materials. UL approved materials include glass reinforced LCP, PA 46, PA 66 and high-temperature PA with and without glass reinforcement, glass reinforced PBT and PET and glass/glass and mineral reinforced PPS.

4.7 Connectors In 1999, the EU connector market grew by approximately 3% in value and 8% in volume indicating a fall in unit costs. This is largely due to the distinct trend from customised to standard ‘off-the-shelf’ products. A wide range of polymers is used in electrical connectors. The criteria used by a leading connector manufacturer for polymer selection include: •

dielectric strength,

•

comparative tracking index,

•

surface and volume resistivity, 27

Polymers for Electronic Components •

continuous service temperature,

•

water absorption,

•

radiation resistance,

•

flammability rating, and

•

resistance to hydrocarbons.

Military standard connectors from Nanonics have recently been redesigned to utilise new high temperature LCP insulator material. The new interconnection system is reported to have passed MilPrf 83513 level qualifications and is said to be ideal for applications where space, weight and reliability are critical. The polymer’s temperature stability has been selected to withstand in-line, pick-and-place, surface mount technology (SMT) solder processing and is rated for applications from –200 °C to +225 °C. The end use of the connector has a strong influence on polymer selection. For example, the heavy duty, environmentally sealed Buccaneer design range from Bulgin Components, which offers IP68 sealing and is rated at up to 600 V ac or dc with a current carrying capacity of up to 32 A per pole, is made from a UL94 V-0 rated PA with impact resistance and flame retardant properties. UL94 V-0 rated flame retardant PA 66 is also used by other connector manufacturers. Edge connectors for printed circuit boards are often used; the connector housings are typically made from PBT or PC. The US connector manufacturer, ITW, opts for syndiotactic PS (SPS) or PPS insulation. The German connector manufacturer, Wago, a PA 66 user for forty years, now employs a modified version which is free of halogens, fluorocarbons, chlorinated hydrocarbons, silicone, asbestos, cadmium and formaldehyde. It has a CTI of 600 V, according to the IEC 112 standard, and so it is possible to reduce the air and creepage distances thus making smaller components possible. An average moisture content is 2.5% (absorbed from the surrounding atmosphere). The material will not corrode and has a FV-2 self-extinguishing rating according to UL 94. It is temperature stabilised to permit continuous operation at 105 °C according to the IEC 216 standard parts 1 and 2. The short-term upper temperature limit is approximately 170 °C for grey, dark grey, orange, red, blue and green/yellow designs and 200 °C for the light grey version. The lower temperature handling limit is –35 °C with a mechanically stressfree storage temperature of –50 °C. The basic stabilisation provides sufficient protection against ozone or ultraviolet light over many years of service life. Other inherent protection exists against adverse, notably tropical, weather conditions, earth bacteria and termites. The material is also resistant to fuel, most oils, fats and detergents. The Buccaneer connector is made by Bulgin Components, a medium-volume manufacturer of connectors, switches, battery holders, fuseholders, indicators and filters with an annual output of up to 20 million pieces from a range of 3,000 products. Bulgin’s fuseholders are made from UL94 V-0 flame retardant PA and glass-filled polyester materials which achieve an ac breakdown voltage of at least 2 kV and an insulation

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turnover increase to £10.4 million.

28

Polymers for Electronic Components AB Connectors uses CR as an insulation material whilst the Swiss company, W.W. Fischer, offers PTFE, PBT or PEEK insulator material options in its 405 series of cylindrical connectors according to the requirements of working temperature and other criteria. PEEK is an expensive polymer which tends to be employed when other materials fail to meet the specification requirements of the application. Other Fischer connector types employ polyamideimide (PAI) or POM. Elastomeric seals used by Fischer in conjunction with their connectors are made from acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR), fluoroelastomer, CR, EPDM or styrene-ethylene-butadiene-styrene thermoplastic elastomer (TPE-S). PBT is also used by Conec in its range of waterproof connectors which meet IEC 529 specifications by means of a hood sealing mechanism and an internal rubber coating to the connector. The moulded PBT GF 30 UL94 V-0 frame is attached to the mounting panel with an O-ring inserted in-between. Frameless types are also offered and these can operate at up to 130 °C. These connectors may be used in environments where moisture, high humidity and dust are present. They are also resistant to various commonly encountered chemicals. BASF offers Ultramid PA and Ultradur PBT for use in automotive connectors. PEEK has been selected by the connector manufacturer Tyco/AMP for the switching jack inside its recently introduced coaxial connector for use in connection with its hands-free mobile phone kit in cars. The function of the connector is to switch the phone signal from the phone’s own internal antenna to the vehicle’s external antenna since this significantly improves the clarity of the signal. Factors for the selection of PEEK include its excellent dielectric strength over a wide range of environmental conditions together with its inherent strength and wear resistance with a capability to deliver an estimated 30,000 switching cycles The switching jack is cost-effectively injection moulded incorporating a central signal pin, with stainless steel switching contacts embedded in the base. The high-temperature resistance and dimensional stability of PEEK enable it to withstand the soldering operations. Furthermore, its long-term mechanical properties are claimed to render it ideally suited to fully automated pick-and-place assembly. Material suppliers include AlliedSignal which offers two grades of glass reinforced V-0 rated polyester, the copolymer based Petra 130 FR and the homopolymer based Petra 330 FR. This product is targeted at connector, coil bobbins and coil encapsulation. Connector sealing gaskets tend to be made from silicone rubber with a vacuum-tight requirement being satisfied by the use of fluorosilicone rubber. Epoxy resins are used for sealing purposes. Viewed from the polymer manufacturer’s perspective, the trend in connector use is towards SMT versions where soldering temperatures of between 220 °C and 240 °C are likely to be encountered. These call for the use of high-temperature PA such as DuPont’s Zytel HTN and LCP resins which are forecast to experience sales growth rates of between fifteen and twenty per cent over the next few years. European legislation to ban the use of lead and other harmful substances in solder is likely to come into force in 2004, a date said to have been further deferred to 2008, with Japan expected to introduce its own legislation. Whereas peer pressure, and the desire to appear environmentally ‘green’, will motivate some companies to adopt lead-free solders relatively quickly, others will wait until the last minute before making the change. Higher

29

Polymers for Electronic Components soldering temperatures allow less margin for error in the soldering operation so precise temperature control of the manufacturing will become imperative. Some Japanese companies have been using lead-free solders in their flow soldering processes since 1997. Sony uses lead-free solders in its MZ-E900 Walkman and Panasonic, for example, has committed itself to the removal of all lead solder from its products by March 2003. The Japanese solder manufacturer Senju is to market its full range of lead-free solders in Europe. Senju, which has manufacturing facilities in Asia, America and Europe, claims that its lead-free solders are compatible with existing production processes. Other Japanese manufacturers of copper/silver lead-free solders include Nihon Almit, which has lowered the melting point of its LFM8 grade to 219 °C by adding a small quantity of bismuth rendering the solder suitable for applications where assembly is reflow temperature sensitive. However, brittleness becomes an increasing problem as the percentage of bismuth is increased and 3% bismuth is a realistic maximum percentage (which could lower the solder melting point by up to 5 °C). The new lead-free solders include tin/silver/copper formulations and the addition of bismuth makes the manufacturing process more difficult. Advocates of lead-free soldering include the SMART (Surface Mount and Related Technologies) Group which claims to be Europe’s largest technical trade organisation with over five hundred corporate members. In February 2001, the Group, in collaboration with the UK Government Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), sent a group of industry experts on a lead-free soldering fact finding mission to Japan where they discovered that most Japanese companies are likely to produce lead-free products within eighteen months. The information obtained during the mission is being widely disseminated through seminars, reports and CDs. The US congress has yet to involve itself in the lead-free solder question to any significant extent though, should it do so, there would be a major impact on European importers and exporters. Lead-free solders typically involve even higher temperatures around 260 °C, which have major implications for moulders and polymer suppliers. However, lower temperature leadfree formulations are available, where the lead content has been replaced by unspecified percentages of silver and copper. This market for materials which will tolerate lead-free solders is also addressed by Eastman Chemical whose polycyclohexyenedimethylene terephthalate (Thermx PCT) has a heat deflection temperature of 260 °C and is thus in competition with PPS and hightemperature PA. Other high-temperature, high-performance and easily processed resins from Eastman include Thermx LCP and PET. These resins are available in both flameretardant and non flame-retardant grades. Electronic applications of Shell’s Carilon aliphatic polyketone semicrystalline resins, which may be extruded or injection moulded, include miniature mobile phone connectors. The material previously used by Tyco’s AMP subsidiary in the Netherlands had experienced problems with moisture take-up in humid environments. This had led to loosening and failure of interlocks. Changing to a thin-wall moulding grade of Carilon cured the problem by providing moisture resistance and elasticity thereby satisfying AMP’s wear and endurance requirements.

30

Polymers for Electronic Components Automotive connectors operate in a hostile environment involving periods of excessive heat and humidity. Whilst polyester and PBT have traditionally been used, even higher temperatures and more demanding test criteria from automotive manufacturers are forcing components to consider other polymers. These must also take into account the diminishing size and the higher thermal resistance required. PA is favoured by Weidmüller which also uses Wemid, a thermoplastic specially modified to meet the requirements of the company’s products. The modifications include superior flame retarding properties to PA, an increased continuous operating temperature of 120 °C as opposed to 100 °C for PA, halogen- and phosphorous-free flameproofing agent and no dioxin- or furan-forming substances. Medical applications require connector casing materials which may be sterilised in an autoclave at temperatures around 134 °C thus necessitating the use of PEEK or LCP. The Swiss manufacturer Lemo uses black POM, grey or white PSU and beige PEEK, which is said to offer excellent mechanical properties whilst being suitable for gas or vapour sterilisation. Some models are fitted with an outer shell of cream-coloured polyphenylsulfone (PPSU), which is especially recommended if the connector is to withstand hundreds of vapour sterilisation cycles. Other connector manufacturers use PPS which is selected because its ease of flow enables delicate but extremely stiff components to be produced. For the majority of applications involving a temperature range from –40 °C to 120 °C, PBT may be used as is the case of connectors supplied by Siemens to Volkswagen. PEEK and PTFE are also used in the harsh environments to be found in the nuclear and chemical industry sectors. PVC is often used when a connector is moulded on to a cable. The Japanese Shin-Etsu Polymer Company offers an interesting interconnection technology using silicone rubber. The company has long-term experience in the manufacture of solderless elastomeric interconnectors to mount LCDs. The z-axis conductive silicone rubber is supported by insulating silicone rubber in the interconnector, which is inserted between the contact surfaces with a slight degree of compression. This technology has been developed by the company into the GB-type design where a number of 50 µm- or 100 µm-pitch fine gold-plated brass filament wires installed adjacent to each other in or around silicone rubber support material. The individual wires are 30 µm or 40 µm thick and can each carry 50 mA with two or more wires per contact pad providing a good electrical connection. In a typical interconnection application between two parallel printed circuit boards, each with a row of contact pads with a minimum pitch of 0.2 mm, the minimum distance between the boards would be 1 mm. The interconnector would be sandwiched between the two boards with a recommended compression of between 5% and 15%. Typical applications for this technology are to be found in small-scale, high-volume products including mobile phones, pagers and watches. Medium-volume applications include computers, instruments, integrated circuit testers and sensors. Another derivative of the technology uses a matrix configuration of gold-plated wires to connect chips, modules and arrays without the need for complex soldering processes. These are sometimes used to carry out hardware or software upgrades. In these applications the minimum distance between the board and the chip or module falls to 0.3 mm.

31

Polymers for Electronic Components Yet another derivative involves the use of U-shaped interconnectors wrapped around a core of silicone sponge rubber.

4.8 Heaters This most unusual application involves the enclosure of thin, radiant heating, electric elements within dielectric, high temperature resistance silicone rubber, which is able to withstand temperatures of up to 200 °C. The heaters, manufactured by FlexHeat use printed circuit board technology to etch the elements photochemically with precision. This permits exact watt densities and powers to be defined to a customised size and level of heating for virtually any application. The flexible heaters can be wrapped round the object to be heated with hot and cold zones as required. Rapid heating is possible because of the high thermal mass of the heaters. Applications invariably involve the creation of localised optimum working conditions for a device when the ambient environmental temperature is too low. The silicone cover of the heaters provides a moisture, chemical and ozone resistant electrically insulated barrier. Peel-and-stick adhesive backing can be used to attach the heater to the device to be heated. The heater may be sandwiched between, attached or even vulcanised to the surface to be heated. Standard types are available for those users who do not need a customised design.

4.9 Membrane Keypads These are typically built on a polyester base membrane (PETP 35 µm Cu-laminated) with polyester spacer membrane, safety chamber and front membrane. The snap disc is goldplated stainless steel. Other designs use electrical contacts made from silver, silver on carbon or carbon only. Keypads may also be made from conductive silicone rubber. Conventional computer keyboards, made from ABS, polyester or other polymers, may be covered by a polymer overlay to protect it against dirt, dust, water or other substance present in a hostile environment. Polyester and PVC overlays are used in a wide variety of applications. Typical casing materials include PC and CR. The size of the keyboard market is vast with one leading supplier, Cherry, making around five million each year.

4.10 Plugs and Sockets Polymers used to insulate plugs and sockets include PA and TPEs. However, for plugs moulded on to cables the universal polymer choice for plug bodies is PVC, which can tolerate temperatures up to 60 °C. One leading German socket manufacturer analysed sales as being ABS or PC (80%), high-temperature PBT (10%) and high-temperature PA (10%). Domestic mains sockets are moulded from tough materials designed to withstand abuse during the installation process. Polymers used include PBT, which may be used with glass fibre reinforcement, in the manufacture of lamp sockets where its resistance to discolouration and heat are valuable qualities. In applications where higher temperatures are likely to be encountered, flame-retardant PET may be used. Polyester and glass fibre reinforced polyester bodies are a popular choice for industrial plugs and sockets, especially those destined to be used in hazardous environments where ATEX (from the French ‘atmospheres explosible’) directives apply. The relevant

32

Polymers for Electronic Components Article 100a of ATEX Directive (94/9/EC) was issued by the EC in 1994 and will become law from 1 July 2003. The Directive is designed to ensure that installers of connectors (and other electrical and mechanical equipment) in any areas where a risk of explosion exists must be diligent in fitting compliant products. The essential design feature of such plugs and sockets is that the electrical connection/disconnection takes place within a flame proof chamber. These plugs and sockets will normally comply with IP65 or IP66 sealing ratings. The connectors will be marked with a classification standard, typically EexdellC T6 (E indicates European certification, Exde indicates hazardous area equipment, flameproof enclosure with increased safety components, II C indicates Category 2 (Zone 1), and T6 indicates a maximum surface temperature of 85 °C. The details of the designation are subject to amendment by ATEX). Another of the key design features of connectors for hazardous areas is that connection/disconnection when the power supply is on is impossible. It is important to note that no guarantee of safety or protection will exist if the plug and its mating socket are sourced from different manufacturers. Furthermore, any on-site product modification will invalidate the certification. The ATEX classification of hazardous environments is as follows: •

Zone 0 is where an explosive mixture of gas, vapour or dust is always present.

•

Zone 1 is where an explosive mixture of gas, vapour or dust is likely to occur during normal operation.

•

Zone 3 is where an explosive mixture of gas vapour or dust is not likely to occur during normal operation and, if it occurs, it will only exist for a short time as in the case of a leak.

•

Zone 21 is when a cloud or layer of combustible dust is present.

•

Zone 22 is when a cloud or layer of combustible dust is present for short periods.

4.11 Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) According to the EECA, in 1999 Europe accounted for 22.9% of the ¼ billion market for PCBs with America taking 31.1%, Japan taking 23.4% and South East Asia taking 18.9%. In general-purpose applications, competitively priced thermosets are used for the PCB material. The most common type of PCB produced today, with approximately 90% of the market, is said to be FR4 multilayered board made up from woven glass fibre and epoxy resin. Traditionally bromine additives, e.g., tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBA), have been used as flameproofing agents, but the trend towards less hazardous, halogen-free materials has stimulated the search for alternatives which include phosphorus compounds. One of the critical properties when selecting PCB laminate materials is its glass transition point, which becomes increasingly important in the event of a move to the use of lead-free solders with higher melting points than traditional lead-based formulations. High temperature FR4 material has a glass transition point of 150 °C, a continuous operating temperature of 130 °C, and will also withstand temperatures of between 260 °C and 280 °C for brief periods. However, the use of polyimides will permit continuous operation at such elevated temperatures. Other materials used in special applications, involving single chip carrier modules for example, include cyanide esters and bismulemit triazine (BT). BT 33

Polymers for Electronic Components epoxy laminates, marketed by Polyclad Technologies, are compounds of FR4 material, polyimide and cyanide ester with a glass transition point of 200 °C. For those companies requiring rapid prototype production, the UK Sigtronics company offers its Quickboard service claiming to offer delivery within 24 hours to anywhere in the UK. Computer-aided design (CAD) files can be submitted to the company’s website which will respond with a quotation within one hour during the working day. The boards are not produced in the normal manner which involves etching unwanted copper from copper clad laminate. Instead a conductive copper-filled polymer is applied to an engraved bare laminate. The surplus polymer is wiped off leaving the polymer filled tracks. The board is then cured and the polymer changes colour from copper to silver. The production process can normally be completed within three hours. Automotive applications may involve PCBs within close proximity to or inside the engine compartment where the elevated temperatures may subject the boards to considerable thermal stresses. At 260 °C, in the so-called T260 test, standard FR4 material will delaminate after fifteen minutes. However, a German company, Isola AG, has produced a resin formulation which confers a far better thermal stability. Isola’s Duraver-E-Cu 104 TS and Univer-E-Cu 104TS will withstand 260º for more than an hour before delamination occurs whilst featuring the same favourable properties as standard FR4. The selection of the board material is governed by the end-use of the product with ceramic filled PTFE composites being selected for high frequency applications. Other PTFE composites with or without the addition of woven or non-woven glass fibre can be provided. In high temperature applications PPA may be used. Materials offered by GE Electromaterials include GETEK laminates which incorporate epoxy and PPO resins which are claimed to provide processability and the improved thermal and electrical properties required for sophisticated circuitry. They also deliver significant cost savings and are suggested as replacements for polyimides, PTFE and other substrate materials in many existing applications. Lower cost flexible printed circuits use polyester base materials with more expensive polyimide, including DuPont’s Kapton, selected for applications where higher performance is required. It is not possible to solder polyester so connections must be made by clamping, by the use of zero insertion force (ZIF) or simple crimp-on connectors, or by other methods including conducting adhesives though epoxy and acrylic adhesives are said to have a short shelf life. Flexible/rigid laminates are available with up to twenty-two layers. Advanced printed circuits are used in missiles and the Eurofighter where applications include aircraft engine control and management systems. Manufacturers of flexible printed circuits include Chichester, UK-based Teknoflex, which selects materials according to application, with PI being used because of its thermoset characteristics and tolerance of higher temperatures (e.g., in the engine compartment and exhaust system and for sensor use in the braking system). PI is also preferred if high flexing cycles are involved. For less arduous automotive applications, as in instrument clusters, headliner and door panel circuits, lower cost PET would be chosen. In intermediate conditions, PEN may be selected. This material is growing in popularity because of its performance profile between PI and PET. Should EMI/RFI screening be necessary, arguably the best solution is to use silver polymer screens encapsulated with a screen-printed or photo-imageable coating. Multilayer flexible circuits involving layers of copper/adhesive/polyamide/adhesive/copper are also available from Teknoflex.

34

Polymers for Electronic Components The benefits of flexible circuitry when set against conventional wiring harnesses are considerable. The cost of flexible circuitry is around 70% of the cost of a comparable wiring harness, its weight is around 30% of that of the comparable wiring harness and it will only occupy 40 % of the space required by the comparable wiring harness. Adhesives are used to attach surface mount components to the printed circuit board prior to the soldering process. These include PD977 from Heraeus which has been specially developed for the purpose. It is a single component, solvent-free, epoxy-based, thermosetting polymer which cures quickly at low temperatures in the range 80 °C to 120 °C with a suggested optimum temperature of 90 °C when the curing time is three minutes. The adhesive may easily be removed from unwanted areas with a number of water and solvent-based cleaning compounds prior to curing. The residual thermoplasticity of the adhesive allows defective components to be replaced by means of spot heating. Flexible printed circuits may be produced using polymer thick film (PTF) technology where Poly-Flex Circuits claims world leadership. The company uses lead-free attachment technology involving Poly-Solder, a silver-loaded isotropic conductive adhesive. PolyFlex prodces more than fifty million circuits annually with both US and UK manufacturing facilities and employs 350 people worldwide. It was formerly a subsidiary of Cookson plc which sold it to the US Parlex Corporation in October 2000. Whereas traditional printed circuit boards are flat or flexible, injection-moulded three dimensional versions, also known as MIDs, have been developed with an estimated world market size of around ¼ PLOOLRQ 7KH EHDXW\ RI WKH FRQFHSW LV WKDW Lt combines into one unit a circuit board, enclosure, connector and cable. The only limitation to its shape and size is said to be the available injection moulding capability. Customers for products utilising the technology include BMW, Braun, Deutsche Telekom, Philips and Siemens. The technology lends itself to automotive applications and favoured resins for the performance parts include LCPs and PEI, with ABS to be used elsewhere. Cost is a consideration in polymer selection. The techniques of installing the electronic circuitry on to the MIDs include laser imaging, two-component moulding or hot foil stamping. The laser technique lends itself to fine line work on small parts. The technique is flexible because design changes involve amendments to the software rather than to the hardware. Furthermore, it is relatively easy to draw circuitry to 50 µm width. Two-component moulding should only be considered for parts with complicated geometries where the annual unit volumes exceed 250,000, because of the high tooling costs involved. The process involves the combination of one plateable material with another non-plateable one. The plateable material can only be seen where circuit traces are desired. In some cases PA is used for both. For example, a glass-reinforced, impact-modified PA 6 may be used as the plateable material and an unfilled PA 12 used as the non plateable material. The PA 6 is etched by an acid and the metal is attached to the exposed filler whilst the PA 12 remains intact. The hot foil stamping process is more suited to simpler parts since it is fast, of low cost and usable on all plastics, though part dimensions are limited. The manufacture of moulded electronic circuits uses another technology for the production of three dimensional printed circuit boards which lends itself to mass production. The process allows the manufacture of the circuit and its moulding on to a

35

Polymers for Electronic Components rigid thermoplastic base to be carried out simultaneously. The first of the five production stages involves the definition of the required interconnection patterns by the plating of copper on to a low-cost aluminium foil through a pattern of light-sensitive photoresist. The patterned foil is then rinsed and dried before being placed in the mould cavity of an injection moulding machine. The molten thermoplastic resin is forced into the cavity against the plated pattern. Then, after cooling, the chemical removal of the foil reveals the three dimensional moulded circuit. Whilst this is the basic process it is also possible to include connectors, heat sinks or other metal sections in the moulding. The selection of the right polymer is crucial to the success of this process and the polymer’s heat deflection temperature (HDT) provides an indication of its suitability. Whilst reinforced crosslinked thermoset resins traditionally have high HDT ratings and are thus suitable for the production of solderable printed circuits, thermoplastic resins have, in the past, had low HDT ratings. However, it is now possible to incorporate additives and thereby raise the HDT figure. The use of certain fillers provides sufficient resistance to the high temperatures encountered in modern soldering processes. Additives may also be incorporated to improve flame retardancy. For example, the USbased supplier, the Albemarle Corporation, offers Saytex HP-7010 brominated polystyrenes to be used in the production of printed circuit boards. Albemarle has also introduced proprietary brominated and halogen-free flame retardant materials. It considers HP-7010 to be particularly suited to be used with thermoplastics in applications such as connectors. The choice of polymer includes two distinct product categories: high-temperature amorphous plastics and semi-crystalline plastics. The former category includes PEI, PES and polyarylsulfone (PAS). Typical HDT figures of these acid and alkali resistant polymers are below 220 °C with a continuous operating temperature of 180 °C. The semi-crystalline category includes LCPs, PA, polyesters and PPS with continuous operating temperatures ranging from 130 °C (PBT) to 220 °C (PPS). PPS is claimed to offer outstanding resistance to acids and alkalis with no known solvent below 200 °C. A further important factor in the selection of suitable polymers is water absorption since the presence of water vapour during the process could affect its success. HT amorphous polymers absorb between 0.1% and 1% water whereas the absorption figure for PBT and some other semicrystallines is less than 0.01%. Moulded circuits produced by this process are used in aerospace, automotive and military applications; all areas where hostile environmental conditions may be encountered. Less arduous applications include cordless and mobile telephone headsets and remote controllers for television sets and video recorders. The fact that the surface of the circuitry is flush with the surrounding plastic makes these mouldings particularly suitable for applications involving a wiping action or sliding contact with other components. The system has been used in domestic television sets by Grundig and its partner company, Thomson-Brandt. A comparison of the MIDs made with relatively expensive materials and conventional printed circuit boards revealed that, despite material costs being up to 2.5 times the cost of conventional printed circuit board material, the MID system using thermoplastics offers cost savings. A galvanic process can be used to deposit the copper tracks rather than employing foil lamination, etching, drilling or punching. Furthermore, the galvanic process uses less chemicals and can thus be considered more environmentally friendly, especially since it is recyclable by grinding

36

Polymers for Electronic Components scrap parts to a powder with particle sizes less than 1 mm. Gravitational separation is used to secure 99.9% separation of the metal from the plastic. The usage of MID technology is being promoted by the 3-D-MID research organisation which is based in Germany at Erlangen.

4.12 Relays In the selection of plastics materials for use in relays, invariably compliant with UL94 V-0, low degassing properties are required. The requirement arises because some polymers are inherently hygroscopic and so must be dried thoroughly before use. Other polymers may absorb gases during the manufacturing process and these may be subsequently released by the mouldings used as actuating combs, base plates, coil elements and housings of the finished sealed relays. The sealing prevents the ingress of polluting gases from the environment. However, the long-term reliability of the relay would be affected if moisture, for example, were to be released by the plastic components and corrode the relay contacts. Pickering reed relays use a polybutadiene polyol inside with an epoxy exterior though silicone rubber is sometimes employed.

4.13 Resistors The main polymer use in chip resistors relates to the encapsulation material, which is frequently PA but may be epoxy resin. Silicone rubber encapsulation, which provides a cushioning layer to isolate the resistive element from external stresses, and polymerised moisture protection layers are two other uses of polymers in resistors. Encapsulated resistor capacitor (RC) networks utilise epoxy/anhydride conformal body material. Conformal implies a coating of uniform thickness as would be obtained by a dipping process for example. Small wire-wound resistors are made by winding the resistance wire round a proprietary bobbin and then encapsulating it in silicone rubber over which an epoxy shell is moulded. Other resistor formats use foil elements with Kapton insulation coated with epoxy enamel. An interesting development in variable resistor design is the use of a conductive polymer as the resistive element of the design. The polymer used is effectively a thick film ink similar to the cermet (ceramic/metal) compounds which are also used in variable resistors. Conductive polymers are superior to cermet in respect of their dynamic noise characteristic but have inferior moisture resistance, temperature coefficients, power dissipation and wiper current capacities. The temperature coefficient and power handling capabilities of wire-wound resistors are higher of course. The cost of conductive polymers is low and they offer minimal contact resistance variation coupled with a long rotational life (i.e., several million operating cycles). There is virtually no friction or wear, even after a few million operating cycles of the wiper’s movement over the resistive element, due to the polymer’s surface which is smoother than that of cermet. The user has a choice of a wide range of resistance values and tapers. Further benefits of the conductive polymer design include essentially infinite resolution, good high frequency operation (because of its low inductance due to the flat design) and absence of a coil. In conclusion, the limitations include low wiper current ratings, low power capabilities and a moderate temperature coefficient.

37

Polymers for Electronic Components The Hybritron design combines the qualities of wire and plastic since a conductive plastic coating is added to a wire-wound element. The temperature coefficient and resistance stability approach that of a pure wire-wound element. Furthermore, it benefits from the long operational life, essentially infinite resolution and low noise characteristics associated with pure conductive polymer elements. Although the design combines the best features of both technologies, it is not recommended for applications involving high wiper currents and so should be confined to voltage divider use. Polymer-based positive temperature coefficient (PTC) resettable devices, from Bourns, Littelfuse and other suppliers, may be coated in a flame retardant epoxy polymer insulating material, which meets UL94 V-0, and cured. PTC devices act as circuit protectors because, provided the current flowing through the device is lower than its specified level, the resistance of the device will be negligible and no self heating will occur. In a fault condition the current will exceed the specified value, self heating of the device will occur, its electrical resistance will rise and therefore reduce the current flowing through the circuit thus protecting other circuit components. PTC devices are available in a range of specifications to meet defined requirements in low voltage electronic circuits where they may, for example, protect automotive electronic circuits, cellular phones, laptop computers, loud speakers, power transformers, rechargeable battery packs, security and fire alarm systems and other products. Raychem’s PolySwitch VTP battery protection devices are polymeric PTC resettable fuses, 5 mm wide or less, which operate as low resistance series elements between battery cells and circuitry. They are particularly useful when used in conjunction with lithium-ion batteries where an accidental short circuit in the load could have serious consequences. If this happens with the fuse in place, the electrical resistance of the fuse will increase rapidly thus reducing the current flowing in the circuit.

4.14 RFI Screening Screening against RFI may be provided by incorporating nickel-coated particles, a lower cost option than silver particles, in an elastomer. RFI Shielding offers a gasket material using silicone and fluorosilicone resins in two grades Supershield NG1000 (nickel/graphite in silicone) and NG1000F (nickel/graphite in fluorosilicone). An XY800 variant is also available for use with the Xyshield ‘form-in-place’ gasketing process whereby small section RFI/MI (magnetic interference) seals are formed directly on to intricate electronic enclosures. XY800 can be vulcanised at room temperature and is cured by reaction with water vapour in the atmosphere. It is applied in fluid form through computer-controlled dispensing heads thus obviating the need for additional gasket fitting operations. Warth International is another specialist suppler of thermally conductive polymer insulators. The company’s Kool-Pads are supplied as discrete pads for insertion between metal electronic components, typically transistors, and a metal heatsink in order to allow the heat generated in the component to be dissipated whilst maintaining electrical isolation. Some designs also incorporate an integral RF shield. These include oriented Monel or aluminium in silicone or fluorosilicone rubber, carbon-loaded elastomer, nickelor silver-plated aluminium loaded elastomer and copper or aluminium/polyester.

38

Polymers for Electronic Components

4.15 Sensors Sensors enable equipment operating conditions to be measured and monitored. Some types of thermocouples are inherently fragile and may be mounted on a temporary PA film carrier, which is tough, flexible and dimensionally stable with a continuous rating of 230 °C and peeled off prior to installation. Other models are constructed on an insulated PA carrier. Housings may be made from glass-filled PA, PBT, PC or ABS. Temperature sensors are non invasive and can be attached to either flat or curved surfaces. Platinum resistance temperature detectors may be used to measure the temperature of items with a low mass where it is importance that the sensor itself does not affect the temperature being measured. Occasionally permanent magnets are needed in sensor applications. Ferriflex from Groupe Carbone Lorraine’s Ugimag subsidiary is produced from hexaferrite bonded into an elastomer which may be NBR for continuous use at 100 °C or EPDM for continuous use at 75 °C. General-purpose sensors for air flow temperature measurements may be encased in black ABS housings. However, sensors in relatively heavy polyester cases are selected for applications requiring a delayed time response as in process controls for refrigeration and heating. Should small size, low cost, versatility and fast response be required then durable epoxy encapsulation should be selected. The size of the assembly will governed by the choice of thermistor and wire size. Sensors with polyacetal housings are considered excellent for environmental controls and applications involving temperatures below 100 °C. PA pipe sensors are used in environmental and water heating/cooling systems. Some sensors have to operate in harsh chemical environments and the German manufacturer, Hans Turck GmbH & Co., KG, is offering capacitive sensors made from PVDF for such applications. These are claimed to reliably detect all metallic and nonmetallic materials including water, metal, wood, glass, cardboard, plastic, concrete block, glue, thin wire, silicon wafers and numerous other materials. Ticona has supplied its two-shot Vectra LCP for sunlight sensor holders. The grade used for the first shot is able to be permanently metallised and the second shot employs a high flow capacity grade. In an interesting new application under development at the University of Illinois, USA, fibre-optic sensors are being promoted for the detection of faults in train wheels and railway tracks (including buckling). They can also be used to detect the presence and speed of trains passing over the tracks. Such sensors already monitor pedestrians approaching road crossing points. The operating principle is that fibre compression limits the light from a laser source reaching a photodetector along sensitive optical fibres attached to the rail track. The University has developed three types of fibre-optic sensors including a twisted pair of optical fibres sandwiched between two metallic plates and held in place with an epoxy filler. The second type is constructed around a coil of polymer optical fibre and the third type involves the use of single-mode optical fibre in a more complex design incorporating optical polarisers, quarter-wave plates laser diodes and photodetectors. The benefits of optical fibres include their immunity to electromagnetic interference. Optical sensors and couplers are often encapsulated in PC housings. 39

Polymers for Electronic Components

4.16 Switches Outdoor switches and sockets must withstand severe weather and other adverse environmental conditions. Suitable protection can be secured by installing high impact, chemical and UV resistant housings. Hager’s IP56 rated Ashley range incorporates a specially developed gel seal and will withstand dust, heavy seas or even water jets. Other materials used include glass-filled phenolic resins, thermosets and thermoplastics. Indoor applications are less demanding and Bosch-Siemens uses Ticona Hostaform polyacetal in its domestic appliance switches. Ticona also supplies Vectra LCP for use in miniature short stroke switches where its high flow capacity confers high production safety standards. Typical materials for normal switches and fuseholders include PA 6, glass-filled PPA and PC where transparency is required. Heat-resisting and self-quenching (UL94 V-0) materials include diallylphthalate (DAP) and PSU. Miniature switches mounted on printed circuit boards variously use glass fibre reinforced PBT, PA, LCPs, high-temperature PPS as base materials and glass fibre reinforced POM, glass fibre reinforced PBT and PA as actuator materials. Polyester film is used to provide a top seal with epoxy employed as a potting material. EAO employs self-extinguishing PEI for actuator casings selecting polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) or PC for the lenses of its pushbutton switches.

4.17 Terminals Crimped terminals are a popular way to terminate cables. The choice of polymer for the terminals themselves will be governed by environmental circumstances. Normally PVC is used but high-temperature applications will call for PA or PC insulators. Terminal blocks are made from glass-fibre reinforced PA, polyester or PE. PA 6/66 may be self-extinguishing to UL94 V-2 whereas a brown glass filled PA could conform to UL94 V-0. The latter material is better suited to operate at elevated temperatures. PA 68 is also used. Camden Electronics, which claims to be the prime UK source of PCB terminal blocks uses UL94 V-0 flame retardant Lexan PC with an operating temperature range from –20 °C to + 125 °C and a short-term temperature tolerance of 160 °C.

4.18 Touch Screens Whilst the mouse is the preferred control option of many personal computer users, touch screens are increasingly being used in industrial and other applications including computer installations in post offices. The various control technologies do not invariably involve the use of polymers. Those which do include the resistive system whereby a clear acrylic, PC or glass substrate is attached to a second flexible polyester layer. Alternatively, two flexible layers may be mounted on a solid clear window. The surface of the clear substrate is coated with indium tin oxide (ITO) on to which a small electrical current is constantly applied. The ITO coating is also applied to the polyester overlay whose surface is covered by a pattern of hundreds of microscopic dots which keep the substrate and the overlay apart. Finger or other pressure on the outside of the overlay produces a local short circuit in such a way that the computer recognises the X and Y coordinates of the point of contact and acts accordingly. 40

Polymers for Electronic Components IR technology operates by means of miniature LEDs which are mounted beneath the bezel which surrounds the computer screen. LEDs are housed in epoxy packages which may be water clear or tinted. LEDs offer significant advantages over incandescent lamps. Whilst they are more expensive, LED clusters will operate for around 100,000 hours before they have to be replaced whereas incandescent lamps will need replacement after 1,000 hours. LEDs are also more reliable and have a lower power consumption. They now have higher brightness and are available in a wider range of colours than in the past. Alternative systems operate on the basis of acoustic, capacitive or laser technology. The Zytronic touch screen is capacitive with fine wires and polyvinyl butyral (PVB) or PU layers sandwiched between glass panels. Touching the screen affects its local capacitance. Applications include automated teller machines (ATMs) for cash withdrawal.

4.19 Other Components Other components include protective covers for components operating in hostile environments. For example, switches operating in the food industry can be protected by fluorosilicone rubber boots against frequent washing down. Circuit breakers and push buttons cab be protected from the corrosive effects of dust, dirt and salt spray by the use of caps made from suitable elastomers. Insulating pillars to mount a printed circuit board above a panel, for example, are moulded from PA 66. PA mouldings are also widely uses for the manufacture of miscellaneous hardware including nuts, bolts, washers, clips and other fasteners and blanking plugs. Occasionally glass filled polyester is used in heavy duty versions of some components.

41

Polymers for Electronic Components

42

Polymers for Electronic Components

5 Overview of European Electronic Component Markets 5.1 Introduction The European Union market for electronic components, according to the EECA, is dominated by three countries which collectively account for 67% of the total market. Germany leads, with a national market of around ¼ ELOOLRQ IROORZHG E\ WKH 8. ZLWK D market size of around ¼ ELOOLRQ DQG )UDQFH ZLWK DQ DSSUR[LPDWH ILJXUH RI ¼7 billion. In 1999, passive components accounted for 9% of the world components sales with active components taking 71% with 20% for electromechanical components. Growth of European passive component sales in 1999 was reported to be around 5%, the switches, panels and keyboards (SPK) sector reported a similar growth figure. European SPK production is concentrated in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Market sizes are becoming increasingly difficult to define due to the increasingly panEuropean activities of both suppliers and users, notably companies’ central purchasing departments, contract electronic manufacturers moving production between countries and component distributors operating seamlessly across national boundaries. Multinationalism involves dedication to securing the best price and delivery by exploiting economies of scale. The EECA illustrates the current state of affairs with a hypothetical example of product ordered from a company in Germany with payment to be made in France, shipment to be made ex-works in Italy with delivery via the UK to the end-user in Ireland. Traditionally the country where the invoice was paid satisfied the market criterion for statistical purposes but this definition is no longer valid in 2001. Despite the difficulties of definition, there is universal agreement that the European electronic components market, in sales terms, has grown every year since 1988 with the sole exception of 1992, the aggregate growth from 1988 to 1999 being 146% in value terms. Growth rates have varied significantly from year to year with a relatively small 1.8% increase in 1998 and a far higher 10.6% in 1999. Component production in Europe has grown more slowly with an aggregate 116% rise from 1988 to 1999. Dividing production statistics into their domestic and export components reveals, according to EECA, that the tripling of exports during the period has been accompanied by a tripling of imports. Since the value of imports is approximately double the value of exports, the net result has been a loss of market share by domestic manufacturers. For some sectors of the market, notably connector and PCB manufacture, the year 2000 was a vintage year, better than any of the past fifteen or even twenty years. This was because, exceptionally, the three major markets of Europe, the Far East and the USA were all busy at the same due largely to the impact of growth in all sector of telecommunications and internet businesses. The normal situation is for one of the three major markets to be depressed with its manufacturers dumping their products at low prices in the other two major markets. PCB manufacturers saw their turnover increase by 30% in value over the previous year with prices rising by between 8% and 15%. The price increase meant that the board area, or quantity, sold did not rise to the same extent. Semiconductor manufacturers did not share the success of the PCB producers.

43

Polymers for Electronic Components Whilst the strength of sterling against the euro has been blamed for much of Britain’s manufacturing weakness, the dollar, which has remained reasonably stable against sterling, has also risen by around 25% against the euro. Consequently US manufacturers, seeking to retain their markets in mainland Europe, have had to lower their prices significantly in order to remain competitive. Another option for them has been to transfer their export manufacturing activity to their European subsidiaries. Component manufacturers in the Far East, with exchange rate problems of their own, have not lowered their prices to the same extent. The state of the UK manufacturing activity is illustrated by reports that the sole source of growth since 1995 has been the electronics and telecommunications manufacturing sectors where technology linked output has grown by 37% since 1995. Now even these sectors are going into reverse with a January 2001 fall of 4.8% in electronics and telecommunications output as these mainly foreign owned companies cut investment in the UK. Output in other manufacturing sectors has fallen by 1%. In some cases, particularly in consumer electronics, manufacture and assembly in the UK is no longer economically viable and so companies have closed their UK plants or else have moved their manufacturing operations to low labour cost countries. One of the most recent announcements, by Compaq in April 2001, is of the transfer of computer assembly operations at Irvine in Scotland, with the loss of seven hundred jobs, to a Taiwaneseowned contract electronics manufacturer in the Czech Republic. Compaq is to retain a workforce of 2,400 at its plant in Ayr. The German injection moulding specialist, Inotech, has sought to achieve the best of both worlds by siting its German and Czech plants seventy kilometres apart. Consequently, the processes with a high labour content are located on the low wage cost, Czech side of the border whilst other services are performed on the German side. The claimed advantages of this system include: •

German headquarters staff are continuously ‘on the spot’,

•

daily deliveries between the two plants,

•

no border hold-ups because customs clearance is carried out in the company, and

•

German-speaking staff trained at the German headquarters.

A revealing survey conducted by Mori for the UK Engineering Employers Federation (EEF) showed that 35% of those interviewed already had part of their manufacturing production carried out overseas and that this figure was destined to grow to 49% in five years time. The survey’s 500 respondents were selected from chief executives, managing directors and board members of EEF companies with 26% of companies being engaged in electronics and electrical engineering. The European electronics sector has benefitted to the extent that its exports are relatively cheap and this has resulted in a growth in the numbers employed of around 15% with German companies in particular seeking employees.

5.2 Market Analysis In January 2001, EECA, with affiliated members in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK, evolved into ‘a new, more focused, industry association’ where ‘it seeks to promote and defend the vital interests of the

44

Polymers for Electronic Components European electronic components industry and to support its competitive position in the global market place’. The EECA claims to represent more than 95% of European electronic components production involving more than one thousand companies, mostly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which directly employ more than 235,000 people. The new organisation comprises four autonomous industry associations with members drawn from the national trade associations of the member countries as well as from manufacturing and related industries. The associations are: •

European Semiconductor Industry Association (ESIA),

•

European Display Industry Association (EDIA),

•

European Packaging and Interconnection Association (EPIA), and

•

European Passive Components Industry Association (EPCIA).

The February 2001 EPCIA newsletter reports on the Association’s General Assembly which took place in January 2001, where the President stated that the 40% sales growth was clearly driven by tantalum and ceramic multilayer capacitors with price increases due to the strength of the US dollar, the palladium price and the excess of the demand. The President went on to forecast continued growth in 2001 with growth in the second quarter questionable. There was also a question mark over the development of the US dollar. However, he saw a possible restart of demand in the second half of the year; he estimated overall growth in 2001 to be within the band 5% to 10%. The telecommunications sector is seen as the most important growth element though UMTS services will not make a measurable contribution to the figures in 2001. The President added his belief that the automotive sector will remain the second strongest market for passive components and will continue to grow. Further growth is also to be found in the subcontracting sector. However, the universal, and serious, concern from passive component manufacturers relates to the ongoing price increases in almost all raw materials. Polymer manufacturers have been imposing price increases due largely to the rise in the cost of oil. The customers for electronic components manufacturers can be categorised in four major ways as catalogue distributors, CEMs, OEMs and overseas distributors. It has been reported that CEMs now account for between 35% and 40% of the component sales of some distributors. However, with the total European components market reported to exceed US$45 billion, the picture across Europe is that distributor sales accounted for only a quarter of the business in 1999, the remainder going to OEMs. The picture is changing dramatically and it is forecast that the distributor percentage will rise to 40% before the end of the decade. Some CEMs and OEMs show a marked lack of enthusiasm for the assembly of electromechanical components, which may be more time consuming and less amenable to automated processes than printed circuit board assembly. The fitting out of enclosures with cables and connectors, fans and heaters, front panels and backplanes, adds another customer sub-category where pioneers include Radiatron Engineering Design Solutions (REDS) and Time 24 (which has 320 employees and has seen its turnover grow annually by around 38% to its current figure of over £11 million). Business-to-business e-commerce polymer operations have started with the Omnexus collaboration between leading thermoplastics suppliers including BASF, Bayer,

45

Polymers for Electronic Components Blasterfeld, Clariant, Dow, DSM, DuPont, PolyOne, Solvay and Ticona/Celanese, to create a customer focused global e-market. This will be established as a stand-alone business with an initial investment of US$50 million. Following its US launch in 2000, Omnexus has started its Europe-specific services in France, Germany and Spain as the initial phases of a pan-European phased launch. Eventually a complete package of business-to-business functions including electronic invoicing, multi-currency purchasing and order tracking will be available. Ticona’s resins are already distributed by GE Plastics’ distribution operation, GE Polymerland, which also has an on-line operation. Polymerland has taken the whole GE Plastics operation onboard and is aiming for sales of over a billion dollars from its on-line operations. The Polymerland operation is being used as a model by other GE divisions. Enhancements of the operation include the monitoring of customers’ silos such that deliveries are made when stocks fall to predetermined levels. A parallel operation exists for elastomer e-commerce. The technology is also used for online auctions where bidders steadily reduce their bids in ¼ VWHSV XQWLO WKH SXUFKDVHU is left with a sole supplier. In one bid for plastic bottles, Bayer secured a 25% reduction in the offer price. Bayer uses this process widely in its purchasing operations via the Chemplorer chemical industry one-stop shopping site where 100 traders and distributors representing over 2,000 manufacturers trade in more than 800,000 frequently needed articles. Purchases are made at the pressing of a button. Chemplorer’s simplified systems have securing savings of over 60% compared with traditional purchasing methods. Bayer is also using the internet to sell its products and will soon sees annual sales of up to ¼ billion annually using this route. By the end of 2000, around one hundred of Bayer’s largest customers in the plastics and polyurethanes business sector were able to buy via the groups wwwbayerone.com and the enlargement of these activities is ongoing. The main electronic components market for polymers is for passive components which represent around 85% of the number of components on a typical PCB. However, because of the much higher unit costs of semiconductors, passives only account for around 5% of the total component cost. Ironically, athough the number of integrated circuits (ICs) on a typical PCB has fallen dramatically in recent years, the number of passive components has hardly changed. The year 2000 generated record sales with some suppliers reporting sales turnover increases over the previous year of between 30% and 40%. 2001 is unlikely to be as successful but double-digit percentage sales increases are still expected. Suppliers have brought additional manufacturing capacity on stream and so price levels may come down. The health of the components sector is dependent on the market for electronic products. The consumption of polymers in the communications sector is reported to grown from 500,000 tonnes in 1996 to an estimated 800,000 tonnes in 2001. The electronic components market per product sector and application in the fifteen member states of the European Union according to the EECA is shown in Tables 5.1 and 5.2.

46

Polymers for Electronic Components

Table 5.1 EU electronic components market by product sector, 1998 and 1999

Austria Belgium France Germany Italy Netherlands Spain Sweden United Kingdom Rest of EU TOTAL EU

1999

10 0.98 0.83 6.34 13.55 2.53 1.17 1.31 2.30

10 1.03 0.85 7.20 14.99 2.39 1.29 1.41 2.43

Growth 1999/1998 (%) 5.1 2.4 13.6 10.6 (5.5) 10.3 7.6 5.7

9.48

10.92

15.2

(2.4)

6.3

20.8

21.6

5.6

5.79 44.28

6.52 49.03

12.6 10.7

1.4 (0.3)

15.3 13.4

19.7 17.7

13.3 11.4

7.6 5.8

1998 Country

¼[

9

¼[

9

Consumer 1999/1998 (%) 4.5 (2.0) 3.3 (5.6) 1.1 8.7 7.6 (4.6)

Automotive 1999/1998 (%) 0.0 1.2 8.5 15.7 4.1 0.0 11.2 13.7

EDP 1999/1998 (%) 4.6 2.7 29.1 19.8 (8.2) 11.1 (4.2) (18.3)

Telecom 1999/1998 (%) 4.7 5.2 14.3 10.6 (6.6) 11.7 3.0 7.8

Industrial 1999/1998 (%) 4.5 2.8 13.0 3.6 (7.0) 10.6 13.4 2.0

Note: ( ) denotes decline EDP = Electronic Data Processing Source: EECA 1999 Industry Report

Table 5.2 EU electronic components market by component type, 1998 and 1999 Growth 1999 1998 Electronic components 1999/1998 (%) ¼ [ 9 ¼ [ 9 Active components 27.98 31.79 13.6 Passive components 4.75 4.96 4.4 Electromechanical components 11.55 12.28 6.3 Source: EECA 1999 Industry Report

Communications and automotive applications represent the largest markets for components. The other major markets are the wireless and consumer entertainment electronics, data processing and industrial sectors. The scale of the world electronics market is illustrated by the statement from AVX that more than 110 million personal computers were shipped in 1999, a rise of nearly 23% from the previous year with similar sales growth expected to be reported in 2000. Possibly the most important industrial application is in instrumentation and control where the objective is to cut costs and economise on the use of electricity by electric motors by the employment of electronic speed control. Efficient use of electricity is one of the ways companies can minimise their payment of the recently introduced Climate Change Levy of 0.43 pence per kilowatt hour in the year 2001 to 2002 which, in many cases amounts to a 15% surcharge on energy bills except where dispensations have been granted. These include a £50 million energy efficiency fund designed to help small and medium-sized businesses. The help comprises encouragement, advice and promotion. An initial allocation of £100 million has been made in the form of Enhanced Capital Allowances (ECAs) for businesses to invest in ‘qualifying energy efficient technologies’. The world market for variable speed drives is valued at approximately $6.2 billion with typical uses including cranes, fans, machine tools and pumps. Other important areas where electronic components are used extensively in the control systems include fire alarm systems, heating, lighting and air conditioning.

47

Polymers for Electronic Components The energy savings attainable by the use of variable speed drives in pumps are particularly significant because the power required varies according to the cube of the speed. Consequently, reducing the pump speed by 20% will result in a 50% saving in energy consumption. Few power-operated consumer products are now sold without electronic controls of some description being installed to improve efficiency and ease of operation. Pure electronic controls have taken over from electromechanical systems since they are invariably less expensive and more reliable. In the data processing sector, the manufacture of personal computers and laptops in Europe is largely a case of building the finished product up from sub-assemblies made in Asia or other low labour cost countries. Until quite recently set-top boxes, designed to convert in-coming digital signals received from the transmitter into an input for an existing analogue signal television set, have been manufactured in the UK. Now the manufacturer, Pace Micro Technology, has decide to outsource all production and close its factory at Saltaire in Yorkshire with the loss of 470 jobs. However, the company will continue to employ 670 non-manufacturing employees in the UK with the intention of adding a further 80 employees to this side of the business later in 2001. Seen from the perspective of the component manufacturer, a capacitor manufacturer for example, where the largest companies in the sector are Matsushita, Epcos, NisseiArcotronics, BHC Aerovox, BC Components, Vishey and Wima, the strength of the competition and the state of the market will be seen to vary from one type of capacitor to another. Film capacitors, which are made by approximately four hundred companies around the world, use polymer films including polyester and polypropylene as the non-conducting dielectric layer. Film capacitors are used in audio and video equipment, automotive electronics, lighting, measuring equipment, industrial electronics and telecommunications equipment. The market for film capacitors is expected to grow at an annual rate of about 5 % during the next three years. In the case of paper capacitors, which are used for interference suppression in mains electricity supplies for example, the market size is expected to remain stable during the coming three years. The leading manufacturers of paper capacitors are Evox Rifa and Wima, a German company. Aluminium electrolytic capacitors are sold for applications in telecommunications, lighting and automotive electronics and for the electronic controls of electric motors. The markets are growing rapidly in Europe and less so in North America, especially in the automotive industry. The largest companies in the sector are Matsushita, Epcos, Nissei-Arcotronics, BHC Aerovox, BC Components, Vishay and Wima. Most dramatic of all has been the increasing demand for tantalum capacitors which showed compound annual growth of 20% over the three years to 2000. In its report for the first half of 2000, Epcos, the leading German passive electronic component manufacturer, reported that growth was being driven, above all, by telecommunications and automotive electronics. Consequently those countries with the greatest manufacturing presence in these sectors will benefit from the greatest growth. The company went on to report that its expansion was also being boosted by developments in industrial and consumer electronics. However, high labour costs in some Western European countries are driving television set assembly, for example, from

48

Polymers for Electronic Components Western Europe to Eastern Europe and further afield. The situation is not clear cut because the production of traditional designs with a 4:3 screen format is moving offshore whereas production of the more modern widescreen 16:9 screen format is growing in Europe in response to greater consumer demand. Similarly, set-top box (digital decoder) production for digital television reception is growing but this activity is often outsourced to CEMs and so the exact manufacturing location may not be known. Manufacturers seeking the lowest cost manufacturing base in the euro zone have selected Portugal where the government provides an incentive package to attract business. Philips, Siemens and Samsung are amongst the major electronics companies which have major manufacturing subsidiaries in Portugal. Samsung also has a mobile phone handset manufacturing plant in Spain where production output rate has doubled to 1.5 million handsets per annum. The unit began production in January 2001 and is currently operating two production lines on a three shift day basis. Austria is at the opposite end of the euro-zone engineering component manufacturing cost spectrum from Portugal with the highest figures in the zone according to data published in The Engineer magazine [D. Fowler, The Engineer, 1998, 287, 7420, 17]. However, as the following paragraph shows, this is not an impossible burden to bear. Austria is the home of Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik AG (AT&S), one of Europe’s leading major circuit board manufacturers, with annual sales of ¼ PLOOLRQ DQG WKUHH thousand employees (2,130 in Europe) and which claims market leadership outside Japan. Under the auspices of the R&D Austrian Technology Platform programme, which was set up in 1999, AT&S linked has linked up with a group of companies including DuPont, Ciba Geigy, Atotech AG and Isola AG, together with universities in Austria and Germany, to advance the development of the printed circuit board by the adoption of new materials and processes. AT&S has an impressive customer portfolio including Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia and Siemens (from whom it has secured a licence for the embedding of passive components into printed circuit boards). The company’s base is at Leoben-Hinterberg and it has three other plants in Austria as well as a plant in Germany in Augsburg. Around 34% of AT&S’s business is generated in its domestic market. In 1999, it bought a PCB plant at Nanjangud in India and is currently investing up to ¼ PLOOLRQ LQ D QHZ SODQW QHDU 6KDQJKDL LQ &KLQD ZKLFK LV GXH FRPH RQ stream early in 2002. The output from the plant in China will include a variety of PCB designs destined for the Chinese mobile communications market and will include cellular handset and base station components. Plans also exist to establish production facilities in North America, the Far East and elsewhere in Europe. The split of the customer base of AT&S has been reported as 54% hand-held devices including mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs), just under 10% in telecommunications infrastructure, nearly 10% in industrial applications and a further 10% in automotive applications. Its objective is to increase the hand-held device component to 60% with major growth in the telecommunications infrastructure and automotive sectors. An indication of the extent to which downturn of the US economy could affect European companies is provided by estimates by analysts that Alcatel relies on the US market for around 22%/23% of its sales, Marconi between 20% and 30% of its sales with Ericsson and Nokia in the mid to low 20% range. Multinational companies see the world market dominated by the three major constituent markets of America, Asia and Europe. It is unusual for all three to be in a growth phase so the normal practice is to move marketing effort and resources from the weakest to the strongest. Consequently growth in Asian and other markets has compensated Ericsson and Nokia for weakness in the US market. 49

Polymers for Electronic Components The extent to which the structure of the Asian electronics market has changed is illustrated by the fall in Japanese manufacturers’ share of the copier market from a 70.6% peak to a current 40.7%. Formerly Japanese companies made nearly 100% of the active matrix liquid crystal displays used in top-of-the-range laptop and desk top computers. The sales efforts of LG and Samsung reduced this figure to just over 50%. In a move designed to strengthen the position of Taiwanese companies vis-à-vis their Japanese competitors, Acer Display Technology and UMC’s Unipac Optoelectronics are to merge their thin film transistor liquid crystal displays (used in computer screen applications) operations. The new company, AU Optronics, will be capitalised at T$29.7 billion (approximately US$919 million) and will be second only in production terms to Samsung Electronics of South Korea and of a similar size to the current number two, LG Philips.

5.3 Telecommunications One of the major businesses driving the market at the present time is mobile communications where the world market for telephone handsets is said to have grown from an estimated figure of 280 million units in 1999 to a projected figure of more than a billion in 2004 rising still further to reach 1.34 billion in 2006. This figure may not be achieved because some sectors of the industry have detected a slowing down of the pace of expansion. Passive component manufacturer Epcos put the market size into perspective when it stated in its 2000 Annual Report that the volume of the mobile phone market was four times that of the entire computer market. One factor stimulating demand for mobile phones is the trend of users to upgrade to the latest technologies. Industry sources expect a user to replace his mobile phone every eighteen months or so. A typical mobile phone handset, with an approximate 50% polymer content, will contain approximately 500 discrete components of which around 200 will be passives. There are also around 200 passive components in a notebook computer with a conventional colour television set containing approximately 400 passive components. Productivity improvements have been achieved by applying a hard coating to the tools used for injection moulding. Balzers claims that the service life of an ABS telephone handset moulding tool increased from approximately 150,000 shots to 700,000 without wear when a coating of Balinit A was applied. Balzers claims that the tool and reworking costs amounted to ¼ ZLWK DQ DGGLWional gain of twenty production days. The growth in demand for telephone handsets has forced manufacturers to invest in stateof-the-art assembly operations using multi-axis robots which, unlike traditional pick-andplace operations, can be readily re-programmed to accommodate design changes. Robots currently load and unload injection moulding machines as well as being utilised for gasket and display protection tape positioning, display window assembly, inspection and cover handling. One of the leading robot manufacturers, Stäubli Unimation, has increased its production of RX robots, used by handset and other manufacturers, to over one thousand machines per annum. World semiconductor sales grew by 18% from US$136 billion in 1998 to US$160 billion in 1999 with more rapid growth projected in 2000. Sales grew fastest in Asia with sales in Europe rising at around 10% per annum. However, there has been a sales slowdown in 2001 with memory chip sales particularly affected. Nokia is also seeking to secure leadership of the 3G Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA) infrastructure market with a 35% targeted market share. Nokia is working towards a 3G system launch 50

Polymers for Electronic Components in 2002; W-CDMA faces competition from an incompatible third generation standard, cdma.2000. In 2000, Nokia reported sales of 128 million handsets when the world market volume was reported to be 405 million units. Nokia is also the world’s second largest provider of mobile phone infrastructure installations after Ericsson. Nokia continues to be seen as a key factor in its country’s national economy. In cash terms, Nokia’s worldwide sales have doubled on a year-to-year basis and reached US$30 billion in 2000. Nokia sources injection-moulded parts from all over the world and carefully seeks out those suppliers which are prepared to put themselves out in pursuit of the support of concept development. Nokia has stated that it is looking for technology partners who can offer new solutions in the fields of product design, materials selection and the ability to bring designs to market more quickly. Typical materials for Nokia’s cell phone mouldings include PC, ABS and PC/ABS blends. The company considers that third-generation formats, including video capability and larger screens, may pose material challenges. One of the company’s research executives admitted that it was ‘scary’ to design a product with a new material for a production run of 100 million units. In the competitive world of mobile phones product variety and decoration are of prime importance. Development, tooling and processing times are getting ever shorter. Pressure on price is also intense with Hewlett-Packard, for example, aiming to reduce prices by ten percent every calendar quarter. This translates to pressure on moulders and plastics processors to reduce their prices by up to five per cent per calendar quarter. World handset sales in 2001 have been forecast to be between 400 million and 500 million. Market penetration in Finland must be approaching saturation with 73% of the population said to own mobile phones. In the UK, there are reported to be approximately forty million mobile phones in use; this represents use by around two-thirds of the population. The figures for the first quarter of 2001 (Table 5.3) illustrate the state of the UK mobile phone market.

BT Cellnet One2One Orange Vodafone Total

Table 5.3 UK mobile phone market, 2001 First quarter Percentage Total 2001 increase prepaid subscriber numbers 11,162,000 918,000 69.0 8,980,878 656,578 79.6 11,032,000 1,200,000 71.3 12,279,000 616,000 64.3 43,453,878 3,390,578 -

Market share (%) 25.7 20.7 25.4 28.2 100

Source: Industry Sources

An indicator of impending saturation is the revelation from Vodafone that 9% of its customers had neither received nor made a call on their mobile phones during the course of the previous three months. This is probably a reason why the phone companies are dramatically reducing the subsidies provided to purchasers of pre-pay mobile phones who contribute nothing to the networks when they are not using their phones. The higher cost of pre-pay phones is to encourage potential users to take on a contract arrangement.

51

Polymers for Electronic Components Scope for expansion in the use of mobile phones is greater in France where market penetration is reported to be 49%, or in the USA where penetration is only 48%. Penetration rates in most West European countries are forecast to be heading towards 85% over the next two to five years so saturation is likely to occur if these projections are realised. Motorola and Ericsson, each with a 14.4% market share at the end of 2000, follow Nokia in second and third positions respectively. Siemens was the world’s fourth largest manufacturer in 2000, up from eighth position in 1998, but component shortages limited production and were expected to do so again in 2001 prior to the market downturn. However, the manufacturing outsourcing decisions by Ericsson and Motorola are believed to have propelled Siemens into the number two European handset manufacturing slot behind Nokia. The April 2001 announcement by Siemens that it was to reduce by two thousand the total workforce at its three German mobile phone manufacturing plants shows that it is not immune to the business downturn. Ericsson’s weaker position is confirmed by its admission in March this year that its mobile handset sales in 2001 would be ‘considerably lower’ than in 2000 when it incurred considerable losses on handset production. By contrast, Ericsson reported profits of SEK 27 billion from its production of telecommunications systems. Philips, with estimated mobile phone sales in 2001 of between 16.6 million and 17.3 million units, is also expecting to lose money on this area of its operations and may even decide to withdraw from this sector. Philips also has a joint venture with the South Korean LG company in the field of liquid crystal displays. Results from this activity are disappointing due to a market slowdown and low selling prices. Other handset manufacturers include Alcatel which reported a loss on this area of activity, which represents 7% of group sales revenue, in the first quarter of its current financial year. The year-on-year decline is attributed to excess inventory in the distribution channel at the start of the year linked to a general slowdown in the market; the company is reacting by closing its two handset manufacturing plants at Illkirch and Laval in France for one week in March and one week in May. The two plants have a combined workforce of 1,500 people. Alcatel, however, has experienced strong growth in both its networking and optical carrier based activities. The current situation is being addressed by the implementation of a costcutting programme which seeks to streamline the supply chain and reduce operating expenses. According to a company spokesman the programme will not involve job losses. Materials used by Motorola for its palm-sized mobile phone range include Bayer’s Makrolon DP1-1456 PC resin for the front and rear housings. This is an impact-modified material designed for thin-walled injection mouldings down to a thickness of 0.025 inches. It also includes a thermally stable impact modifier system to allow greater residence time in the barrel. New products from Motorola include its P8767 Timeport model which is claimed to be the first mobile phone to have a plastic semiconductor display, a Tohoku Pioneer organic electroluminescent display which uses Kodak technology. Ironically, other companies have gained more benefits than Philips, the inventor. Philips has also been active in the development of computer displays, the polymers being used are under development by Merck (a German chemicals company) and others.

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Polymers for Electronic Components In 2000, Motorola launched its Timeport 260 model which was the first to use the socalled 2.5G General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) standard which is claimed to be an intermediate step in the transition from today’s Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) digital mobile phone standard, with 700 million users worldwide, and the eagerly awaited 3G technology. When a GPRS phone is used to access the internet it is faster than its predecessors and users are charged according to the volume of data used rather than the time they spend on line. Consequently services such as e-mail become more cost-effective. The reported opinion of Motorola’s European Vice-President and Director of Marketing of the company’s personal communications segment (PCS) is that GPRS rather than 3G is the real revolution since nine out of ten mobile phone applications do not need 3G. Five of the six new mobile phone handsets being launched by Motorola in 2001 are dedicated to GPRS technology so success in this field is extremely important to the company. Most of the new sets will be available this summer with the Timeport 288, for example, targeted at business users who will be able to access fax, data and e-mail services. Users will also benefit from a relatively large, high resolution screen which will facilitate presentation of stock market prices and other information. An added benefit is the provision of an optional Bluetooth facility to permit wireless connection to a computer or headset. Other new models include the V120 designer version with a built-in MP3 music player and a facility to download tunes and screensavers. Motorola has a brief lead over Nokia whose GPRS products will not reach the market before the end of 2001. Ericsson and Samsung also exhibited GPRS mobile handsets at the March, 2001 CeBIT exhibition at Hanover in Germany. At the end of March 2001, Motorola claimed that there were already more than thirteen operators in Europe with GPRS networks. They state that they have already shipped more than 150,000 GPRS handsets with orders from one major European customer for a further 500,000 handsets in the second quarter of the year. Major growth in the mobile phone sector is tied to the successful launch of 3G UMTS systems. However, the EC has criticised the high cost of licences and lack of harmonisation in licence conditions from country to country. The EC believes that this could handicap the launch of 3G services across Europe. Eleven of the European Union’s fifteen member governments have allocated licences and received total licence fees of approximately ¼ ELOOLRQ 7KH OHDGLQJ UHFLSLHQWV *HUPDQ\ DQG WKH 8. KDYH UHFHLYHG 39% and 29.5% of this total respectively. Handicapped by the large fees which they paid for their licences, the successful bidders in Germany and the UK are seeking permission from their respective regulators to reduce their 3G infrastructure costs by seeking some form of collaboration between competitors. There is also press speculation that the European Union’s European Investment Bank may be called in to assist with the financing of the new networks. The European UMTS technical specifications have undergone radical revision with the final versions set to be confirmed in early April 2001. Some industry sources are concerned that UMTS performance may be inferior to that of the GSM equipment it is set to replace. The critics maintain that this complex development should have been given more development and testing time than the European authorities have allowed. 3G systems offer fast data transmission, CD-quality sound and video services. The world’s first 3G service, designated FOMA (Freedom of Mobile multimedia Access) is scheduled to be launched in May 2001 in Japan by NTT DoCoMo the Japanese operator. FOMA is based on W-CDMA and is being built on the success of its I-mode service which has attracted over twenty million customers since its Japanese launch in February 1999. 53

Polymers for Electronic Components DoCoMo reported over twenty million subscribers for its I-mode multimedia service by early March 2001. This service offers PlayStation games to subscribers in Japan. In Europe, plans exist for Vodafone to offer PlayStation games to its subscribers. DoCoMo is already planning to launch its fourth generation (4G) system in 2006, four years earlier than originally envisaged. DoCoMo has teamed up with Hewlett-Packard to develop multimedia delivery and network applications over 4G wireless broadband networks. 4G phones will be 2,000 times faster than existing phones and will even have transmission speeds ten times faster than the forthcoming 3G system. The 4G data transmission rate is stated to be in excess of twenty megabits per second thus enabling reception of high resolution films and television programmes. DoCoMo is planning to open new UK headquarters in April 2001 and also a research and development centre in Germany within the next three months. Technical partnerships are to be established with UK companies. Mobile phone operators in the UK, where 3G services will start in 2002, comprise BT, Vodafone, One-to-One, Orange and the Hong Kong based Hutchison Whampoa which has since created a joint venture, 3GopCo, with DoCoMo of Japan and KPN Mobile of the Netherlands. A joint venture between BT, Vodafone AirTouch and Japan Telecom has been cleared by the European Commission to take up a 3G licence in Japan. The financial success of 3G services in the UK is far from assured since the licensees have many obstacles to overcome before they can even recoup their investments. Mounting public opposition to the potentially hazardous health implications of siting masts in sensitive areas, school premises for example, linked to greater scrutiny by planning authorities will make it more difficult to place the 30,000 new masts needed to provide the service in he UK. Germany and other markets are counting the licence cost they had to pay in the auctions to operate 3G systems. In Germany the six successful bidders each paid DM16 billion (approximately £5 billion) for a 3G licence. Vodafone’s German Mannesmann Mobilfunk D2 mobile phone subsidiary is opposed to sharing its 3G system infrastructure and has announced that it will cut the subsidy, currently DM300 (approx. £97) per handset, it provides to new customers. Advocates of sharing include BT’s Viag Interkom subsidiary, which is in discussions with Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobil D1 operation. Deutsche Telekom owns the UK mobile phone operator One2One. The other German 3G licence holders are E-Plus, Group 3G and MobilCom. Group G is a joint venture between Telfonica of Spain and Sonera of Finland. An indication of the dynamic growth of the mobile phone sector in Germany was revealed by DaimlerChrysler’s recent sale of its Debitel mobile phone subsidiary for ¼ ELOOLRQ WKLV resulted from a ¼ PLOOLRQ LQYHVWPHQW LQ WKH FRPSDQ\ QLQH \HDUV SUHYLRXVO\. Prior to the opening of the 2001 Hanover CeBIT exhibition the President of Bitkom, the German association for IT (Information Technology), telecommunications and new media, stated that around fifty million people in Germany communicate with each other using their mobile phones. The growth in mobile phone sales in German is expected to lead to a situation where there will be more mobile phones than people in the country by the year 2003. This is because the trend is for users to have a second mobile phone using a different technology. The so-called 2.5 G GPRS and the 3G UMTS services call for different handsets. More than DM100 billion is said to have been invested in the acquisition of UMTS frequencies.

54

Polymers for Electronic Components The German economy is the largest in the euro zone and accounts for around a third of the zone’s output. The economic outlook is dependent on the health of the US economy which was responsible for Germany’s export boom in 1999 and 2000. The exposure of the German economy to the US market is around 25% higher than other countries in the euro area because of its high volume of industrial goods exports to America. France has managed to increase its GDP faster than Germany for the past six years. The situation in France is different to the extent that insufficient bidders applied for licences thus denying the French government its anticipated financial windfall. The European Union is reported to have told France to issue four licences in order to maintain a competitive market place. The successful first round bidders, France Telecom and Vivendi, are reported to have made it clear that they will reject licences if bidders in the second round are granted more favourable terms. The successful launch of 3G phones across Europe is essential if the momentum of rising handset sales, and the consequent component sales is to be maintained. France Telecom has been conspicuously successful in its expansion strategy with fixed line services in ten countries attracting a consumer base of 39.2 million customers. The company’s majority-owned Orange mobile phone business is Europe’s second largest with 33.1 million customers in 22 countries. Internet access is offered to 2.6 million customers in 10 countries. France Telecom’s consolidated revenue in 2000 were ¼ billion, an increase of 24% over the 1999 figures. International business now accounts for 26% of sales revenues up from 13% in 1999. The euro zone’s slowest growing economy is Italy, Europe’s third largest economy after Germany and France. Bank of America data shows that economic growth in Italy has risen each year since 1995 by an average of 1.7% whereas the growth rate for the Euro currency zone as a whole has been 2.5%. The competitiveness of Italian industry has declined and the country’s trade surplus, as a percentage of GDP, has fallen from 4.4% in 1996 to an estimated 0.2% in 2000. Italians are, however, avid mobile phone users and between 1997 and 2000 the number of subscribers rose from 6.4 million to 30 million, with an anticipated figure of 47 million by 2003. The personal computer market in Italy has been slow to develop with only 16.2% of households having a computer at the end of 1999. Internet use has still to take off with only 8.2 million users in the country at the end of 1999. Rapid growth is likely to raise this figure to around 29 million users by 2003. The Italian telecommunications infrastructure has undergone major change in recent years initiated by the acquisition by Olivetti of a majority 55% stake, which is planned to fall to 44%, in the country’s formerly state-owned Telecom Italia monopoly in 1997. At the time, Telecom Italia’s 60%-owned TIM (Telecom Italia Mobil) subsidiary was Europe’s largest mobile phone company with around fifteen million customers. Following the Telecom Italia acquisition, Olivetti had to sell its stake in Omnitel, its partially owned mobile phone subsidiary, to Mannesmann and which, following the sale of Mannesmann to Vodafone, is now 76.12% owned by Vodafone. The two other mobile phone companies in Italy, with fixed line interests, are Wind (in which the state-owned Enel electricity supply authority has a financial interest) and Infostrada which belongs to Vodafone via Mannesmann. Vodafone recently sold Infostrada to Enel for a reputed ¼ ELOOLRQ DIWHU Enel agreed to sell off extra electricity generating capacity as pre-condition for acquiring Italy’s second largest fixed line network. Enel also assumes ¼ ELOOLRQ RI ,QIRVWUDGD GHEW

55

Polymers for Electronic Components Outside of its Telecom Italia interests the Olivetti Group has restructured its businesses with the industrial and internet operations merged into Olivetti Tecnost S.p.a., with around 5,400 employees worldwide and approximate 2000 sales revenues of 2,200 billion lire.

5.4 Automotive Applications Another major market for electronic components is the automotive industry where demand for components is reported to be growing at 17% per annum with up to 10,000 passive components installed in a current luxury car. The value of the electronic systems in a typical car is said to represent a quarter of its sales value with the electronic content of the vehicle growing by around 8% per annum to reach around 30% of the car’s value by 2005. Germany is the dominant location of automotive electronics production and accounts for approximately sixty percent of the market. One of the avenues for greater use of electronics in cars is the installation of multimedia networks, formerly confined to top-of-the-range models, into mid-range vehicles. These networks permit the coordinated operation of individual products including CD and DVD players, mobile phones, car navigation computers, audio tuners and amplifier. The use of a recognised industry standard networking protocol, Communication and Control Electronics’ (C&CE) D2B standard, for example, allows the driver to operate the car’s full range of integrated systems from one controller using a touch screen system or even voice recognition. The D2B standard recognises many of the industry’s audio and control standards and is claimed to be able to act with virtually any device currently available. Microsoft is also active in this sector via its Car.NET infrastructure technology which is based on the Microsoft.NET. Bosch and Denso are reported to be planning to build invehicle devices using Windows CE for Automotive v3 which is an integral component of Car.NET. This is an open system which gives designers the opportunity to select the hardware platform, user interface and software configuration appropriate to their requirements. Microsoft, which is working in partnership with component makers Bosch, Clarion, Delphi, Siemens and Visteon, claims that its Windows CE for Automotive technology is smart enough to know whether or not it is operating and, if not, it does not draw power from the battery. It has been predicted that 50% of all new cars, and up to 90% of top-of-the-range models, will be equipped with telematic-capable appliances by 2006. These appliances will lead to the installation of novel in-car computers able to provide drivers with hands-free communication, access to personalised information on the internet, the ability to summon emergency services and a range of convenience and entertainment applications. European growth in this sector is being promoted under the auspices of MEDEA (MicroElectronics Development for European Applications) established within the framework of the European Union’s EUREKA programme which is designed to ensure EU technological and industrial competitiveness. In unitary terms, electronic component demand is forecast to grow by around 20% per annum. In 1998, a typical car was said to contain 300 connectors, 2000 terminals and a mile of insulated wire. However, price pressures in the automotive industry are likely to result in revenue growth more like 8% to 10%. Within a car, operations previously carried out hydraulically are giving way to electrical and electronic solutions. DaimlerChrysler has its own automotive electronics business unit, TEMIC, which saw its 1999 order intake rise by 38% to ¼ ELOOLRQ IURP ¼ PLOOLRQ LQ  56

Polymers for Electronic Components One response to pricing pressures is to automate processes in order to cut costs by reducing employee numbers. For example, the automotive electric switch manufacturer, Stoneridge Pollak (SPL), has installed a five-axis Toshiba robot to load and unload its injection moulding presses. The robot is used to produce injection-moulded components for the production of 7,000 switches per day to be used in VW Golf and Skoda cars. Previously the 24 hours/day three shift process had needed two operatives. Overall the company’s moulding facility produces around two hundred different components for the automotive market using its fifty five injection moulding presses. In recent years there has been a move away from thermosets to thermoplastics for automotive electronic components. Thermoplastics are now the preferred choice, usually reinforced with glass fibre. Encapsulated components which use PA 66, PBT or PBT can be rated at up to 155 °C (Class F-IEC 371 Standard). Other encapsulants include LCPs which are capable of continuous operation at over 175 °C. PPS and LCP are favoured for many electronic component applications including coil formers, connectors, plugs and switch parts. The use of injection-moulded thermoplastics for encapsulation results in lower production costs and improved quality when compared with previous methods involving thermoset potting and moulding technologies. Insert injection moulding is considered to be a clean, repeatable process readily adaptable to automation and cellular manufacturing techniques. Furthermore, the finished encapsulated parts do not require subsequent trimming or deflashing as would be the case from a thermoset operation. Another benefit from the process is the facility to add mounting brackets or other features to a single multifunctional part thus creating assemblies with lower part counts and lower assembly costs. Encapsulation grades of PA 66 have been firmly established as the workhorses for this purpose though PA 612 resins may be a better choice to encapsulate sensors or integrated circuits. Automotive sensors require the use of ‘wire-friendly’ grades of PA 66 and PA 612 since these are free of metal salts which could contribute to electrolytic corrosion of magnet wire. The sensors use very fine wire (35 to 45 AWG – American Wire Gauge) where corrosion can quickly result in failure; wire-friendly resins contribute to greater reliability. Atofina, formerly Elf Atochem, offers the R 45 HT grade of hydroxylated polybutadienes under the Poly Bd trademark for encapsulation and casing applications. After reaction with isocyanates it produce polyurethanes which are claimed to have excellent hydrolysis resistance superior mechanical properties including low temperature flexibility, excellent electrical insulation and excellent chemical resistance to mineral acids and bases. The material is recommended for the encapsulation of fragile electrical components in a relatively stress-free environment even at low temperatures. DuPont’s Zenite 7130, an LCP reinforced by 30% glass fibre which features a heat distortion temperature of 285 °C and low creep at high temperatures, is used by Epcos, formerly Siemens Matsushita Components, for coil bobbins in its range of transformers chokes and other surface mount devices. The components for surface mounting are first glued temporarily on to the printed circuit board before being soldered permanently in place. The coil bobbins must withstand soldering temperatures of up to 450 °C and still remain sufficiently stiff and dimensionably stable. Zenite has been found to satisfy the company’s requirements in respect of the provision of bobbins with thin-wall flanges which are immune to fracture or deformation in

57

Polymers for Electronic Components the course of the winding process. In addition, the materials should contribute to the achievement of a high productivity surface mount operation. Phillips Petroleum is promoting Ryton PPS as a replacement for LCPs in the electronic connector and socket market. Recent introductions include Ryton R-4-230NA, with low gas generation, high flow and low flash, and Xtel PPS alloys using polymer end-group control, filler coupling and post-polymerisation additives. Long-term factors which will increase the electronic content of cars include the development of hybrid vehicles where the petrol engine is used to generate electricity using an alternator and the wheels are driven by electric motors, with power being stored in an intermediate battery. Another version of the system enables the road wheels to be powered either directly by the petrol engine or by using battery-powered electric motors to boost its power, the engine performing a secondary role of charging the battery. The latter design uses the petrol engine on its own in cruising condition, utilising battery assistance at low engine speeds, when climbing hills for example, when the petrol engine is incapable of delivering its full torque. Battery-powered assistance is also beneficial when accelerating. The battery is recharged by regenerative braking thus improving the vehicle’s energy efficiency and minimising brake pad wear. This energy efficiency is underlined by claims that Honda’s Insight hybrid is capable of eighty miles per gallon (34 km/l). The system can be further refined by splitting the petrol engine’s power output so that it is divided between driving the road wheels and charging the battery. The version which confines the road wheels to battery power is most energy efficient because the petrol engine speed is relatively constant at the level at which it most efficiently charges the motive power battery. In 2000, Pioneer launched a car radio incorporating organic light-emitting displays on the US market. Recently in Japan, Tohoku Pioneer, the Semiconductor Energy Laboratory and Sharp announced their intention to establish a joint venture, to be called ELDis, to work on active matrix organic electroluminescent displays (OLEDs) which have selfgenerated luminescence and high-resolution quality claimed to be on a par with traditional cathode ray tubes. They have a rapid response for the display of moving images with low power consumption at low voltages. Products using active matrix displays are expected to be launched in August or September 2002. ELDis is to manufacture and market OLED thin film transistor TFT substrates. Production is planned to rise to 500,000 two-inch panels per month from an initial capital investment of ¥35 billion (£201.5 million).

5.5 IT Other growth areas for electronic component usage include computers, including laptop versions whose sales will increase as prices come down. GE Plastics made a study of fifteen laptop models to identify their design features. GE found that the average wall thickness had dropped from 2.0 mm to 1.5 mm. The results of the study showed a measurable but moderate reduction in impact strength as a result of the reduction. The decline in impact performance was less for unfilled PC/ABS than for glass-filled PC. Manufacturers are continuously searching for ways to produce thinner, lighter and cheaper laptops. Compaq prefers to use parts moulded from amorphous PC or PC/ABS which do not normally need to be painted thus producing cost savings. Sometimes processing problems necessitate painting for cosmetic reasons but Compaq has reached 58

Polymers for Electronic Components the stage where only one or two major plastic parts from a total of fourteen to eighteen need to be painted. Some of Compaq’s competitors use PA mouldings which do need to be painted and so are more expensive. The staggering increase in internet usage will also necessitate increased investment in telecommunications infrastructure which has also had to be expanded to meet the needs of the mobile phones companies. The major computer manufacturers protect themselves by confining themselves to a narrow range of components which are purchased on longterm contracts thereby eliminating price fluctuations. Dell Computer is widely admired because it is able to build, customise and ship more than 80% of its orders within eight hours. With only seven days of inventory stock, representing around half of the industry average, the company is in the enviable position of being paid for its products before it builds them. One of the features of the components sector which can distort demand is the tendency for some companies to double order when demand exceeds supply and delivery times are extended. Furthermore, forecasting is complicated by the fact that the order situation varies from supplier to supplier and so growth forecasts will differ.

5.6 Fuel Cells Further into the future are vehicles powered by solid polymer, also known as protonexchange membrane fuel cells, which convert the fuel directly into electricity with only water vapour as an exhaust gas. The leading vehicle manufacturers are already testing prototypes including the Necar from DaimlerChrysler, a model from Toyota and a fuelcelled Focus from Ford (which hopes to start producing fuel-celled powered cars as early as 2004). Currently the price of a car-size fuel cell is around US$35,000 partly because they are said to be hand built to spacecraft specifications. Mass production and further design development are necessary before the cells can be sufficiently reduced in price to be viable car power sources. Ford is also promoting Think plastic-bodied electric cars built by its Norwegian Pivco subsidiary purchased three years ago. These models are already on sale for US$15,000 (£10,416) in Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands with planned launches over the coming year in Italy, France and Switzerland though not in the UK. Other Ford ecological initiatives include a Ford Ka running on ethanol and a Galaxy MPV people carrier which can be powered by petrol or natural gas. DaimlerChrysler has announced that approximately thirty Mercedes-Benz Citaro city buses powered by fuel cells will be delivered to transportation companies in Europe and Australia within the next three years. Trials with these buses will begin at the end of 2002 and continue into 2003 in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Hamburg, London, Luxembourg, Oporto, Reykjavik and Stuttgart. Trials are also taking place in Vancouver and in California as well as in parts of South America. Citaro buses are expected to cost approximately ¼ PLOOLRQ DURXQG £786,000) each which is far more expensive than the ¼ RU VR FRVW RI D VWDQGDUG VLQJOH-decker urban bus. Since the refuelling of the buses will be carried out by the bus company, the lack of any national hydrogen refuelling infrastructure is not a problem. DaimlerChrysler goes on to say that it is the first automotive manufacturer in the world with this technology and believes that its development programme is around two to three years ahead of its closest rival. The potential to reduce pollution is confirmed by the US Department of Energy which has estimated that regulated air pollutants would be cut by a million tons annually, and carbon 59

Polymers for Electronic Components dioxide by sixty million tons if ten per cent of cars in the USA were powered by fuel cells. Industry experts forecast a potential fuel cell powered car market of at least one million vehicles by 2010. Companies involved in the development of fuel cell membranes and membrane cell assemblies (MEA) include a collaboration between Celanese AG and Honda R&D Co., Ltd., of Japan. The power of the major car manufacturers is underlined by the fact that 60% of worldwide motor vehicle output was produced by five companies and the remaining 40% by a further eleven companies. These companies wield considerable purchasing power which is used to drive down the price of components resulting in major mergers of component suppliers as each endeavours to secure the cost benefits of largescale production. Other proton-exchange fuel cell membrane research is being carried out by DuPont, which offers Nafion membrane material, conductive plates and gasketing. DuPont is utilising its expertise in fluoropolymers, engineering polymers and coatings to establish itself as the premier supplier of fuel cell materials and components. Other types of fuel cell include alkaline, molten carbonate, phosphoric acid and solid oxide. Each type, from the miniature power source of a pocket-sized electronic product to the megawatt rated power source device driven by sewage works methane, has its own specific operating criteria with working temperature being particularly important. Consequently, the projected application will determine the choice of fuel cell type. In the electronic components sector Motorola Energy Systems, which is expected to launch its own range in two to four years time, has stated that fuel cells would be able to power a laptop computer for twenty hours and a mobile phone for thirty days. These would be direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) which are less efficient than proton-exchange membrane (PEM) types, but which have the advantage that the anode catalyst draws the hydrogen directly from methanol, thus eliminating the need for a reformer. Motorola is reported to have said that the fuel reservoir of its methanol-powered fuel cells would be around the size of a fountain pen ink cartridge and be able to supply power for up to ten times as long as the rechargeable batteries currently being used. DMFC fuel cells are also being developed by Energy Related Devices of Los Alamos, which is a subsidiary of Manhattan Scientifics of New York (which also owns NovArs based in Passau, Germany, and which is working on PEM types). The NovArs pilot production line is scheduled to begin making fuel cells in 2002 with full-scale commercialisation estimated to follow two or three years later. The UK Innogy company is developing PEM systems, designated Regensys, to collect cheap surplus energy at night and release it during the day. The demonstration plant at Little Barford in Cambridgeshire, which is due to be completed in the second half of 2002, is to cost £14 million and is rated to provide approximately 120 MWh of energy with a power rating of up to 15 MW which will be linked into a nominal 33 kV distribution system. DuPont is to supply over 16,000 m2 of Nafion membrane material. The fuel cell employs two electrolytes, sodium bromide and sodium polysulfide, one on each side of the ion exchange membrane. Approximately six months later a second project, for the Tennessee Valley Authority in Mississippi, USA, is due to be up and running. Innogy is preparing to offer prospective shareholders a stake of up to 25% in the Regensys business, estimated to have a total value of around £1 billion, before the end of 2001. Critics of the offer feel that the share

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Polymers for Electronic Components offer is premature prior to proof that the laboratory operation can upgraded to a commercially viable system. In the Regensys system, the electrolytes change state and are ‘charged’ with chemical potential energy when voltage is applied across the electrolytes. The electrolytes are stored in tanks until the potential energy is needed when they flow back through the cell and release their stored energy via a power converter system to the national grid. The converter is needed because the fuel cell is a direct current device. Unlike batteries, which each have their own electrolytes, all the modules of the fuel cell share the same source of electrolyte. Furthermore, the same electrolytes remain in the plant throughout its lifetime and there is no discharge into the local environment. In contrast to battery practice, the electrodes do not suffer permanent damage in the event of a full discharge or if overcharged. The pilot plant has been running for over four years and engineers have forecast a service life of up to 4,000 cycles over fifteen or twenty years. The German energy and utilities group, RWE AG, is Germany’s fifth largest company and claims to be amongst the top three providers in each of its four business sectors: electricity, gas, water and wastewater, and waste and recycling. RWE sees gas-powered fuel cells as potential domestic power sources and hopes to be installing small power plants in household cellars by the year 2010, at the latest. RWE estimates that in the long term, defined as being by around 2015, some 10% of Germany’s electricity power supply will be generated by fuel cells. The best case scenario sees this development leading to a reduction of up to 62 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually thus assisting the country to meet its Kyoto climate change conference commitments. RWE has stated that it is firmly backing the technology and is committed to taking an active role in forcing market developments forward in close collaboration with manufacturing companies and other partners. One of the stumbling blocks to the greater use of electronic systems in cars, the 12 V battery system which involves component ratings of 13.8 V, is being removed with the planned move in around 2003 to a 42 V power system (36 V battery) which will reduce the current consumption of a component to a third of its former value whilst maintaining the power consumption at its former value. This means that in many instances thinner wires than at present will be able to be used with resulting savings in costs, bulk and weight. Manufacturers are already offering higher voltage components which may also give better performance. The move will also accelerate the change from mechanical and hydraulic power in vehicles to the greater use of electric motors and actuators with their accompanying electronic control systems.

5.7 Contract Electronics Manufacturing The market for electronic components in Europe has been dramatically transformed in Europe by the growth in contract manufacturing whereby a growing number of electronic equipment suppliers have opted to sub-contract their manufacturing operations to specialist contractors. These fall into two distinct categories: the small specialist serving niche markets with an annual turnover of around US$5 million and the major multinationals which move their volume business round the world, largely favouring low labour cost countries notably in Asia, Eastern Europe and South America. Life can be difficult for medium-sized contract electronics manufacturers.

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Polymers for Electronic Components Growth in the world contract manufacturing market is exemplified by the 67.5% rise from ¼ ELOOLRQ LQ  WR ¼ ELOOLRQ LQ  RI ZKLFK (XURSH DFFRXQWV IRU  -DSDn for 18%, America for 31% and South East Asia for 28%. The world market for contractors’ electronics manufacturing services (EMS) is estimated to be worth US$100 billion per annum, a figure which could grow to US$200 billion, plus or minus 10%, by 2003. The current growth rate is of the order of 21%. Sub-contracting manufacturing operations further aids the cost reduction process by removing the need for capital investment in the manufacturing process. The final decision on component selection, which accounts for between 70% and 90% of an electronic card, usually rests with the client but sub-contractors, which can have considerable purchasing power due to the scale of their operations, may propose, subject to the approval of the clients’ engineers, less expensive components which comply with the buyers’ specifications. Extensive use is made of the internet and computer software to devise cost-effective solutions for customers. The decision to outsource is critical to a company since, having relinquished its manufacturing expertise, a subsequent decision to move back into manufacturing will be extremely expensive to carry out. In practice, specialist sub-contractors will buy clients’ existing manufacturing facilities and take on its former employees. Occasionally manufacturers seek to buck the trend as in the case of at least two companies in the UK. Texcel Technology combines the role of contract manufacturer with the design, manufacture and marketing of its own proprietary products. Texcel has annual sales of £5.7 million and justifies its policy with the assertion that the contract operation makes an essential contribution to the company’s manufacturing overheads. Siemens, via its Siemens Manufacturing Services subsidiary, is going down the same route. The company claims that despite being part of a global organisation, Siemens Manufacturing Services retains a close working relationship with its OEM partners and is able to add value in such areas as market forecasting time-to-market issues and supplier management where it can provide purchasing power. Siemens’ customer service managers are dedicated to certain accounts where they act as a direct interface between Siemens Manufacturing Services and the OEM. Siemens goes on to maintain that everyone is treated equitably with no conflict of priority between in-house work for Siemens and OEM business. Celestica, Canada, spends around $8 billion annually on components from suppliers. However, on occasion, it has difficulty in sourcing its requirements especially if the customer has made last minute design changes necessitating alternative components. At the end of 2000, Celestica signed an electronic trading and sourcing agreement with PartMiner which operates the Free Trade Zone (FTZ). This is an on-line marketplace which assists buyers to find price and availability information on the internet from a wide range of suppliers. Not only has Celestica signed up with PartMiner. but it has also taken an equity stake in company which is reported to have over 140,000 users. PartMiner recently launched the Excess Trade Zone (XTZ) to assist clients to secure better prices for their excess component stocks. PartMiner has also linked up with users of the Yahoo Electronics Marketplace to offer them technical design content and market making services from its Free Trade Zone. PartMiner has a database of more than twelve million components with information on chips, passives, connectors and electromechanical devices from eight hundred manufacturers.

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Polymers for Electronic Components The widespread existence of component sourcing difficulties in 2000 was illustrated by the decision of the European Power Supply Manufacturers Association to withhold its Vendor of the Year award because of the poor performance of component suppliers. The Association’s chairman recently stated that semiconductor and component industries have offered very indifferent service to the power supply industry. He went on to say that in some cases their performance had been appalling and yet many have been endeavouring to renegotiate price increases to exploit product shortages. The situation has been reversed in 2001 due to a slowdown in mobile phone handset and personal computer production. The results have been lower prices and better deliveries. The component supply problems did extend into the first quarter of 2001 with contract manufacturers being pressed to deliver products within six weeks, for example, when some of their constituent components are on thirty weeks delivery. Component supply problems have affected the cash flow and profitability of UK contract manufacturing, a highly competitive market with low profit margins of one or two percent. The cost of the materials used accounts for around 70% of sales revenue and is not a source of profit, which has to be generated from the remaining 30%. However, OEMs in the UK continue to outsource their manufacturing operations, the latest being Tandberg Television of Hedge End, Hampshire, which is to outsource production to ACW Technology. Asian CEMs, including Malaysia-based TruTech Electronics and Pioneer Technology from Japan, are coming to the UK to set up European operations. With the sale of most of its communication equipment production facilities to the Floridabased Jabil Circuit company for US$390 million (£262 million), Marconi, the telecommunications company, is one of the latest converts to outsourcing. The three year agreement between Jabil and Marconi, estimated to be worth US$4 billion, involves the transfer of up to 2,900 employees at five factories in the UK (Coventry and Liverpool), the USA, Italy and Germany to Jabil which will manufacture a full range of telecommunications products for Marconi. However, Marconi will retain some higher end manufacturing operations, optical switching for example. Jabil is also strongly established in Mexico where it has a 37,000 m2 production facility which employs four thousand people building sub-assemblies and complete products for Cisco, Dell and Hewlett Packard. Other contract manufacturers with production facilities in Mexico include Flextronics which has a 75-acre site outside Guadalajara. However, the trend to outsourcing could be affected by future European Union legislation following the adoption of the Charter of Fundamental Rights at the Nice summit in December 2000. The charter strengthens the rights of company employees and their representatives who will have to be consulted about major business changes which include the transfer of workers and assets to a new organisation, a routine consequence of outsourcing. Solectron, Scotland’s largest electronics manufacturing services company with over 1800 employees, illustrates the trend. At Dunfermline, Solectron offers a complete manufacturing service from initial design, prototyping, assembly and testing to end product servicing and support and so can be seen as a prime customer for components. Elsewhere in Scotland, Solectron has a printed circuit design centre at Ayr, a SMART (Surface Mount And Related Technologies) Modular Technologies centre at East Kilbride and a new product introduction centre at Inverclyde. Recent Solectron sales successes include the establishment of a four-year US$10 billion partnership with Nortel. Recent moves by Silicon Valley-based Solectron include the planned acquisition of two Sony manufacturing plants in Asia. The Miyagi plant in central Japan employs 1,300 63

Polymers for Electronic Components people and manufactures car stereo and navigation equipment whilst the second plant at Kaohsiungin Taiwan employs 750 people and makes lithium-ion batteries for mobile phones and computers. The employees at both plants will be offered jobs at the same salaries by the new owners. Earlier, in October 2000, Solectron bought its Singaporebased rival, Nat-Steel Electronics for US$2.4 billion. Solectron is being affected by the business downturn in America and in March 2001 announced the loss of 8,200 jobs which represents 10% of its workforce. However, the company simultaneously announced that it did not expect its sites in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to be affected. Sony is already outsourcing much of its manufacturing requirement, especially to companies in mainland China where between 60% and 70% of Sony radios are built together with most of the company’s speakers and headphones and 50% of the group’s stereo units sold worldwide. Component manufacturers are also moving more of their manufacturing operations to mainland China and other Asian locations. These include the US-owned multinational connector manufacturer, Molex, which is in the unusual position of generating more of its sales and profits outside the USA than within its domestic market. Its Shanghai operation is qualified to ISO 9002 standards and the motor industry’s QS 9000 certification standards. Molex Shanghai Limited was founded in October, 1995 and is a recognised supplier to an impressive list of OEMs including Compaq, Intel, Mitsubishi, Motorola and Sharp. Around 60% of the company’s products are shipped back to the USA and to the company’s South Asia headquarters in Singapore. The remainder is consumed locally in China. Business for Molex in China has been growing at the rate of 30% per annum with this figure set to rise to 50% as the company expands into the automotive sector. The company has moved to larger premises in China with double the number of injection moulding machines in order to satisfy the growing demand for its products. In March 2000, Flextronics acquired Bosch’s GSM mobile phone manufacturing activities at Pandrup in Denmark. Other recent deals include a five-year US$30 billion supply agreement between Singapore-based Flextronics and Motorola which is reported to represent only 15% of Motorola’s electronic manufacturing requirements over the period. Motorola has gone on to sign a three-year deal with Canada-based Celestica worth around US$1 billion. The products to be built include cellular phones, messaging devices, two-way radios and accessories. The deal involves Celestica’s purchase of Motorola’s Dublin and Mount Pleasant, Iowa manufacturing facilities for approximately US$70 million. Celestica has undertaken to continue manufacturing at these sites for at least two years. The change will reduce Motorola’s workforce by around 2,870 people. At the end of 2000, Celestica acquired the Telford, UK-based mobile phone manufacturing activities of NEC together with approximately 450 NEC employees. Subsequently, in March 2001, Motorola announced 7,000 job losses from its mobile handset manufacturing operations but declined to state which of its seven handset manufacturing plants would be affected. In another announcement made at the same time, Motorola stated that it was considering up to 700 job losses at its UK Swindon plant where mobile phone base stations are produced. The Swedish Ericsson company, which had been losing market share to Motorola and Nokia, has decided to halt low-cost consumer handset production, which will result in the loss of 11,000 jobs. The work will be outsourced to Singapore-based Flextronics, which

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Polymers for Electronic Components will take on some Ericsson manufacturing plants and 4,200 former Ericsson employees, and other beneficiaries of the outsourcing include the Taiwanese Arima and GVC companies. The consequence of the outsourcing decision is the termination of handset production at Ericsson’s UK Carlton (Nottinghamshire) factory with the loss of 1,000 jobs with 500 further potential job losses at the company’s Scunthorpe plant. Whilst Flextronics will initially take over Ericsson’s manufacturing operations in Sweden, Mr Michael Marks, Chairman and Chief Executive of Flextronics, indicated that manufacturing will eventually take place primarily, but not exclusively, in low-cost locations. These include Puebla, Mexico, and a new industrial park in Poland. Ericsson will retain staff in the areas of research and development, design, sales and marketing and is also reported to be retaining the right to manufacture GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) 3G handsets and other high technology products. Recent acquisitions by Flextronics include two optical equipment manufacturers in the USA, Wave Optics and Faco Fiber Optics. The latter company is also a manufacturer of passive optical components. Even Nokia, the market leader, is moving some of its manufacturing operations, currently being undertaken outside the USA, to facilities in Korea and Mexico. The situation in March 2001 was that Nokia was outsourcing approximately 60% of its networks infrastructure business but only 10% of its handset production. However, it then made a decision to outsource even more of its networks infrastructure business to the Alabama, USA company, SCI Systems which is already working for Nokia. The collaboration between Nokia and SCI began in 1998 when SCI acquired Nokia’s facilities at Oulu in Finland and Motala in Sweden. SCI employs over 37,000 people in 51 factories in nineteen countries and will increase its labour force by 1,250 with the acquisition of Nokia’s Finnish plant at Haukipudas and its Camberley plant in the UK. The downturn in the US economy is beginning to affect SCI which recently announced a 10% cut in its workforce because of a downturn in the personal computer sector. Some leading contract manufacturers are listed in Table 5.4. Table 5.4 Leading European contract manufacturers Austria Belgium Czech Republic Denmark Finland France Germany Hungary Ireland Italy Netherlands Norway Poland Romania Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom

Flextronics, SCI C-MAC, MCMS Celestica APW, Flextronics Elcoteq, Flextronics, SANM, SCI APW, ACT, C-MAC, Flextronics, Sanmina, SCI, Solectron APW, C-MAC, Elcoteq, Flextronics, Solectron Benchmark, Flextronics, Jabil, JIT, Natsteel, SCI ACT, APW, Benchmark, Celestica, C-MAC, Flextronics, IBC, MSL, Sanmina, SCI, Solectron, SMTC APW, Flextronics, Jabil SCI Jabil Flextronics Solectron MSL, SCI Benchmark, Flextronics, SANM, SCI, Solectron Flextronics APW, Benchmark, Celestica, C-MAC, EMS, Flextronics Jabil, Mion, Plexus, Remploy, Sanmina, SCI, Solectron

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Polymers for Electronic Components Domestic contract electronics manufacturers are struggling to survive in market where the major multinationals can shift production to those areas where labour costs are lowest. This trend was illustrated by the demise of Quantum Electronics based in South Wales which was employing approximately 180 people up to the end of 2000. In national market terms, UK producers find it difficult to compete in Europe due to the strength of sterling against the Euro.

5.8 Component Distribution Only the largest users buy components directly from component manufacturers. The normal supply route is via stockholding distributors who can invariably offer shorter delivery times often overnight. The best known distributors offer a broad range of products and aim to be a one-stop shop for their customers. Others concentrate on specialist market sectors, as in the case of TTI whose activities are confined to passive components and connectors. The Dallas, Texas-based privately owned TTI company claims to be the world’s largest specialist distributor of connectors and other passive components with annual sales of around US$1 billion. In Europe, TTI now has a centralised warehouse in Munich and nine sales offices in France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the UK, with four further office openings planned in 2001. The first new offices will be opened to serve the Scandinavian market. TTI sales in Europe have grown from US$12 million two years ago to a forecast US$80 million this year. TTI aims to be the leading European distributor for each of the manufacturers whose products it distributes. It is already Vishay’s top distributor in the UK and number 2 distributor in Germany. It is also Kemet’s number two distributor in Germany and the UK. TTI’s European operation currently serves more than 3,500 customers in 6 countries from a range of over 200,000 different passive components and connectors. Other distributors operate on a national basis. The UK Association of Franchised Distributors of Components (AFDEC) reported that the UK distributors’ share of components market is around 20%. UK sales grew by 30% in 2000 whereas the total available component market grew by 27% to reach £10 billion. This conveys the erroneous impression that distributors are taking a higher share of the available business. In actual fact major growth is occurring in sectors to which AFDEC distributors have limited access including automotive components, communications products and smart cards. Whilst distributors have traditionally sold from catalogues, e-commerce is growing significantly. Competition between distributors is fierce and Premier Farnell, for example, keeps a close watch on its customers’ requirements in order to offer a service more closely matched to their needs. For example, potential customers visiting the company’s website five times to seek information on the same part will receive a phone call, e-mail or mail regarding the part in question on the front cover. The company supports its operations with two databases, one relating products and the other relating to customers.

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Polymers for Electronic Components

6 Key Trends and Developments 6.1 Moulding, Machining and Fabrication Arguably the most important customer for the polymer producer is the injection moulder. Superficially his most important role is to produce mouldings at the lowest price but, although price is a prime consideration, other factors come into play. These include location and proximity to assembly plants. Injection moulding involves high tooling costs dependent on the complexity of the part being produced with many parts acknowledged to be unsuitable for injection moulding. One way to reduce the cost of polyurethane moulding is to adopt the technique of reaction injection mouldings (RIM) which uses patterns to produce hard wearing epoxy resin mould tools which are claimed to deliver a mould life of 1,000 to 2,500 and above shots per annum. The technique is claimed to bridge the gap between high-cost/low-volume prototyping and traditional high-cost/high-volume injection moulding. The technique allows for design changes to be made at any stage, both quickly and cost effectively. Subsequent machining can be carried out. In some cases it may be less expensive to adopt a 100% machining solution to manufacture components using acetal, PA 66 or other polymer which is readily machineable. Part design and anticipated batch quantities are key factors in making decisions regarding the production methods to be employed and the materials to be used. Advocates of fabrication techniques maintain that they are cost effective for small batch production, offer short lead times, more readily permit part design modifications, enable tighter tolerances to be secured and eliminate the need for parts to have a draft angle. Surveys of buyers have shown that the ability to change product design very quickly and the ability to be a full partner in bringing new products rapidly to market are also of major importance. The most successful moulders have been shown to be those who collaborate closely with mould makers and machinery manufacturers. Flexibility is essential to keep pace with the current climate of ever-shortening product life cycles. For example, according to component buyers, the typical lifecycle of a personal or notebook computer in the years from 1995 to 1998 was around fourteen months. This shrunk to less than eight months in 1999, a figure set to fall to less than six months in the medium-term future up to 2003. As the experience of contract manufacturers shows, the most successful companies are those with the most up-to-date machinery. Companies in Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand have scored highly in this respect. The major American injection moulding companies have exported their manufacturing expertise to Asia, often owning or investing in the beneficiaries of their expertise. Success or failure may depend on the age of a company’s installed machines and its management skills.

6.2 Polymer Developments The search for greater operating efficiency may involve working at higher temperatures thus putting the pressure on polymer suppliers to deliver products with superior performance. DuPont offers high-temperature PA grades with a melting point of around 300 °C, rather than PA 66 which melts at 275 °C. These high-temperature grades are claimed to offer better dimensional stability and greater thermal resistance than PA 66.

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Polymers for Electronic Components The arrival of electrically conductive polymers in the late 1970s and now thermally conductive polymers, both of which derive these properties from additives, has opened up new application opportunities especially where heat dispersion from an electronic component is a significant design factor. Four new grades of Ticona’s Fortron PPS have been launched which have up to ten times the thermal conductivity of standard grades. These are used in applications where heat dissipation and other thermal management issues are important. The thermal conductivity of these electrically insulating grades varies from 1.1 to 3.0 W/mK. Potential applications of thermally conductive compounds include heat exchangers and coolers, heat sinks, heat pipes, housings, electronic interfaces, power supplies and transformers. The US RTP Company, which has European manufacturing facilities at Beaune in France, claims leadership of the speciality compounding sector with thermally conductive compounds of all the major thermoplastics. RTP also offers electrically conductive grades. It also claims that its thermally conductive compounds (TCCs) are light in weight and economical to process either by injection moulding or by extrusion into sheet or tape. The service RTP offers to its customers is modification of over sixty engineering thermoplastics and thus provides them with a customised product offering ‘the perfect combination of price and performance’ with five to ten day lead times for standard products. TCCs are also said to have good chemical resistance and provide an excellent alternative to metal heat exchangers which may have failed due to corrosion. The compounds incorporate fillers which reduce the incidence of ‘hot spots’ by absorbing and distributing heat more evenly than unfilled resins. Other manufacturers of TCC plastics include the US company, LNP Engineering Plastics Inc., whose Konduit compounds are tailored to specific applications; the lower cost types typically comprise 70% ceramic and 30% resin, by weight. High-performance compounds use a carbon fibre filler to achieve a thermal conductivity of 10 W/m K. Resins used include PA 6, PP and PPS. In the most recent development of conducting polymers a way has been found to manufacture semiconducting polymers and, therefore, plastic microchips. Electrically conducting additives used in conducting polymers include multiwalled nanotubes, with a graphite microstructure and high aspect ratio, which are used in automotive and electronics applications. The US Cambridge Massachusetts-based manufacturer, Hyperion Catalysis International, is developing applications in the fields of supercapacitors, batteries and fuel cells catalyst and catalyst support, filters and conductive inks. Conducting polymers are used in the Neocapacitor which has been developed by the Energy Devices Division of the NEC Corporation. The construction of this capacitor involves the use of a sintered tantalum slug as anode and polypyrrole (PPy) as solid electrolyte. The use of a tantalum anode enables the new design to maintain the small size of a conventional tantalum chip capacitor. However, the highly conductive PPy delivers a much lower ESR and higher permissible ripple current than that of a conventional tantalum capacitor. Furthermore, the new design possesses a superior selfhealing capability than that of a conventional tantalum capacitor. This capability is a consequence of the two-step decomposition of doped PPy whereby the doped anion, initially, and then the polymer backbone are decomposed.

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Polymers for Electronic Components

6.3 Supercapacitors Research is proceeding into the use of conducting polymers in ultracapacitor, also known as supercapacitor, applications. The capacitors will act like batteries to deliver high pulses of power and store energy. Typical cell capacitance values are 2,700, 100 and 8 farads at a cell voltage of 2.3 volts with modules rated at 100 farads, 56 volts. The claimed advantages for the use of intrinsically conducting polymers in electrochemical capacitors rather than carbon-based or mixed metal oxide electrodes may be summarised as follows. They have extremely long operating lives of at least ten years, comprising at least 500,000 charge/discharge cycles and energy densities several orders of magnitude higher than conventional electronic capacitors. They also have power densities significantly higher than those of batteries. Epcos claimed in its 2000 Annual Report that ‘currently’ it was the only manufacturer making double-layer ultracapacitors in volume. Supercapacitors have minimal contact resistance because the conducting polymers can be synthesised directly on to the current collector. The electrode material can be formed as thick films, powders or sub-micron coatings, the last of which offer the possibility of diffusion times of the order of microseconds. Electrochemical capacitors operate on the basis of the known concept of doping and undoping of polymer electrodes. This concept is used to promote the fast and efficient shuttling of the ions between the polymer and the double layer created at the electrode/electrolyte interface. The anions and cations involved in these double-layered electrochemical types are contained within the electrolyte. Conducting polymers are invariably used in the case of solid electrolytes. Some designs utilise liquid electrolytes which are usually in aqueous or organic solution. The difference between electrochemical and conventional electronic capacitors is that ions perform the charge transfer in the former type and electrons in the latter type. The employment of large surface areas, which can be increased by adopting multilayer designs, and the high intrinsic conductivity of the material confer both high power and high energy density. A further benefit is the ability to produce conducting polymers on a large scale at relatively low cost. Drawbacks experienced with the current generation of electrochemical capacitors, when compared with conventional electronic capacitors, are their relatively high ESR and their loss of capacitance when called upon to supply very short duration bursts of high current. Ions move relatively slowly from anode to cathode and so a finite time is required for the nominal device capacitance to be established; this is measured after a delay of one second. On the other hand, electrons are relatively fast moving and so the charge transfer is considered to be instantaneous. BestCap totally solid, high conductivity, proton polymer electrolyte electrochemical designs from AVX Ltd., have addressed these drawbacks and allow high current, short duration pulses to be delivered with a minimal voltage drop. These non polar types are available in very thin formats, down to less than 0.7 mm, and have low leakage currents less than 0.05 µA/mF. The capacitance range extends from 40 mF to 500 mF. Other new polymers which have been developed during the last decade include Topas, the cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) from Ticona. The polymer’s properties include rigidity, very high moisture barrier effect, good stability to hydrolysis, excellent chemical resistance

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Polymers for Electronic Components to polar media, high transparency and low density. Typical electronic applications include metallised film use in capacitors and, with glass fibre reinforcement, in injection moulding material for components. Topas is considered by its manufacturer, Ticona, to be superior to PP and PVC for these applications. Topas is produced at a 30 kt per annum capacity plant at Oberhausen in Germany. The ongoing miniaturisation of electronic components is crucially dependent on the ability of machinery manufacturers to supply products and processes capable of meeting their customers’ needs. This limitation is illustrated by a recent announcement from Samsung Electronics and the Shipley Corporation stating that they have developed a mass production technique for a photoresist polymer for argon fluoride (ArF) lithography. The technique is needed to print circuitry on semiconductors, with a capacity of one gigabit or higher, with a design rule no greater than 0.09 µm; the previous circuit linewidth of 0.10 µm was thought to be the lowest figure technologically possible. Samsung plans to use the new technology to bring gigabit microprocessor chips to market launch in 2002.

6.4 Lithium Polymer Systems The strength of the mobile phone and portable computer markets has stimulated the search for ever more efficient battery power systems. The latest technologies include rechargeable PolyStor lithium polymer systems now available in both flat and curved versions. The cathodes are basically lithium nickel cobalt oxide (LiNiCoO2); the polymer construction technology is licensed from Motorola Energy Systems. Motorola Energy Systems has also announced a co-operation agreement with National Semiconductor to design and develop new methods of protecting and energy-managing lithium-ion and lithium-ion polymer batteries with the declared objective of significantly reducing the parts count and size of lithium energy systems. The agreement adds National Semiconductor’s expertise in the field of low-voltage power management chips to Motorola’s safety experience and knowledge of lithium-ion and lithium-ion polymer technologies. The two companies have, between them, at least fifteen patents relating to the subjects covered by their agreement. Other companies with an interest in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries include TotalFinaElf whose Kynar PVDF is said to be used to bind the mineral powders of the electrodes in over 80% of these products. PVDF is used because of its electrical performance and its resistance to chemicals. PolyStor’s Prismatic cell range extends to 360 Wh/l and 130 Wh/kg at a rating of 1350 mA h. PolyStor is working on a range of curved cells with capacities extending from 160 to 1200 mA h. Custom designs can also be supplied. Varta is also working on lithium-ion polymer battery technology and plans to launch its range of lithium ion polymer batteries in 2001. Other work in this field is being carried out by DuPont which has established a pilot line at Towanda, Pennslvania in order to validate the technology and manufacturing processes relating to the production of lithium, polymer-based, rechargeable batteries. The pace of change in lithium battery design, according to one manufacturer Moli Energy, is so rapid that their chemical composition is said to change every six months. The net result is that performance testing is unpredictable. Furthermore, an instrument to test lithium-ion batteries will not provide reliable readings when tested with lithium-ion polymer batteries.

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Polymers for Electronic Components Lithium-ion polymer batteries are also seen as a potential power source for electric cars. DaimlerChrysler is developing the Electric Powered Interurban Commuter (EPIC), which is based on the Chrysler Voyager internal combustion-engined vehicle. Earlier experimental versions of the vehicle were fitted with nickel metal hydride batteries. However, it has now been found that, by moving to lithium-ion polymer technology, power and energy density can be significantly improved thereby enabling the vehicle’s range to be increased with the added benefit of cost reduction. This project is one of the first to combine expertise from the former Chrysler facilities at Auburn Hills, Michigan, and those of Daimler in Germany at Stuttgart. Not only are polymers being used for power storage but they are also being used for memory storage. Sony has introduced a ‘Memory Stick’ which is the size of a stick of chewing gum. Memory Sticks can save photographs, data, music and other digitised information and have already been targeted at digital cameras. Other applications include electronic books, telephones, televisions and Walkmans. Data storage capabilities range from 4 MB to 64 MB, the equivalent of forty floppy disks, with the planned introduction of a 256 MB device this year. The technology has also been adopted by Aiwa, Casio, Fujitsu, Sanyo and Sharp who will incorporate Memory Stick bays into their products.

6.5 Flat Panel Displays In this information age, flat panel displays are increasingly being employed as the medium to convey information to the user. The equipment manufacturer has a wide choice of options available with downward pressure on prices as sales volumes increase and manufacturing improvements are implemented. LCDs have traditionally dominated the flat panel display market along with AMLCDs, which were originally designed for the personal computer market. European companies are continuing to turn to Asia to source components. Densitron Technologies, for example, is establishing an alliance, DV3, with a local LCD manufacturer in Dong Guan, China to manufacture standard and custom LCD panels and modules which will sell at less than £1 each. The polymer dispersed liquid crystal display technology from Philips is claimed to be a reflective, high-contrast, low-power display, permitting the manufacture of flexible displays. The advantages of this polymer-based active matrix include lower production costs because fewer production steps are involved and the clean room conditions are not as demanding as the more usual production process involving amorphous silicon-based TFTs which account for the major cost component of the complete display Another of the technologies employed involves the use LEDs where the conventional manufacturing technique is to use an epoxy-dip process which takes between 4 and 12 hours. Global Light Industries in Germany has developed an injection moulding process, with cycle times of between 1 and 2 seconds, using thermoplastic polymers. The new process offers the benefits of speed, accuracy and flexibility. Global Light Industries claims to be the only company in the world using the process, which involves the accurate positioning of the diode lead frame in a mould which is then closed and the molten plastic then injected. The resulting tolerances are claimed to be around 150 µm rather than the 250 µm attainable with current techniques. Global also claims that the thermoplastic can withstand conventional soldering processes. It is also said that the injection moulded LEDs have flat bases and better weathering characteristics than epoxy-based devices. 71

Polymers for Electronic Components Light emitting polymers (LEPs) are another new technology destined to revolutionise the displays sector. Cambridge Display Technology (CDT) has spent five years developing the technology and is now investing US$25 million in a new plant at Godmanchester, UK, fifteen miles from the company’s Cambridge headquarters. The new plant is due for completion by the first quarter of 2002 with production scheduled to start approximately two months later. Initial ink-jet technologies are forecast to evolve into roll-to-roll flexible substrate manufacturing processes. Currently CDT is able to demonstrate a two-inch square glass colour screen which has 270,000 dots of colour. The next stage of the development is to print on a thin plastic sheet rather than glass. The original ink-jet idea is said to have come from Seiko Epson in 1998 and enables dots of LEP to be printed at a rate of twelve metres of screen per minute, far faster by a claimed order of ten, than printing on glass. The refresh rate of earlier technologies was slow to the extent that it was almost possible to detect individual frames. With LEDs the refresh rate is fast enough to provide a flicker free image. Furthermore, the 170 degree angle of view is far wider than some competing technologies. Potential initial markets for the new products include camcorders, digital cameras and mobile phones. The new facility will be used to test and demonstrate the technology and to carry out limited production runs. CDT has licensed the technology to third parties including DuPont, which purchased former licensee Uniax. Several licensees will launch commercial products this year. Other future developments of CDT’s LEP technology include electric lamps, which would consume much less power than fluorescent lamps. These could appear around the year 2005. The company also offers the possibility of reversing the action to derive electricity from a light source shining on to the LEDs and a sister company has been set up to develop this type of solar cell technology. DuPont is developing polymeric LEDs which are multicoloured viewing screens on plastic substrates. These are more flexible, lightweight and durable than glass and can be either curved or flat. Applications include cell phones, mall computers, laptops and hand-held computers. Dow is also working in the field of polymeric LEDs for electronic devices and laptop computers. Research carried out by the University of Utah has revealed that LEDs made from electrically conducting polymers and oligomers under the influence of microwaves are superior to conventional designs. Formerly it was believed that no more than 25% of the energy consumed by an LED could be emitted as light with the balance being generated as heat. The new materials enable between 41% and 63% of the supplied energy to be emitted as light; this represents a considerable improvement. The materials were tested in super-cold temperatures in magnetic fields in the USA and in India, and research is continuing into ways of doping the polymers to eliminate the need for microwaves. The university physics team chairman, Valy Vardeny, is reported to have said that the team has not broken any laws of physics, merely ‘fooled them’. CDT’s Covion Organic Semiconductor licensee in Germany has recently completed a US$5 million extension to its polymer production facility and is now able to manufacture more than 40,000 litres of conjugated polymer annually. Its customers include Philips whose Dutch Heerlen plant uses LEPs in its PolyLED mobile-phone displays. The organic-LED display market, which also includes personal digital assistants, digital cameras and camcorders, is reported to have doubled in 2000 to US$24 million with further growth to US$3.3 billion by 2005.

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Polymers for Electronic Components Philips produced the first display where each pixel was driven by a polymer transistor and continues to work on polymeric LEDs where the polymer layer is a semiconducting soluble derivative of polyphenylene vinylene sandwiched between two electrodes. The lower electrode is the anode which is formed by depositing a thin ITO layer on to a glass substrate. The upper electrode, the cathode, is a vacuum-deposited metal electrode. The colour of the light output may be changed by modifying the polymer’s chemical structure. The long-term aim is said to be to use flexible substrates rather than glass as at present. Efficiency gains secured over the past ten years have involved improvements in the stability of various plastics by the use of better sealing techniques to exclude air and moisture more efficiently. Tests have shown that some polymer LEDs have continuous working lives in excess of 50,000 hours. Philips is reported to have developed a 64x64 active matrix display in which each pixel is driven by a TFT based on a polymer semiconductor. The display operates at switching frequencies of up to 100 Hz with each of the 4096 pixels driven by its own TFT. Transistors are formed on a solid substrate though the polymeric content is confined to the semiconductor part of the transistors. The same team of researchers at Philips have previously demonstrated all-polymer transistors built on flexible substrates. Other companies in this field include the American E Ink Corporation which, in collaboration with the Canadian Lucent Technologies Inc., claimed to have developed the ‘world’s first flexible electronic display’ using Lucent’s flexible plastic transistors to produce so-called electronic ink. The claimed advantages of this technology include flexibility, readability, low power consumption and low manufacturing cost. The end product is claimed to have a similar appearance to ink on paper with good reflectivity and contrast. It is said to be a comfortable medium for people to read and handle, even in bright light and sunlight where the use of other electronic technologies may pose problems. E Ink’s electronic ink is so constructed that the image it displays changes when it is exposed to an electric field. It comprises thousands of so-called microcapsules, each of which is a tiny 100 µm diameter sphere which is filled with two types of electrically charged pigment; the white pigment carries a positive charge and the blue pigment a negative charge. The pigments can be manipulated as soon as the spheres are subjected to an electric field between the electrodes of the device. Consequently, charging the upper electrode or viewing side of the device positively would result in that side turning blue whereas a negative charge on the upper electrode would colour it white. By this means it is possible to produce letters and words bearing in mind that one square inch of surface area comprises approximately 100,000 microcapsules. Unlike competing technologies, electronic ink will retain images for weeks at a time without the application of power. The beauty of the electronic ink process is that the ink may be printed using existing screen printing processes thereby keeping costs under control and far below those of other flat panel display processes. The first E Ink Immedia display was put on display at a US J.C. Penney department store in 1999 and other users include Safeway in the States. These displays are ideal for easily changed point of sale messages and are widely available but only in white lettering on blue background versions. Each Immedia display has a power consumption of approximately 0.1 W. The state of the development of the E Ink technology, as at March 2001, is that the system allows a change of colour up to ten times per second thus enabling animation exercises to be carried out. Other competitors in this sector include the Irish NanoChrome subsidiary of Nanomat Ltd., which claims that its technology is superior to that of E Ink.

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Polymers for Electronic Components Looking to the future, the Vice-President of Display Operations at the Santa Barbara, USA-based Uniax Corporation was reported in 2000 to have stated that the arrival of full colour, low power, all plastic displays would be of interest to manufacturers of wireless internet handsets where designers have sought viable alternatives to current designs, especially in view of the predicted future dramatic expansion of demand in the sector. Other systems include microdisplays where the maximum diagonal distance across the display is 25 mm. These high-definition displays, which are viewed indirectly, can be made inexpensively by semiconductor manufacturers and are incorporated in personal viewers for camera viewfinders, games, headsets, mobile communications and mobile computers. They are also ideal for incorporation in head-mounted or near-eye displays. The net result of these developments, especially with the prospect of technological progress and falling prices, is that displays are now an integral part of products rather than an add-on feature. Customer choice will flow from the wide range of major display manufacturers, niche players and business start-up companies that are taking a serious interest in these new technologies.

6.6 Other New Technologies The recently reported ability of electronic engineers at the University of Surrey to develop light emitting silicon, at room temperature, by bombarding it with boron atoms could affect the future prospects of polymer devices. The new LED is reported to be entirely compatible with conventional semiconductor manufacturing processes but emission levels are low. The component sector will benefit from new technologies which are being developed. These include the use of high-power diode lasers to weld thermoplastics to each other or to such metals as aluminium and steel, using an interlayer material called LaserBond. Rapid prototyping, a growing products and services market worth around US$500 million worldwide, involves the computer generation of solid components using the technology of stereolithography which is capable of an accuracy of plus or minus 0.1 mm. The Somos 9120 grade is a new addition to the DSM Somos family of stereolithographic resins. It is designed to be used in laser stereolithography rapid prototyping machines. DSM’s Somos 91 resins have been designed to mimic the properties of PP. They are sufficiently durable for functional prototyping and parts made from the Somos 9100 Series can be substituted for injection-moulded parts in short production runs. Colouring is carried out by applying aniline dyes to the set resin. Electro Optical Systems GmbH of Munich, which has associate companies in France and Italy, claims to be Europe’s leading manufacturer of rapid prototyping systems. The company’s laser sintering process builds up solid components from 3D CAD data on a layer basis. The EOSINT P system uses Duraform and other PA, including glass-filled versions, to make mechanically resilient prototypes economically within hours. Duraform has around 80% of the strength of injection-moulded parts which, though slightly porous, can be filled with a variety of additives to meet the desired specification. Component accuracy is plus or minus 0.15 mm. PS is used as a medium in EOSINT P system when the objective is to make moulds for the production of investment castings. The technique uses a master model as a pattern for silicone rubber tooling which is normally able to produce between twenty and twenty-five PU copies of the original part. These copies may be used to mimic a wide range of materials, including ABS, glass-filled PA and rubber, with an accuracy within 0.075 mm of the master pattern. 74

Polymers for Electronic Components Other exponents of rapid prototyping technology include Vantico, the former Performance Polymers division of Ciba, which acquired its new status in June 2000 following a buy-out by Morgan Grenfell Private Equity. Vantico comprises three divisions: polymer specialities and electronic polymers based in Basle, Switzerland, and the adhesives and tooling division based in the UK at Duxford near Cambridge. The products of this division include the well-known Araldite adhesive as well as Vantico’s Parts in Minutes (PIM) process, which produces PU prototypes which simulate both the appearance and characteristics of moulded thermoplastics. The PIM process employs a polymer and a hardener. The two materials are dispensed together into a silicone mould where the mixture sets within one or two minutes. Additives may be used to prolong the fluid stage. This technique is used to produce a weekly output of hundreds of production parts. For the quantities involved, this process is preferred to injection moulding which would be a more cumbersome process. Vantico offers a range of around sixteen materials from rubbers and HDPE to PP and ABS. Vantico’s rapid prototyping polyurethanes, under the Ureol brand, can be cast into silicone, polyurethane or epoxy moulds with a yield of up to forty parts per mould per day. It is thus possible to produce quality prototypes and parts which simulate the appearance and replicate performance properties of injection-moulded thermoplastics. These are available for testing in as little as fifteen minutes. A further option from the French Axson company is an extrudable epoxy paste which is applied as a 1:1 mixture with a hardener and sets within 24 hours with minimum shrinkage. The compound can subsequently be milled to the required shape. One such material is Cast-IT 2000 Epoxy which has been used to build 20,000 injection moulds in Japan. This two-component package contains a pre-blended high ratio of aluminium thus eliminating the need to add additional dry metallic fillers and so ensuring full dispersion of the aluminium. The mixed epoxy offers good fluidity and is easy to pour over the master model. After curing, the dimensionally stable moulds offer an ideal combination of high strength, high glass transition temperature with good thermal characteristics capable of withstanding exposure to typical injection moulding pressures and temperatures. The epoxy exhibits good chemical resistance and a good surface finish. The process is typically used to make prototypes or short production runs of injection-moulded ABS, PC and PP parts. Another approach to the rapid production of relatively small quantities of moulded parts is by the use of Swift Technologies Swiftool material which is described as a Smart Polymeric Composite (SPC). SPC is a fibre-reinforced polymer, with a one hour curing time, which has the ability to withstand sustained temperatures up to 250 °C and compressive loads of up to nine tonnes per square inch. The manufacturing process involves initially setting the master pattern into a rapid cure modelling compound where the split line of the future mould is defined. The Swiftool material is then packed against the protruding half of the master pattern and then cured using Swiftool processing equipment. This applies vacuum and pressure to the packed pattern in order to eliminate air voids and ensure uniform mould density. The inherent ‘microflexion’ or dynamic memory capability of the SPC composite facilitates the removal of the master pattern from the mould and subsequently the mould from the moulded components.

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Polymers for Electronic Components Materials which can be moulded by the Swiftool process include ABS, PE, POM, PP and PA 66 with a glass fibre content of up to 50%. Tests have generated a yield of 50,000 PP shots from a Swiftool mould. The pervasiveness of polymers throughout electronics is illustrated by reports of the commercialisation of Cambridge University research which has discovered he technology to manufacture low-cost plastic microchips. A company, Plastic Logic, funded by venture capital and Dow Chemical, has been created to commercialise the technology with the objective of launching demonstration prototypes in the summer of 2001. The process is said to utilise exotic plastic materials with the manufacturing technique similar to that of ink-jet printing. These materials come from such families as the polythiophenes and oligothiophenes which can be doped to change their fundamental insulating properties and thereafter become semiconductors. There is considerable research and development activity in this field by such companies as DuPont, Hitachi, Hoechst, IBM, Lucent Technologies, Mitsubishi, Philips and Xerox but none is yet believed to have announced commercial products. The Philips research relates to TFTs produced by means of a three-level photolithographic process. Philips is also reported to be developing polymer-based devices for use in disposable flexible and ‘intelligent’ supermarket barcode labels which could be read remotely at the checkout without the need to remove purchases from the shopping trolley. The labels under development would be capable of being read even if severely bent, a common occurrence in the case of the packaging of soft products. Plastic microchips would have slower switching speeds, operating at the rate of thousands of operations per second rather than the millions of operations per second attainable with silicon devices. They would therefore only be suitable for certain applications. However, their low cost, possibly even a few pence each, would open up new markets especially in active matrix displays, domestic appliances and industrial control and management systems where switching speed requirements are relatively modest. The lower cost is due to the fact that the cost of a microprocessor on a plastic substrate production line would only be a fraction of the cost of a silicon device manufacturing facility. The low cost could create new markets, disposable smart labels for example. These were ruled out in the past by the cost of silicon devices. The plastic substrate is typically made from a PI foil with a layer of conducting polyaniline which contains a photoiniator. The reduction of the conducting polyaniline layer to non-conducting leucomeraldine is achieved by exposing it to deep ultraviolet light whilst suitably masked to create the desired network of shaped electrodes and interconnects. Devices can be produced by the application, using a spin coating process, of a 50 nm semiconducting layer of polythienylenevinylene which is converted to an electrode at an elevated temperature in the presence of a catalyst. The polyvinylphenol spin coated layer is used as gate dielectric, which is deposited between the gate and the source to drain the channel of the device. It also acts as insulation for the second layer of interconnect which is created in the top polyaniline layer by using a second mask. The reality of today’s highly competitive marketplace is ever faster product launches with concept to production times in some areas down to less than three months. High-volume production of ultra-thin mobile phone cases, fine pitch connectors and smart cards calls for injection moulding machines operating at high speed and high pressures. However, one of the manufacturers of such machines states that 95% of the challenge in this area is down to mould design.

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Polymers for Electronic Components The use of sequential gate moulding, which has for some time been used in the automotive sector, is being used in electronic component applications to reduce the thickness of portable devices to as little as 0.88 mm. Typical wall thickness is up to 2 mm. Colour is being used to differentiate the appearance of products. GE Plastics has launched a ColorXpress website with thousands of colour combinations. Customers are able to order small batches of between ten and fifty pounds of a resin to produce and evaluate samples. A premium custom colour matching service is available at a cost of US$2,500 per match. There are some colour limitations in respect of specific polymers, GE Plastics’ high temperature Ultem being a case in point.

6.7 Recycling Polymer recycling is not a feature of the components industry; reprocessed materials may lose their UL rating. However, the European Confederation of Telecommunications Manufacturers (ECTEL) is operating a voluntary take back scheme in collaboration with four network operators. The scheme accepts mobile phones for recycling at shops displaying the scheme’s logo. The returned items are separated into handsets, batteries, chargers and other accessories for recycling. The European Union and Norway intend to introduce a compulsory take back scheme. The recycling objective is for materials to be capable of being reprocessed five times and still retain their UL rating. Added pigments should be suitably V-0 qualified. IEC standards are growing in importance vis-à-vis UL standards. However, the products of European companies must have UL approval to be sold in the US market. In practice, this means that even components sold to the European subsidiaries of US parents for assembly into products sold by hose companies in Europe must also be UL approved. Some applications may call for compliance with German VDE, Canadian CSA or other standards. Buyers should be aware that some lower quality polymer materials and mouldings may be spuriously offered in Europe as having UL approval. This practice can occur due to the lack of policing of the UL standard in Europe. The use of polymer additives should also be taken into account when taking environmental considerations into account. Flame retardancy often involves the inclusion of brominated flame retardants and a 1997 study for the APME revealed that only 2.5% (103,000 tonnes) of plastics electrical and electronics waste contained halogenated flame retardants. This waste tends to comprise printed circuit boards and small electronic components such as coil formers and capacitor housings. On 13 June 2000, the European Commission published its latest issue of the proposal for the Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) which seeks to establish high recycling targets for certain categories. Such figures are not feasible if several polymers are combined in the same product because of the costs involved in dismantling. Consequently, it is unrealistic to expect significant recycling savings in the small components sector. The WEEE draft proposals, which involve separate collection and selective treatment of all components containing halogenated flame retardants, is considered to be neither practical or economical because of increasing integration and miniaturisation in the electrical and electronic sector. The requirement to remove hazardous substances was originally part of the WEEE but was subsequently detached and established as a separate directive. It includes the requirement to phase out lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, halogenated flame retardants and other hazardous substances by 1 January 2008. Lead-free solders are currently being introduced and should be universally employed before 2008. The 77

Polymers for Electronic Components German ZVEI (Zentralverband Elektrotechnik- und Elektronikindustrie) Electrical and Electronics Industry is reported to believe that around 50% of components currently in use may be unable to withstand the revised soldering line conditions. Hybrid circuits are said generally to be less vulnerable than most. However, concern was expressed that the ban could have a knock-on effect on the industry’s customers. There is also a requirement to phase out brominated flame retardants, notably polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) and polybrominated diphenylthers (PBDEs). Plastics containing these compounds will be present in the wastestream for some years thus inhibiting the recycling of plastic products currently in use. The EU is endeavouring to ensure that electronic and electrical equipment is designed and manufactured in such a way that when operated under its design conditions, it has a minimal effect on the environment during its lifecycle. Furthermore, equipment should be efficient both in terms of its power consumption and in its use of natural resources with minimum pollution during use and during maintenance. The EU is also promoting recyclability and the use of recycled materials. Combustion trials carried out by the APME at a German research centre at Karlsruhe by Dr Vehlow, one of the world’s leading specialists on combustion, have demonstrated that safe combustion in state-of-the-art municipal incinerators, alongside other municipal waste, is the optimum way to treat plastic waste containing flame retardants. Later APME research has revealed that in the disposal of printed circuit boards, which have a high content of recoverable precious metals, in a metal smelter the plastics content acts as a reducing agent and fuel. Over the course of the last fifteen years, the APME has been committed to the development and introduction of ‘oligomeric’ or chemically bonded halogenated flame retardants as well as halogen-free solutions. However, in order to meet the stringent specifications needed to ensure safety in some applications, the use of brominated flame retardants may be indispensable. The French LNP Eurostar subsidiary (based in Fosse) of US LNP Engineering Plastics offers its Starflam non-halogenated flame retardant PA 6 and PA 66 resins which are claimed to have good processing features and which do not corrode tools. These polymers have very low specific gravity and thus produce more components per weight of material. They are also claimed to be environmentally friendly because they do not release chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) into the atmosphere. Applications include components used in connectors, laptop computers, pagers and switches. One interesting potential solution to the safety problems surrounding flame retardant plastics results from research carried out at the University of Pennsylvania where scientists suggest the addition of between 1% and 5% natural clay to the compound. It has been revealed that this addition to some plastic composites will change their physical qualities making them less permeable to liquids and gases, tougher and more flame retardant since, when plastics containing clay are burnt, the clay forms a char layer on the outside, insulating the material beneath. The clay, which is added during the final processing stages, is finely dispersed throughout the compound by thermodynamic forces. As only very small amounts of clay are involved, the processing equipment does not experience any additional wear.

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6.8 Chemical Safety The European Commission is also examining the safety of chemicals and recently published a white paper on the subject. The Commission is seeking to speed up decisive action on the 100,000 or so chemicals which have never been fully tested to determine their impact on people and the environment. A shorter list of twenty-seven chemicals was covered by the 1998 Ospar agreement, signed by a group of sixteen governments, which pledged to phase them out within a generation. The list contains some flame retardants and some PVC additives (see Table 6.1). Table 6.1 Chemicals contained in the Ospar agreement 4-tert-butyloluene Brominated flame retardants Certain phthalates – dibutylphthalate and Cadmium diethylhexylphthalate Dicofol Dodecylphenol Endosulfan Hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) isomers Hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDS) Lead and organic lead compounds Mercury and organic mercury compounds Methoxychlor Nonylphenol/ehoxylates (NP/NPEs) and Musk xylene related substances Octylphenol Organic tin compounds Pentachlorophenol (PCP) Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) Polychlorinated dibenzdioxins (PCDDs) Polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) Short-chained chlorinated paraffins (SCCP) Trichlorobenzene 1,2,4- Trichlorobenzene 1,3,5- Trichlorobenzene Earlier action than the governments anticipated has occurred because of the decision by do-it-yourself retailers, B&Q and Homebase and other companies, to phase out ‘toxic’ chemicals from their own label products by 2005. This customer pressure could affect the selection of polymers for DIY products. One of the market’s features which suppliers ignore at their peril is the arrival of fastgrowing new companies. For example, chip maker Texas Instruments has stated that it has been selling 30% of its mobile phone sector output to new telecommunications companies.

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7 Future Outlook 7.1 Optical Applications The growing use of fibre-optic cables has stimulated the demand for ancillary components to facilitate connections and other requirements. Optical fibre is moving into the car, the home, small offices and into consumer products. Polymer optical fibres (POFs) are cheaper than glass and are easier to manufacture and use although their maximum effective operating length is of the order of a few hundred metres. POFs offer the prospect of being able to employ simple low-cost, moulded plugs to make rapid connections. One contributory factor to the simplicity is the fact that POF has a diameter of up to 1 mm, which is around eight times the diameter of a standard single mode silica fibre. POF is more tolerant of connection misalignment than silica. The automotive use of optical fibre networks has been pioneered by DaimlerChrysler’s Mercedes subsidiary in its S-Class cars where it is offered as an optional extra. POF automotive application benefits include resistance to vibration. DaimlerChrysler is a member of the Media Oriented System Transport (MOST) consortium, whose members also include the Becker Group and BMW, which has developed an optical bus standard for automotive use. Polymers used date back to the DuPont introduction of PMMA in the 1960s. Since then the introduction of perfluorinated graded-index (PFGI) has enlarged the transmission window with lower losses and dispersion. In 2000, Asahi, a leading plastic fibre supplier, launched its new Lucina POF which incorporates its Cytop transparent perfluorinated polymer. According to Asahi, Cytop has the same properties as conventional fluoropolymers with the bonus of much higher optical transparency. An indication of the importance of the new technology is provided by the November 2000 opening of the Polymer Optical Fibres Application Centre (POFAC) at Nuremberg in Germany, which has received funding of approximately DM 4.75 million from the Bavarian government. The centre is reported to be involved in the support of construction projects to demonstrate and pilot POF systems. POFAC will also measure the characteristics of all types of POF, components and systems. Confirmation of growth in the optical sector is provided by Alcatel Optronics, a leading supplier of optoelectronic components which reported a sales increase of 144.1% from 1999 to 2000, up from ¼ PLOOLRQ WR ¼ PLOOLRQ 7KH LPSRUWDQFH RI UHVHDUFK DQG development is underlined by expenditure of ¼ PLOOLRQ  RI VDOHV One interesting joint development, by the Information and Communications University and ZenPhotonics in Korea, involves the use of polymer planar lightwave circuits in variable optical attenuators. The light entering the device from a singlemode waveguide then feeds into a multimode waveguide via a taper. The application of a voltage to an electrode in the multimode region lowers the refractive index of the polymer using the thermo-optic effect to excite higher order modes which are subsequently filtered out as they pass through another taper into an output single mode waveguide. Polymers have been chosen in preference to silica because of their low power requirements and ease of manufacture. The low power requirement is illustrated by the ability of 80 mW input power to give 30 dB attenuation at 1,550 nm.

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7.2 Bio-Based Polymers Another interesting DuPont development, with potential application in the electronics industry, is the group’s first bio-based polymer known as Sorona. Scheduled for demonstration in 2001, it is forecast to be operating with lower unit costs than polymers from petrochemical sources within three years. DuPont has entered into a five-year collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to develop this biotechnology outside the realms of traditional agriculture. DuPont considers Sorona to be one of the most significant new polymers to be developed by the company in recent years, and a new continuous polymerisation plant has been started up at Kinston, North Carolina. This plant is using 1,3-propanediol (PDO) derived from petroleum feedstocks and made for DuPont by Degussa. This plant is able to switch to corn-based PDO as soon as the process economics and market demand justify making the change. The electronic application envisaged is for resins to be used in the production of connectors. Bio-based polymers enjoy the advantage of being readily recyclable with such diverse ingredients as recycled newspapers and coffee grounds, a waste product from instant coffee factories which produce several million tonnes annually worldwide.

7.3 Self-Repairing Polymers Developments at the University of Illinois in the USA include self-repairing polymers. This feature is obtained by the dispersal within the polymer of tiny capsules of monomers. These are activated if cracks develop in the material since rupturing of the capsules will release monomers which will link up with each other in the presence of catalysts and thus ‘heal’ the cracks. Researchers have reported that the material retains around 75% of its original toughness when ‘healed’ in this way.

7.4 Search For New Products The electronics industry is constantly seeking new products which will attain ‘must have’ status. Having recognised that sales of mobile phones cannot maintain their current growth rates, the search is on for new products which will generate greater sales of components. One of the problems manufacturers face is that, in their infancy, these new products are invariably expensive. Volume sales bring down prices but even the most powerful marketing campaign may not generate sufficient sales to build up sales to the levels at which dramatic price cuts are possible. One possible product in this category is the new multi-purpose IC-R3 receiver from Icom which combines the functions of television set, video display and radio in one small handheld package powered by a lithium-ion rechargeable battery which provides twenty-seven hours of viewing time per charge on a two inch liquid crystal display. Mobile phones have been an exception to the normal marketing procedure because the manufacturers decided to subsidise the cost of the handsets from the anticipated subsequent call revenue from the users, as anyone who has had to replace a lost or stolen phone at its true cost will confirm. The future is seen as a coming together of the internet and mobile communications with the internet use moving from fixed to mobile communications. According to the president 82

Polymers for Electronic Components of Bitkom, the German association for IT, telecommunications and new media, the size of the mobile commerce market across Europe in 2000 exceeded DM 2.5 billion (approximately US$1.2 billion). The association expects an annual growth rate of 200% in most European countries up to 2003, thus Europe may be seen to be growing faster than the USA in this respect. One of the areas of convergence is the combination of personal digital assistant (PDA) and mobile phone where Nokia is a pioneer, having introduced its Communicator model, the first of its kind, in 1996. Sales have grown slowly because of the relatively high unit cost of around £250. However, Nokia is about to launch an improved 9210 model with a full colour screen and redesigned keyboard in an attempt to increase sales which are miniscule in comparison with its cellular handset sales. The 9210 model is claimed to be the first to use the complete IBM/Symbian package which includes components from IBM’s Tivoli device management, Lotus Notes and DB2 database management software. Symbian, which is jointly owned by Ericsson, Matsushita, Motorola, Nokia and Psion, has developed an operating system and software which is being used by the majority of smartphone designers including Ericsson, Nokia, Psion and Sony. Toshiba is one of the promoters of small-molecule LED technology which offers better visibility and lower power consumption than LCDs. Currently only monochrome screens are on offer, but Toshiba has announced the 2002 launch of a six-inch, full colour screen with laptop full colour screens to follow in 2004 and television set screens to follow shortly afterwards. The market is believed to be more receptive to mobile internet devices with an e-mail capability, WAP and data communications. Manufacturers are launching interesting new products. For example, the Ericsson R380 is reported to combine a mobile phone with PDA-like functionality, WAP, e-mail and messaging services. Kyocera is said to have launched its own version of a smartphone with even Microsoft entering the fray with its Stinger model, which will support voice and data communications including GPRS and versions of its own Outlook and Internet Explorer technology. The designer’s dilemma is to construct a suitably compact and comprehensive package of services at a price which the market is willing to pay. Microsoft has also supported the British handset manufacturer, Sendo, which is planning to launch its Z100 Smartphone in the autumn of 2001. The Z100 will have a colour TFT screen and will provide e-mail and full internet wireless access using the GPRS standard. The 99 gram phone will also play MP3 music files. Sendo’s manufacturing strategy is to build a basic electronics module in China, then ship it to the Netherlands for customisation and fitting into its outer case. Even manufacturers have difficulty in deciding the direction of joint ventures as was shown by the dissolution of the Odin joint venture between Motorola and Psion Computers to develop an advanced mobile handset. Whilst the two companies both wished to offer a mobile phone with data handling capabilities, they are reported as not being able to agree on the specification or physical dimensions of the product. Another avenue of development is to start with a laptop computer and build into it a mobile telecommunications facility. The first obstacle to be overcome is the inability of laptops totally encased in metal boxes to receive or transmit radio signals. An external antenna is probably unacceptable so the laptop’s magnesium lid has to be replaced with a plastic lid to permit wireless communication. Alternatively, the magnesium lid may be retained to protect the screen and a durable polycarbonate/ABS blend used as casing material for the lower half of the laptop. The additional functions increase the load on the laptop’s 83

Polymers for Electronic Components batteries so the pressure is on to find a power source to provide sufficient energy for a whole day’s operation of ten hours or so. The television set manufacturing industry is seeking to accelerate set replacement by the adoption of a wider screen format which provides owners of traditional sets with dark bands above and below the picture if the set presents the format at the expense of picture height. The alternative is to retain the full height of the picture and sacrifice the left and right hand extremities. These sets usually offer digital sound which is claimed to offer higher sound quality whilst simultaneously reducing the broadcasters’ bandwidth transmission requirement. Digital radios are also being sold but their high prices have kept them out of the mass market. Therefore, whilst digital radio and television services are growth markets for electronic components, much of the growth has been confined to the set-top box sector of the market. These boxes convert the incoming digital signals to a format acceptable to the television receiver. Fully digital television and radio receivers, other than personal computers equipped with a tuner, are still very expensive and will only come down in price as sales volumes increase. Worldwide sales of set-top boxes in 2001 are expected to be around 35 million units. The UK situation is unusual because the major digital broadcaster, BSkyB, has almost completed the transfer of its customer base from analogue to digital services. Consequently the UK market could be the only one to report a downturn in sales figures with year 2000 sales of 3.8 million boxes forecast to fall to 3.2 million in 2001. A survey by the UK government telecommunications watchdog, Oftel, revealed that digital television had reached 19% (4.5 million) of UK homes by May 2000.

7.5 Bluetooth Technology One of the latest technologies to hit the market is the Bluetooth short range wireless technology networking standard. The system has been developed by Ericsson and allows personal computers, laptops, hand-held computers, mobile phones, printers and other electronically controlled products to communicate with each other by means of radio links of up to ten metres. Three classes of radio performance are available: •

Class 1 with a maximum output power of 100 mW and a working distance of 100 metres,

•

Class 2 with an output of 2.5 mW and a working distance of 10 metres, and

•

Class 3 with an output of 1.0 mW and a working distance of 1 metre.

No interconnecting cables are needed. A working demonstration of Bluetooth technology in Hall 13 at the March 2001 CeBIT exhibition at Hanover in Germany experienced some teething problems which were later sorted out and blamed on defective software. The Bluetooth technology also allows domestic appliances, home heating and other systems to be included thus permitting the coordinated control of everything electrical within the home from a PDA which also combines the functions of calendar and address book. The PDA is a hand-held computer designed to offer the user rapid access to personal information. The world brand leader is the US manufacturer Palm followed by Handspring, which has sold almost two million units in the USA but recent sales have suffered due to the downturn in the US economy. The latest Handspring model the Visor Edge, has user 84

Polymers for Electronic Components appeal in the form of an ultra-thin metal case. It also has another benefit, a lithium-ion polymer battery, which enables it to operate for a claimed forty hours before needing to be recharged. Lithium-ion polymer, Varta PoLiFlex 3 volt batteries are available from Varta Batteries in 25 mAh (29 mm x 22 mm x 0.4 mm) and 7 mA h (29 mm x 9 mm x 0.4 mm) versions which are highly flexible and easy to laminate with low self discharge and long shelf life. The operating temperature range extends from –10 °C to + 70 °C. Safety and reliability are assured because the batteries contain no liquids and do not leak. Typical applications include smart cards. Varta reported total sales in 1999 of ¼ ELOOLRQ RI ZKLFK ¼ million related to portable batteries with over 70% exported. The first commercial Bluetooth product to reach the market is Ericsson’s mobile phone headset though current production is insufficient to meet demand. However, more Bluetooth products will be launched in 2001 with mass production well under way by the end of the year and into 2002. Alcatel estimates that mobile phones will account for 49% of the Bluetooth market by 2003, followed by desktop computers with 16% and smaller percentages from automotive, computer peripheral and set-top box applications. The 5% figure for headsets has been contested by some as an underestimate. Now more than two thousand companies have signed up to the Bluetooth standard special interest group, with many, including Johnson Controls and Visteon, being key members of the Bluetooth Automotive Expert Group working on automotive applications of the technology. On average, a car contains approximately fifty embedded chips which could be linked by Bluetooth technology in the future. Dow is targeting its Questra crystalline polymers at the system’s 3D-moulded antennae interconnect products. These are being made by a Rochester, New York-based moulder with plateable grades of Questra using a two-shot process. At the frequencies allocated to Bluetooth devices Questra shows low dielectric losses. Already a prototype Internet House has been built in the suburbs of London where a portable computer is used to control all the electrical features of the house, including heating and security systems, garden sprinklers, a refrigerator stock control system which automatically orders replenishment supplies from the supermarket when stocks are running low, five cordless phone sets, four personal computers, two flat screen television sets and a multi-room audio/visual system. This system involves seventy-two data communications ports and has been installed by Cisco systems of the USA as an example of web technology controllable in situ or, potentially, from anywhere in the world! The use of Bluetooth technology is merely a technological step further.

7.6 QTC Material QTC (quantum tunnelling composition) material falls into the category of promising new products in search of a market and it has attracted much interest from potential users. QTC is a solid composite, described as a matrix of conductive particles in a nonconductive elastomeric medium, which can change its electrical resistance under pressure from 1012 Ÿ WR OHVV WKDQ  Ÿ 7KH LQWHUDFWLRQ RI WKH particles and the polymer is understood to the extent that the performance of the composite can be designed to meet the requirements of the customer. Furthermore, it is possible to design in a resistance with a negative voltage dependence. Durham University is reported to have confirm that the functioning of the composite is due to quantum tunnelling between the particles rather than the apparent explanation of 85

Polymers for Electronic Components physical contact between the conducting particles. The material is able to operate at logic levels and does not visibly deflect in operation. Prospective applications include touch-sensitive components although in most cases potential users to not wish to disclose their interest. The QTC material is the brain child of Peratech, a small three years’ old Darlington, UKbased company, which has attracted venture capital funding and awards for its technology.

7.7 Superconducting Plastics New materials with great potential include superconducting plastics which have been discovered at the Bell Labs in America after research extending over twenty years. The material, with a superconducting temperature below –270 °C, is made by depositing a solution of polythiophene in a thin film. The organic polymer will only act as a superconductor when all its molecular chains are lined up like ‘uncooked spaghetti’ to quote the researchers involved. Future applications have been cited as quantum computing and extremely fast, low power integrated circuits.

7.8 Low Molecular Weight Liquid Crystals Liquid crystals are widely used in a variety of computer displays from the smallest screens found on pocket calculators to those fitted to large monitors because of their ability to be easily manipulated under the influence of magnetic fields. Separate research work at Kyushu University in Japan and the University of Leipzig in Germany is said to be targeted towards the conversion of the electrical energy of low molecular weight liquid crystals, and composite systems in which they are combined with liquid crystal polymers, into mechanical energy. This research is directed towards the development of new nanomachine designs incorporating the microactuating characteristics of the so-called electromechanical effect phenomenon. Research from the University of Leipzig has focussed on the properties of liquid crystals which are widely used in a variety of computer displays from the smallest screens to be found on calculators to those fitted to large monitors. They are selected because of their ability to be easily manipulated under the influence of magnetic fields. The scientists at Leipzig have sought to harness these properties for use in extremely small nanomachines, namely nanoscale motors transducers, sensors or actuators, in which electrical energy of the liquid crystals may be transformed into mechanical energy. The achievement of the Leipzig scientists has been to produce low molecular weight liquid crystals with the ability to exert or sustain mechanical stress to create a ferro-electric polymeric network of liquid crystals which combines the mechanical properties of rubber with the electrical properties of liquid crystal.

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Polymers for Electronic Components

8 Company Profiles AVX PO Box 867 Myrtle Beach South Carolina 29578 USA AVX is a subsidiary company of the Japanese Kyocera Corporation. Between January 1990 and August 1995 AVX was wholly owned by the Kyocera Corporation. On 15 August 1995, Kyocera sold 39,300,000 AVX common shares (22.9%) with a further 4,400,000 common shares sold in a public offering. In February 2000, a further 10,500,000 AVX common shares were sold by Kyocera whose stake is now approximately 70%. With approximately 18,000 employees worldwide, AVX, with 26 manufacturing facilities in 12 countries, is a leading company in the passive components and interconnection products industry. Total net sales reported in 2000 were $1.63 billion, up from $1.25 billion the previous year, with gross profit up to $340.5 million in 2000 from $167.4 million in 1999. European markets accounted for 26% of AVX sales with 32% of sales going to Asian markets. The company claims that, on any given day, the majority of the world’s telephone users could be using an AVX component adding that it is possible for a mobile phone to contain more than 400 component parts! The telecommunications applications sector is the major user and accounts for 36% of sales followed by contract equipment manufacture (19%), information technology hardware (18%) and instrumentation (13%). Other user sectors include consumer (4%), military/government (4%), automotive (3%) and medical (3%). During the fiscal year 2000, AVX acquired TPC, the former Passive Component Division of the French conglomerate Thomson-CSF, which brought with it French manufacturing facilities as well as production plants in Brazil, Malaysia and Taiwan. The company’s largest plant is the tantalum capacitor manufacturing plant at Lanskroun in the Czech Republic. Other labour-intensive plants are located in El Salvador, Mexico and Northern Ireland. BASF AG D-67056 Ludwigshafen Germany BASF enjoys the status of being Germany’s and the world’s number one chemical company. In March 2001, BASF, which has around 105,000 employees worldwide, reported total sales of ¼ ELOOLRQ LQ  XS  IURP WKH ILJXUH RI ¼ ELOOLRQ UHFRUGHG in 1999. Operating income rose by more than 15% to ¼ ELOOLRQ %$6) KDV SURGXFWLRQ facilities in thirty-eight countries and maintains contact with customers in a hundred and seventy nations. The group comprises the BASF AG parent company at Ludwigshafen as well as the network of 133 subsidiaries and sixteen joint ventures in which BASF has an equity stake in excess of 50%. BASF is structured into segments of which the Plastics & Fibres Segment comprises styrenic polymers, engineering plastics, polyurethanes and fibre products. Plastics & Fibres is the largest BASF segment and accounts for approximately 29% of group sales.

87

Polymers for Electronic Components The group, which has a polymer chemicals manufacturing plant at Seal Sands near Middlesborough, has stated that its operations in the UK are being handicapped by Britain being outside the euro zone. A possible confirmation of this statement is provided by a fall in employee numbers at the Seal Sands plant from 650 in 1999 to 450 in 2001. Future investment is more likely to be made at the Antwerp (Belgium) site, which has around 3,400 employees and sales of approximately ¼ ELOOLRQ RU DW %$6) (VSDñola at Tarragona (Spain). The Tarragona plant, which has more than 950 employees and sales of around ¼ PLOOLRQ LV DOUHDG\ VFKHGXOHG WR UHFHLYH LQYHVWPHQW RI DURXQG ¼ PLOOLRQ by 2005 to expand production of PP, to carry out propane dehydrogenation and for other projects. The product range includes Terluran ABS, Terlux transparent methyl methacrylate acrylonitrile butadiene styrene copolymer (MABS), PU, SAN, Ultradur PBT, Ultraform POM, PVC, Ultramid PA, Ultrason PSU an Ultrason E PES. POM production capacity has been increased at Theodore, Alabama USA. Acquisitions have included DSM’s ABS business which was integrated in the spring of 1999. Notable joint ventures include the Elenac 50%/50% PE joint venture with Shell and the Solvin, 25% BASF/75% Solvay PVC joint venture founded in January 1999. The Targor PP joint venture was established with Hoechst in 1997 and operated until December 1999 when it became a fully-owned BASF subsidiary. Targor had six production sites in Germany, England, France, Spain and the Netherlands and marketed as Novolen PP and Hostacom PP compounds. BASF and Shell have since agreed to combine the Elenac, Montell and Targor subsidiaries to create Basell which they consider will be one of the world’s largest polyolefin companies in which each will hold a 50% interest. This project would remove polyolefin activities from the BASF Plastics & Fibres Segment and thereby reduce its sales and profit figures. Amongst BASF subsidiaries, the Elastogran Group, with operational responsibility for the European, African and Middle Eastern markets, plays an important role as a major polyurethane supplier with four locations in Germany and six in the rest of Europe. Evidence of extensive BASF research and development comes from the group’s investment of over ¼ ELOOLRQ LQ WKLV DFWLYLW\ ZLWK UHVHDUFKHUV ILOLQJ DSSUR[LPDWHO\  patent applications in 1999 alone. Bayer AG D-51368 Leverkusen Germany Polymer sales, which represent Bayer’s largest business sector with approximately 38% of group sales, achieved very strong growth with sales of ¼ ELOOLRQ LQ  D  increase over the 1999 figure of ¼ ELOOLRQ ZKLFK ZDV  KLJKHU WKDQ WKH  figure. A sharp rise in raw material prices cost Bayer an extra ¼ ELOOLRQ OHDYLQJ WKH company with a 10% return on sales. In 1999, the operating result before exceptional items was ¼ ELOOLRQ  OHVV WKDQ LQ  7KH RXWORRN IRU  LV EHWWHU GHVSLWH the uncertainties facing the US economy. A supporting factor is the implementation of cost containment programmes in all areas of the polymers segment, claimed to be able to generate savings of more than ¼ PLOOLRQ D \HDU DV IURP 

88

Polymers for Electronic Components In the polymer sales sector, Bayer claims to be second to GE Plastics and ahead of Dow Chemicals. On a product by product basis, PU sales grew by 4.7% to ¼ ELOOLRQ VDOHV of other plastics by 10.6% to ¼  ELOOLRQ DQG UXEEHUV E\  WR ¼ ELOOLRQ At the end of 2000, Bayer announced its intention to double its PC production, where brands include Makrolon and the high-temperature Apec version targeted towards automotive applications, to become the number one producer in this sector where its profit margins exceed 20%, the highest figure in the polymer portfolio, and where annual sales growth is of the order of 9%. The expansion is taking place at Bayer’s Asian facilities with output at the Map Tu Phut plant in Thailand to rise from 50,000 tonnes to 350,000 tonnes annually. The design capacity of the new plant under construction in Shanghai, China is to rise to 100,000 tonnes annually when it comes on stream in 2004. Simultaneously, Bayer is raising production at its European and US facilities to an aggregate total capacity of 850,000 tonnes. The success of Makrolon in the production of compact discs was recorded in May 2000 when the 20 billionth disc was produced from this material. The production of DVDs began in 1997 and now the daily production rate of these products has reached 175,000 DVDs plus around 650,000 CDs. Other Bayer polymers include Bayblend ABS/PC blend, Durethan PA, Lustran SAN, Novodur ABS and Pocan PBT. In March 2000, Bayer bought the polyols business of the Lyondell Chemical Company of Houston, Texas, to become the world’s largest manufacturer of polyurethane raw materials. Baymidur, Baygal and Blendur are the brands of polyurethane and PIR casting resins used in electrical and electronic equipment. Bayer is moving to the outsourcing of its distribution activities with the award to the Spanish branch of ABX Logistics, a subsidiary of Belgian Railways (SNCB), by Bayer Hispania of a contract to distribute four thousand pallets of Bayer chemical products annually. Bayer has announced its intention to sell its 50% stake in Erdölchemie to BP on 1 April 2001 and also to reduce its stake in the Dystar group. However, it has established a manufacturing joint venture with DuPont which will come on stream early in 2003. Other joint ventures include one with Röhm GmbH for the production of transparent polycarbonate and polyester sheet. Bayer is also linked to the electronics industry via its H.C. Starck subsidiary, which is a leading supplier of tantalum powder to the electrolytic capacitor industry. It also supplies Baytron P transparent conductive polymer, which can be used to manufacture organic LEDs. BCcomponents PO Box 8777 605 LT Eindhoven The Netherlands The BCcomponents operation, which was originally part of the Philips Passive Components Group, includes BCcomponents Beyschlag GmbH which is based in Heide, near Kiel, in North Germany. Beyschlag was founded in 1931 and employs approximately 550 people with sales of around DM 100 million. At the World Expo 2000 in Hanover the company received the most ‘Environmentally Conscious Company’ award from the ‘Society for Economic Research and Development’ in its home state of Schleswig-Holstein in recognition of its environmental programme in the region. BCcomponents previously won the award in 1992.

89

Polymers for Electronic Components The group also includes Centralab in Hong Kong. At the beginning of the year 2000, the group took steps to acquire full control of its joint venture in China. In total, BCcomponents has approximately 4,300 employees and sales of around ¼ ELOOLRQ 7KH JURXS¶V ZRUNLQJ capital was increased by ¼ PLOOLRQ LQ  DV D UHVXOW RI D FDVK LQMHFWLRQ IURP shareholders. Group policy has been to transfer the emphasis from being a product driven business towards being a customer/market driven organisation with a specific focus on growth in selected industries and territories. This has involved restructuring and the movement of activities between locations. BCcomponents is reported to be one of the world’s largest manufacturers of passive components and the largest European passive components supplier in the electronics industry, and its product range includes electrolytic, ceramic, film and variable capacitors together with linear, non-linear and variable resistors. Markets include automation, electronic data processing, industrial and telecommunications sectors. The company has a strong position in the interference suppression film capacitor sector where it claims to be at the forefront of polypropylene film capacitor technology. Borealis Holding A/S Lyngby Hovegade 96 DK-2800 Lyngby Denmark Borealis claims to be one of the world’s largest manufacturers of polyolefins, notably PE and PP, with an annual production capacity of over three million tonnes. Borealis was founded in 1954 and is 50% owned by the Statoil Norwegian oil and gas group. The remaining 50% is owned by the Austrian oil and gas company OMV (25%) and by the International Petroleum Investment Company of Abu Dhabi (25%). OMV is the largest listed company in Austria and is 35% state owned with IPIC having a 19.6% holding. Borealis group sales turnover in 2000 was ¼ ELOOLRQ XS IURP ¼ ELOOLRQ LQ  D rise of 25.7%. However, operating profits fell by 57.4% to ¼ PLOOLRQ LQ  IURP ¼ million in 1999. The workforce fell from 5,400 employees to 5,188 employees. The company is reported to be Europe’s largest PE producer and second only to Basell in PP production with a manufacturing plant at Schwechat in Austria which was completed in 2000. Joint ventures include Speciality Polymers Antwerp N.V., a 50%/50% joint venture with DuPont which employs 220 employees and which makes ethylene copolymers and PE with a capacity of 125,000 tonnes/annum. BP Amoco plc Britannic House 1 Finsbury Circus London EC2M 7BA United Kingdom BP Amoco has been growing rapidly in recent years. The company was established on the 31 December 1998 by the merger of the British Petroleum Company with the Amoco Corporation. On 1 April 1999, BP Amoco went on to establish a combination with the Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) of Los Angeles. Subsequently, BP Amoco went on to acquire Burmah Castrol plc in July 2000. However, the group’s business turnover in chemicals fell from US$11,445 million in 1997 to US$9,691 million in 1998 and down

90

Polymers for Electronic Components further to US$9,392 million in 1999. Prior to its decision to divest its US$250 million-a-year polymer business, BP Amoco was making a range which included PPS, PSU, PES, PPA, LCPs, PAI and aromatic polyketones. One contributory factor to the downturn was the US$121 million sale of the Plaskon electronics materials business, based in Alpharetta, Georgia, with operations in Singapore and the USA, to Cookson Electronics in July 1999. Plaskon manufactures polymer-based moulding compounds which are primarily used for the encapsulation of electronic devices including semiconductors. Cookson Electronics, an American subsidiary of the British Cookson group employs approximately six thousand people and sales of around US$1.2 billion. Cookson Electronics, which accounts for approximately 20% of group sales, has not been immune to the economic downturn in America and is reported to have experienced a fall in sales of between 35% and 40%. In 1997, BP Amoco sold its advanced materials and plastic resin business in the UK. Acquisitions included the Germany-based Styrenix Kunststoffe plastics business in 1998. In terms of revenue, BP Amoco claims to be the world’s third largest petrochemicals company with an annual output of over 25 million tonnes of petrochemicals, intermediates, plastics and specialities. The company’s seven core products where it claims worldleading positions are acetic acid, acrylonitrile, aromatics, purified terephthalic acid (PTA), linear alpha olefins, purified isophthalic acid (PIA) and PP. However, the company’s engineering polymers of greatest interest to this report are ABS, Xydar LCP and Amodel PPA resins. Other products from BP Amoco include the EnerGraph DBX series of ultra-high crystallinity graphites which can be used in the anodes of lithium polymer thin film battery systems. Bulgin plc Bypass Road Barking Essex IG11 0AZ United Kingdom Bulgin is an independent designer of electromechanical components and power supplies for use in a wide variety of application sectors with reported annual sales in 2000 of £14.4 million and pre-tax profits of £665,000. The workforce comprised 387 people of whom 278 were engaged in production. The range of electromechanical components comprises mains connectors, waterproof connectors, switches, battery holders, fuseholders, indicators and filters and extends to almost three thousand products with an annual output of almost twenty million pieces. The markets served include communications, construction, control equipment, instrumentation, lighting, marine, medical, office equipment, security and utilities. Customers include catalogue distributors, overseas distributors, OEMs and contract electronics manufacturers to whom the OEMs are outsourcing their assembly operations. Bulgin products include the Buccaneer 900 series range of connectors, which incurred development costs of approximately £250,000. The company considers itself to be a medium-volume manufacturer.

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Polymers for Electronic Components Degussa Karl-Arnold-Platz 1a D-40474 Dusseldorf Germany The new Degussa results from the 2001 merger, initiated in February 2000, of DegussaHüls AG and SKW Trostberg AG into what is claimed to be the world’s largest speciality chemicals company. Prior to the merger, at the end of 1999, Degussa-Hüls had sold to BASF its 50% stake in the engineering plastics joint ventures, Ultraform GmbH and Ultraform Company. The company’s speciality polymers division is based in Frankfurt and employs 5,300 people and plans, over the next three years, to increase sales from approximately DM 2.6 billion to over DM 3 billion. Degussa has developed its own patented Elamet process to coat engineering polymers with a 99.8% pure coating of aluminium to provide high levels of EMI/RFI screening. The process, which involves the evaporation and deposition of the aluminium in a vacuum chamber, is environmentally friendly because it uses no solvents, nor does it have any harmful by-products. UL approvals exist for over sixty-five substrates. The coatings are ductile and have a smooth metallic appearance. Recycling is straightforward because the aluminium may be dissolved away by sodium hydroxide. In 2000, Degussa bought Laporte, the UK supplier of chemicals to the plastics industry. The German electricity generating company Eon, formed in 1999 by the merger of Veba and Viag, is the ultimate owner of Degussa. However, one of the conditions of Eon’s acquisition of UK Powergen energy company is that Eon must sell its Degussa chemical operations which accounted for 22% of its sales in 2000. Dow Europe SA Bachtobelstrasse 3 CH-8810 Horgen Switzerland Based in Midland, Michigan, USA, and founded in 1897, Dow Europe’s Dow Chemical Company parent reported an ‘outstanding’ financial performance in 1999. Sales rose by 2.6% to US$18.92 billion with earnings before interest and tax up 4.6% to US$.476 billion. In February 2001, Dow completed the acquisition of its Union Carbide competitor for a reported US$10.2 billion. The company comprises fifteen international businesses serving customers in 164 countries and employs around 39,000 people worldwide. It has 123 production locations in 32 countries and supplies over 3500 products. Dow Chemical has recently launched an ecommerce facility for the sale of its epoxy resins and related products that is scheduled to add access to products and information from other manufacturers. The site provides 24hour access to regularly updated market prices denominated in both dollars and euros and includes product specifications and material safety data sheets. Dow Plastics is the world’s largest plastics supplier and claims to be the world’s leading producer of PE and PS. It produces a wide range of branded engineering plastics including Calibre PC, Inspire PP, Isoplast TPU, Magnum ABS, Prevail TPU blends, Pulse PC/ABS resins, Questra PS, Tyril SAN and Vydyne PA. European manufacturing

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Polymers for Electronic Components operations include PC at Stade in Germany, PP at Schkopau in Germany with Magnum ABS, Pulse technical polymers and Tyril SAN polymers being produced at Terneuzen in the Netherlands. The Vydyne operation is a joint venture with Solutia Inc. Acquisitions include the general-purpose rubber business of Shell Chemical Limited with plants in Berre, France and Pernis in the Netherlands. It also purchased a Basell (BASF/Shell) plant in Cologne. DSM Polymers International Postbus 43 6130 AA Sittard The Netherlands The DSM group, which employs approximately 22,000 people at more than 20 sites worldwide, reported 1999 sales of ¼ ELOOLRQ '60 KDV JURXSHG LWV DFWLYLWLHV LQWR WKUHH strategic clusters, namely, Life Science Products, Performance Materials and Polymers & Industrial Chemicals. On 1 January 2001, the business groups of DSM Polyethylenes, DSM Polypropylenes and DSM Hydrocarbons were merged into the single business group DSM Petrochemicals. DSM Engineering Plastics, which has a PBT joint venture with Ticona, has joined the Omnexus e-marketplace trading venture. Other events in 2000 included the opening of a new PA 6 production plant in the Netherlands at Emmen. DSM halogen-free, hybrid reinforced PA 6, branded Akulon, was selected as the housing material for an innovative new digital time switch. Other DSM brands include Stanyl PA 46, Arnitel copolyester elastomers, Xantar PC and Arnite thermoplastic polyesters. DuPont de Nemours International SA Chemin du Pavilion 2 CH-1218 Le Grand-Saconnex Geneva Switzerland DuPont, based in Wilmington, Delaware, USA, reported worldwide net sales of US$26.918 billion in 1999, up from US$24.767 billion in 1998. Net income in 1999 was $7.69 billion. The group operates in 65 countries worldwide and its main European markets, with their 1999 net sales figures, are Germany (US$1.743 billion), France (US$979 million), United Kingdom (US$960 million) and Italy (US$884 million). However, even DuPont is not immune to the economic downturn in the USA where it announced 4,000 job cuts in April 2001 with one third of them to be carried out in 2001. DuPont is also cutting 1,300 contract jobs with half the cuts being implemented in the group’s polyester and PA businesses. The group, which has a portfolio of 2,000 trademarks and brands, manufactures a wide range of plastics materials for the electronics components industry and these are not confined to a single company strategic business unit or operating segment. Performance Coatings and Polymers, which reported total 1999 segment sales of US$6.111 billion, comprises automotive finishes, engineering polymers and elastomers. Pigments and Chemicals, with 1999 sales of US$3.660 billion, comprises white pigment and mineral products, speciality chemicals and fluorochemicals. Polyester Enterprise, with 1999 sales of US$2.649 billion, includes Dacron polyester high-performance films, resins and intermediates. Speciality Polymers, with 1999 sales of US$4.255 billion, includes photopolymers and electronic materials, packaging and industrial polymers, Corian solid

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Polymers for Electronic Components surfaces and fluoropolymers including Teflon PTFE which has applications in the semiconductor industry and can be used for washers where its chemical resistance and ability to tolerate elevated temperatures qualities are needed. Automotive and electrical/electronics industries are the largest markets for engineering polymers which broadly comprise Zytel PA, Delrin acetals, Rynite PET and Crastin PBT, Hytrel TPEs, Zenite LCPs, Vespel PI parts and shapes, Tribon composites and Tynex filament. Vespel grades include Vespel TP for maximum geometric flexibility, Vespel CP for superior heat resistance and strength and Vespel CR for maximum chemical resistance. Typical electrical/electronic applications for Zenite include power supply components for laptop computer displays, where it is used for coil formers and insulators. Applications for Zytel include its substitution for metal in automotive components. It can withstand the high temperatures of the engine compartment and can also tolerate constant vibration and is also capable of being moulded into complex shapes. The new Zytel FR50HF flame retardant grade offers UL94 V-0 rating at 0.35 mm thickness and 5V at 1.5 mm thickness. The company claims that this new, high flow, flame retardant resin delivers excellent productivity when moulding connectors, especially difficult to fill DIMM (dual in-line memory module) or RIMM (Rambus in-line memory module) memory sockets and other thin wall parts. Other products include Aramid reinforced laminates for use as PCB material. In 2000, DuPont announced a new patented polymer technology to improve performance and mouldability of its toughened PA 66 resins. Two new series of Zytel HTN highperformance polymers are claimed to deliver an improved combination of stiffness, strength and toughness under wet dry and hot conditions than earlier HTN grades, as well as better hydrolysis resistance. Zytel ST801A Advantage, the latest development of this family, offers designers better flow and mould capacity together with improved strength and durability at a price around 5% to 10% higher than existing products. The new material enables flow lengths to be extended between 34% and 51% further than classic Zytel even at lower temperatures. DuPont claims that operators are thus able to fill moulds at lower pressures using smaller machines. This results in a saving in crystallisation and cooling time. Designers are thus able to produce longer and tougher parts, with thinner cross-section, using the existing tooling which was made for use with standard PA. Cost savings come from shorter cycle times, lower locking force machines, reduced energy consumption, less machine wear and fewer tooling changes. Furthermore, the parts produced from ST801A weigh less than their PC equivalents and are more resistant to household solvents than PC or ABS. They are also more resistant to repeated impact than previous grades. Applications include cable ties and connector parts. New manufacturing facilities for Crastin and Hytrel have been established at Charleston, South Carolina, and the previous outmoded production plant at Chambers works, New Jersey, has been closed. In the field of mid- and high-performance elastomers the 50:50 joint venture, DuPont Dow Elastomers, claims to be the leading global supplier. Recent launches include the Nordel IP EPDM product line based on Dow’s INSITE process and catalyst technology. The joint venture has also established a capital project at Dow’s Baton Rouge, Louisiana, facility to

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Polymers for Electronic Components expand the manufacturing capacity for Engage polyolefin elastomers, its fastest growing business. DuPont’s DuPont Teijin Films joint venture specialises in films and related products for electrical and electronic applications as well as for advanced magnetic media photographic systems and industrial packaging. Brands include Melinex and Mylar polyester films, Teijin Tetoron PET, and Teonex and Kalodex PEN film, and Cronar polyester photographic base film. The joint venture has an annual production capacity of 300,000 tonnes and forecast sales in excess of US$1 billion. DuPont i Technologies, formerly Photopolymer and Electronic Materials, has been established to be the group’s major player in the global information market. It markets Kapton polyimide film, Riston dry film photo resists, Birox thick films, Pyralux flexible laminates and Fodel photoimagineable thick film pastes to the flexible printed and microcircuit segments of the electronics industry. The Kapton production capability at Bayport, Texas, has recently been expanded and a further US$90 million investment in a new Kapton film production line is being made at Circleville, Ohio. The new line, which is expected to be completed in 2002, is understood to be dedicated to the production of material for flexible circuit applications for wireless, digital and computer markets. The Riston resists provide digital imaging capabilities using a laser writer to image circuit boards thus eliminating the traditional phototool process. New speciality thick film materials have been developed for Cyngus Inc., for use in the GlucoWatch non-invasive bio-sensor glucose monitor for use by diabetics. DuPont i Technologies acquired Krystal Holographics International Inc., in order to produce a new class of optical components which will significantly enhance he performance of electronic displays and security devices. As a result, DuPont has become a world leader in holographic optical components and holograms for electronic, security and authentication applications. DuPont has also acquired a 51% controlling interest in the Taiwan-based Wirex Corporation which makes polyimide film and flexible laminates. This acquisition has enabled DuPont to increase its participation in the adhesive-less, flexible laminate materials market. These are used to produce high density circuitry for use in future generations of electronic devices including cellular phones notebook personal computers, PDAs and camcorders. Other recent DuPont alliances include one signed with the Bekaert Group of Kortrijk, Belgium to develop and produce thin metal laminate for flexible circuit applications. A joint venture with Borealis, one of Europe’s largest producers of polyolefins, is expected to generate growth from the employment of new technology involving polyester resins and polyolefin catalysts. DuPont is reported to have formed a fuel cell business unit in response to developments in the PEM market where its products include Nafion perfluorinated membranes which have been used in space travel applications for over thirty-five years. DuPont envisages a US$10 billion market for fuel cells by the year 2010. In 2000, the company opened a multimillion dollar fuel cell technology centre close to its Wilmington, Delaware, headquarters. Existing partnerships with other interested parties include that with Innogy in respects of its Regenesys technology.

95

Polymers for Electronic Components DuPont intends to apply its integrated expertise in polymer coatings and electrochemicals technology and will initially supply advanced materials and engineering polymers. Subsequently, over the next few years, it plans to supply PEM fuel cell stack components including membrane electrode assemblies and onductive plates. DuPont is also actively engaged in the development of direct methanol fuel cell technology. Eastman Chemical Company Kingsport Tennessee USA The company was founded in 1920 by George Eastman, founder of the Eastman Kodak company. It now has 15,000 employees in thirty countries and reported sales of US$5.3 billion in 2000. The company produces more than 400 chemicals, fibres and plastics. In the field of electrical engineering and electronics, it offers two proprietary polycyclohexylene dimethylene terephthalate (PCT) engineering resins: Thermx CG033 and Thermx CGT33. These are designed to be used in automotive connectors located in the hostile environment beneath the bonnet. These polymers are claimed to fulfil the market’s need for a polymer with higher thermal stability. Eastman also offers a range of high temperature resistant, easy-to-process highperformance resins which are claimed to have excellent mechanical properties and chemical resistance. These include Thermx LCP, PCT and PET which are used in electrical/electronic connectors and printed circuit board components. Both flame retardant and non flame-retardant grades are available. The company’s Thermx polyester products are claimed to meet the market’s needs in respect of thin-walled moulding capability, high contact density, surface mounting properties and price. EMS-Chemie (UK) Limited Drummond Road Astonfields Industrial Estate Stafford ST16 3HJ United Kingdom EMS-Chemie is the polymer manufacturing division of the Swiss EMS-Chemie AG group based at Domat/Ems whose sales turnover represents approximately 60% of the total group turnover. Other income comes from licensing the group’s process technology to third parties. The group specialises in the production of Grilon PA 6, PA 66 and Grilamid PA 12, (low friction and wear) and also Grivory PPA. Outside Switzerland, the group has manufacturing operations in Sunter (USA), GrossUmstadt (Germany), Taipei (Taiwan) and Tokyo (Japan). Group gross sales turnover in 1998 was CHF 1.064 billion. Epcos AG PO Box 801709 81617 Munich Germany Epcos, which is the world’s second largest manufacturer of passive components, produces more than one hundred million electronic components every day including 6 million capacitors. The company was formerly a 50:50 joint venture between Siemens and Matsushita. It became a public company in October 1999 via an initial public offering with each company retaining a shareholding of 12.5% plus one share.

96

Polymers for Electronic Components The company employed 13,237 people in 2000 and reported a 85% growth, from ¼ billion to ¼ ELOOLRQ LQ QHZ RUGHUV IURP  WR  1HW VDOHV JUHZ LQ WKH VDPH period from ¼ ELOOLRQ WR ¼ ELOOLRQ ZLWK EXVLQHVV RXWVLGH *HUPDQ\ DFFRXQWLQJ IRU 75% of sales and business outside Europe representing over 34% of sales. The Epcos sales situation is given in Table 8.1. Table 8.1 Epcos sales by product, 1999-2000 (¼ PLOOLRQ Product 1999 2000 Capacitors 369 566 Ceramic components 313 519 Surface acoustic wave (SAW) 352 625 components Ferrites 108 148

% growth 53 66 78 36

Source: Epcos Annual Report, 2000

The global nature of the Epcos business is clearly illustrated by the list of the company’s manufacturing sites (Table 8.2), often chosen to take advantage of low wage economies.

Gravatai Brazil

Table 8.2 Epcos manufacturing sites Ceramic SAW components components Deutschlandberg, Munich, Germany Austria Balan Island, Iselin, NJ, USA Indonesia Berlin, Germany Palo Alto, CA, USA

Malaga, Spain

Singapore

Singapore

Nashik, India

Szombatheley, Hungary

Tokyo, Japan

Szombatheley, Hungary

Xiaogan, China

Wuxi, Japan

Capacitors Heidenheim, Germany Evora, Portugal

Ferrites Munich, Germany Bordeaux Kalyani, India Sumperk, Czech Republic Zhuhai, China

Zhuhai, China Source: Epcos Annual Report, 2000

Amongst the company’s successes was its tripled sales of tantalum capacitors, to approximately 1.5 billion annually, which propelled it from seventh position to fifth position worldwide with market leadership in Europe. Epcos also claims European market leadership in aluminium electrolytic capacitors, EMC components, ferrites, film capacitors and microwave ceramics. Global leadership is claimed in the fields of power capacitors, surface acoustic wave filters, surge arrestors, thermistors and varistors. Products less than three years old now account for more than 70% of Epcos sales. Evox Rifa AB PO Box 945 S-391 29 Kalmar Sweden The parent company, Evox Rifa Group Oyj, was established on 1 November 2000 when it was floated by Finvest Oyj on the Helsinki Stock Exchange as a result of the division of Finvest into four separate companies, the other three companies being Finvest Oyj, eQ

97

Polymers for Electronic Components Online Oyj and Vestcap Oyj. After Finvest Oyj divided into four companies each Finvest shareholder received one Evox Rifa share for each Finvest share held. Evox Rifa is now growing as a result of acquisitions and partnership agreements. Evox Rifa Group Oyj owns all of the share capital of Evox Rifa Oy. The other group companies are Evox Rifa AB (Sweden), Evox Rifa Pte., Ltd., (Singapore), Seoryong Singapore Pte., Ltd., (Singapore), P.T. Evox S.R. (Indonesia), Evox Rifa GmbH (Germany), Evox Rifa (UK) Ltd., (United Kingdom), Evox Rifa Inc., (USA) and the affiliated company Schaffner EMC Pte., Ltd., (Singapore). On 8 March 2001, the company reported that, in 2000, net sales increased almost 28% to

¼ PLOOLRQ IURP ¼ PLOOLRQ LQ  ZLWK D  RSHUDWLQJ SURILW RI ¼ PLOOLRQ compared with an operating loss of ¼ PLOOLRQ LQ  7KH \HDU  SURILW EHIRUH extraordinary items was ¼ PLOOLRQ FRPSDUHG ZLWK D ¼ PLOOLRQ ORVV WKH SUHYLRXV \HDU Owing to the favourable market situation, the order backlog of Evox Rifa Group Oyj grew to ¼ PLOOLRQ DW WKH HQG RI WKH \HDU  FRPSDUHG ZLWK ¼ PLOOLRQ DW WKH HQG RI 1999. Evox Rifa designs, manufactures and markets capacitors and produces approximately 800 million capacitors a year. It is the largest manufacturer of capacitors in Scandinavia and the sixth largest in Europe, with targeted market areas in North America, Europe and Asia. It has carefully chosen its customer segment to form the foundation for its growth. The strongest increase in year 2000 net sales, compared to the previous year was 43% in Asia, with a significant increase also taking place in Europe and North America due to the introduction of new products and distribution channels. The net sales from paper capacitors increased the most, by almost 68 %, of all the product groups. There was also significant growth in the other main product groups compared to the previous years, i.e., in film and electrolytic capacitors as well as in inductive components. The Evox Rifa Group Oyj had 1,504 employees at the end of the fiscal year 2000 of whom 1,256 were production workers and 248 were office staff. There was an average of 1,406 employees during the fiscal year, of whom 1,164 were production workers and 242 office staff. The employee numbers were increased to satisfy the need for increased capacity caused by high demand and order backlog. In its outlook for the year 2001, the company commented that the instability of the markets has continued since the beginning of 2001 with no signs of it ending. The cuts to excessive inventories started in the USA with revisions to given forecasts as well as rescheduling of orders. The company anticipates that its growth will exceed the growth of the market. Its expectations are based on current market forecasts and the good reception of new products. Evox Rifa manufactures film, paper and electrolytic capacitors with film types accounting for 50% of output, paper capacitors accounting for 23% of output and aluminium electrolytic types the remaining 27%. Evox Rifa forecasts annual market growth in the film capacitor sector, stability and lack of growth in the paper capacitor sector and rapid, but not quantified, growth in the aluminium electrolytic sector.

98

Polymers for Electronic Components General Electric Plastics BV European Headquarters 1 Plasticslaan PO Box 117 NL-4600 AC Bergen op Zoom The Netherlands GE Plastics has fifteen thousand employees worldwide and contributed sales of US$6.9 billion to the total General Electric sales revenue figure for 1999 of US$112 billion, a contribution which rose to US$29.9 billion in 2000. The company has over forty plants and joint venture facilities and has sales operations in more than twenty countries. The GE Plastics operation includes the GE Polymerland distribution subsidiary which includes the Polymerland on-line facility which offers 24 hours a day, seven days a week customer access and which is being used as a model by other GE divisions. General Electrics aggregate on-line sales operations have grown from virtually nothing in 1998 to US$1 billion in 1999 with a further rise to US$7 billion in 2000. In 2001, the company expects 15% of its total revenue to come from on-line sales. The company’s range of engineering polymers includes Lexan PC, Cycolac ABS, Cycoloy PC/ABS blend, Getek PCB laminates, high-temperature Ultem PEI, Valox PBT and PBT/PET blends and Xenoy polymer blends. GE Plastics and BASF are expanding PBT production at their joint venture at Schwarzheide in Germany. The demand for Lexan has been increasing for telecommunications applications and such products as CD-ROMs, CDs and DVDs. This resulted in additional investment at the resin plants at Cartagena, Spain, and Burkville, Alabama, USA, to add 200,000 tonnes of additional capacity. New compounding plant investments were opened in China and Thailand in 2000 to support the high demand of the Asian market. A new agreement was announced in 2000 with GE Plastics’ joint venture partner, Toshiba, and with Shin-Etsu to create the additional manufacturing capacity needed to respond to the rapidly increasing demand in the Asian region. Huntsman Corporation 500 Huntsman Way Salt Lake City Utah 84108 USA The Huntsman Corporation, which is the largest privately owned chemicals group in North America, has more than 14,000 employees and sales revenues of approximately US$7 billion with facilities in 43 countries. Huntsman has grown by acquisition and acquired the polyurethanes, titanium dioxide and various petrochemicals businesses of ICI in 1999. Huntsman’s businesses comprise four principal product groups: base chemicals, intermediate chemicals, performance products, and polymers and resins. The Huntsman performance polymers business produces PP, PE and flexible and amorphous polyolefins to meet demanding specifications involving strength, quality, consistency and exceptional performance.

99

Polymers for Electronic Components Rogers NV Afrikalaan 188 B-9000 Gent Belgium Rogers’ US parent was founded in 1832 and has a tradition of polymer chemistry. Since 1973, it has been manufacturing flexible PCB laminates for its in-house operations and has since become a supplier to flexible circuit fabricators worldwide. The Microwave and Circuit Materials Division of Rogers offers a range of PCB material onto which copper may be electrodeposited or rolled. Boards can also be supplied clad with aluminium brass, copper and other thick metal backings. The polymers used to produce the board material include ceramic thermoset polymer composites with or without glass fibre reinforcement, ceramic PTFE composites and other PTFE grades with or without glass fibre reinforcement. Rogers’ US parent recently announced the acquisition of the Advanced Dielectric business of Taconic based in Petersburgh, New York. This business manufactures and markets high frequency PCB material laminates at Petersburgh and also at Mullingar in Ireland. The acquisition is to be merged with its new parent to form Rogers Microwave Materials Division. No significant changes in the product offerings or manufacturing locations of either company are planned Other Rogers products include Poron cellular PU foams which are widely used in mobile phones, for example, where they provide protective cushioning and prevent voice distortion, fill gaps and seal out dust. They can be attached to PET substrates for use as gasket material. They can also form the basis of EMI/RFI seals. Sabic Global Limited Kensington Centre 66 Hammersmith Road London W14 8YT United Kingdom Sabic is based in Saudi Arabia where it produces PE, PET, PP, PS and PVC under the Ladene brand. Total 2000 production design capability at Sabic’s plants, including expansion during the year, is shown in Table 8.3. Overall polymer sales volume in 1999 was 2.56 million tonnes. Table 8.3 Sabic’s polymer production capacity, 2000 (000 tonnes) PE 2,434 PP 900 PVC 324 Polyesters 154 PS 135 Melamine 20 Total 3,967 Source: Sabic Annual Report, 1999

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Polymers for Electronic Components Shell Chemicals Shell Centre London SE 7NA United Kingdom The financial performance of Shell’s chemical segment is improving as shown in Table 8.4. Table 8.4 Chemicals sales/net proceeds (US$ millions) 2000 1999 1998 Europe 5,657 5,365 5,381 Other Eastern Hemisphere 1,921 1,621 1,324 USA 7,095 5,327 4,991 Other Western 532 573 576 Hemisphere Total Sales 15,205 12,886 12,272 Total Earnings 819 885 (718) Source: Shell Chemicals Annual Report, 2000

This business sector comprises the production and sale of base chemicals, petrochemical building blocks and polyolefins globally. In order to strengthen the business it has been reduced from over 21 business areas to 11 business areas. Some businesses have been sold and others closed. One of the major developments has been the agreement with BASF to create the 50:50 joint venture Basell, a global polyolefins business which immediately became one of the world’s leading producers combining the businesses of Elenac, Montell and Targor. In addition, Shell has been negotiating the sale of the Resins and Versatics business to Apollo Management and the sale of Kraton Plymers to Silverwood Holdings. Shell’s strategy is to focus on petrochemical building blocks and high volume polymers whilst maintaining an emphasis on enhancing the portfolio, meeting customer needs, reducing costs and engaging and developing people. In March 2001, Shell completed the sale of its Kraton polymers business to Ripplewood Holdings. The sale of the group’s PET businesses to the Mossi and Ghisolfi Group was completed in June 2000. Earlier, in February 2000, the Carilon polymer was withdrawn from the market after Shell failed to find a buyer for the business. The general-purpose rubber business was sold to Dow Chemicals in June 1999, and the PS business to Nova Chemicals Corporation in October 1999. Shell’s PVC and VCM assets in the Netherlands and France were sold in December 1999. The Raigi SAS subsidiary, a French manufacturer of epoxy and urethane resins systems, was reported in January 2001 to be subject to a management buy-out. Solutia Europe 270-272 avenue de Tervuren B-1150 Brussels Belgium Solutia was spun off from the St. Louis, Missouri-based, Monsanto company on 1 September 1997. The company’s origins date back 100 years and it now has 11,000 employees and more than 30 manufacturing sites across the world. Sales revenue in 101

Polymers for Electronic Components 1999 was approximately US$2.83 billion with a net income of approximately US$206 million. Solutia’s operations can be categorised as Performance Films, Speciality Products, Pharmaceutical Services and Integrated Nylon. Solutia’s electronics activities are centred on its CPFilms, Canoga Park, California, subsidiary which was formerly Courtaulds Performance Films. CPFilms is a specialist supplier of sputter-coated films which are used in the manufacture of membrane switches, electroluminescent lamps transparent heaters and medical sensors. Solvay Chemicals Limited Grovelands Business Centre Boundary Way Hemel Hempstead HP2 7TE United Kingdom Solvay Chemicals is a subsidiary of the Belgian Solvay Group whose plastics strategic business unit reported 1999 sales turnover of ¼ ELOOLRQ DQ  LQFUHDVH RYHU WKH previous year. Sales to the electrical and electronics sectors accounted for 2% of turnover. In the plastics sector, the company has established the Solvin joint venture (Solvay 75%/BASF 25%), which links the PVC activities of the two companies throughout Europe except in Spain. Solvin and Elf Atochem have jointly acquired the vinyl chloride monomer and PVC activities of Shell Chimie SA in France. The group sees itself as a supplier of a range of advanced materials and polymer specialities in fields where it has a competitive cost structure and processing expertise. This results from its involvement in the most dynamic end-use markets of automotive, medical applications, pipes, engineering and construction. Its performance in some of these areas is shown in Table 8.5. Table 8.5 Performance of Solvay strategic business unit Market Position Strategic Business Unit Main Products Europe World Polyolefins PE-HD 4 3 PP 6 10 Vinyls PVC 2 4 PVC compounds BENVIC Specialty polymers SOLEF, IXEF, PRIMEF Source: Solvay Annual Report, 2000

Ticona GmbH D-65926 Frankfurt am Main Germany Ticona was formed in 1961 as a joint venture of Hoechst AG and the Celanese Corporation of America. Hoechst acquired Celanese in 1987 and, following subsequent restructuring, established Celanese AG in 1999 as a separate company within which Ticona operates independently. It is now the technical polymers business of Celanese AG with a worldwide workforce of around 2,400 and production, compounding and research facilities in Germany (Frankfurt-Höchst, Kelsterbach and Oberhausen), the UK (Milton Keynes and Telford), USA and Brazil. Group sales, excluding discontinued operations, in 1999 totalled ¼ PLOOLRQ 7LFRQD¶V &HODQHVH SDUHQW HPSOR\V DURXQG 13,900 people at 32 production plants in eight countries and reported 1999 sales of ¼ ELOOLRQ (XURSHDQ sales account for 33% of Celanese’s turnover. 102

Polymers for Electronic Components Ticona states that polyacetals represent the largest group of products within its product portfolio. These are distributed worldwide under the Celcon and Hostaform brands. Ticona’s polyester product line includes Celanex (PBT), Impet (PET), Riteflex (TPE-E) and Vandar blends. Ticona also claims world leading status in ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene GUR, and Vectra LCP. Other products include Topas, the COC material produced with metallocene catalysts, which is considered by Ticona to be an important product for innovative solutions. Celstran, Compel and Fiberod long fibre reinforced thermoplastics are some of the company’s advanced materials along with its Fortron PPS. The first commercial Topas plant was constructed in Germany at Oberhausen where production began in mid-2000. The polyacetal production capacity of Kelstebach plant in Germany was increased to 77,000 tonnes per annum in 1999. Other substantially increased production capabilities were installed for Celstran, Compel and Fiberod at the Kelsterbach and Winona (Minnesota, USA) plants. Group structural changes include the sale, at the end of 1999, of Celanese’s 50% share in the Targor PP joint venture to BASF AG. At the same time, Celanese also sold, to 3M, its 46% holding in the Dyneon fluoropolymer manufacturer. Later, in September 2000, Celanese and DSM of the Netherlands signed a memorandum of understanding for a PBT joint venture in Europe which will come on stream in 2003. At the beginning of November 2000, Ticona announced European price increases of a number of its technical polymers including standard Hostaform POM grades (+¼NLOR  Hostaform glass-reinforced grades (+¼NLOR  +RVWDIRUP VSHFLDOLW\ JUDGHV (+¼NLOR  &HODQH[ 3%7 DQG ,PSHW 3(7 ¼NLOR  9DQdar thermoplastic polyester blends (+¼NLOR  5LWHIOH[ 73(-E (+¼NLOR DQG )RUWURQ 336 ¼NLOR  Ticona is expanding its product range by introducing additional grades of its proprietary polymers Celanex, Fortron, Hostaform and Vectra LCP. For example, the recently launched Hostaform XEC is said to offer a 25% improvement in volume resistivity, tensile modulus and notched impact strength when compared with its Hostaform ELS grade predecessor. TotalFinaElf SA 2 Place de la Coupole 92400 Courbevoie France The company has benefited from rising oil prices to the extent that 2000 group sales rose by 53% to ¼ ELOOLRQ FRPSDUHG ZLWK  SUR IRUPD VDOHV ZLWK RSHUDWLQJ LQFRPH up a staggering 134% to ¼ ELOOLRQ $ QHZ RUJDQLVDWLRQDO VWUXFWXUH LV EHLQJ implemented comprising the three sectors of Upstream, Downstream and Chemicals. These have been subdivided into 27 business units worldwide and the key figures for chemicals are shown in Table 8.6. TotalFinaElf is a major world supplier of polymers and claims to be the world’s second largest producer of PP, the third-largest producer of HDPE in Europe and the third largest supplier of PS in the USA. During 2000, the company dissolved its PP joint venture with BP (Appryl) and withdrew from BP’s Grangemouth facility in Scotland whilst consolidating its positions in Gonfreville and Lavéra. In PE, the group had removed a bottleneck at Gonfreville and built up production at Bayport in the USA. Bottlenecks had also been removed in PS production.

103

Polymers for Electronic Components In PVC the group had integrated Shell’s French assets at Berre and had built a new unit at Lyon. Table 8.6 Performance of TotalFinaElf 2000 1999 estimate pro forma 17.3 20.8

Sales Sales by sector Petrochemicals & Plastics Intermediates & Performance Polymers Specialities Operating income* Operating income by sector* Petrochemicals & Plastics Intermediates & Performance Polymers Specialities Investments * excluding non-recurring items ** +16% excluding inks, sold year-end 1999 *** +17% excluding inks

% Change + 20

8.0 5.3 7.5 1.6

5.5 4.6 7.2 1.19

+ 45 + 15 + 4** + 34

0.55 0.48 0.62 1.4

0.16 0.46 0.57 1.67

+ 244 +4 + 9*** - 16

Source: TiconaFinaElf press release, 14 March 2001

TT Group plc Clive House 22-28 Queens Road Weybridge Surrey KT23 9XB United Kingdom The TT group is unusual in so far as it is both a major contract electronics manufacturer (AB Electronic Assemblies Limited and Welwyn Systems Limited) and a major manufacturer of passive electronic components including connectors (AB Connectors), PCB manufacture (Prestwick Circuits), resistors (AB Mikro-electronik, Austria, International Resistive Company Inc., USA, Welwyn Components Limited, UK), and sensors (AB Automotive Inc., USA, and AB Elektronik GmbH, Germany). On 8 January 2000, the group agreed to buy BI Technologies, from Emerson Electric Inc., for a £39.7 million cash consideration. BI Technologies manufactures inductors, resistors, sensors and trimmers with factories at Fullerton in California, Mexicali in Mexico, Glenrothes in Scotland and Kuantan in Malaysia. The acquisition will expand the group’s sales penetration in the Far East and also provides the group with two well-established low labour cost operations in Malaysia and Mexico. Group sales turnover was £612.4 million in 1999 and the BI Technologies acquisition is reported to have a 1999 turnover of £57.1 million with operating profits of £3.6 million. However, the group plans to dispose of its packaging and other non-core activities. Declining TT profits of £38.0 million, down from £65.0 million, are partially attributed to the strength of sterling against the euro.

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Polymers for Electronic Components Tyco International The Zurich Center Second Floor Pembroke HM 08 Bermuda Tyco International is believed to be the world's largest manufacturer and service company in the fields of electrical and electronic components, as well as undersea telecommunications systems. It claims to be the world’s largest supplier of passive electronic components and also claims to be the world's largest manufacturer, installer and provider of fire protection and electronic security services. It also claims leading positions in the fields of disposable medical products, plastics, and adhesives, and the manufacture of flow control valves. Tyco operates in more than 80 countries and is reported to have 215,000 employees. Total Tyco sales revenue in 2000 rose by 29% to $28.9 billion with earnings up 46% to $3.7 billion. Tyco’s 2000 electronics sector sales totalled $9.9 billion with operating income of $2.4 billion. In the electronic components sector it has acquired the well-known connector companies of AMP (by merger in 1999), Raychem Corporation (by acquisition in 1999) and the electronic OEM business of Thomas & Betts (by acquisition in 2000). Other acquisitions include Siemens Electromechanical Products GmbH & Co., (1999) and the UK Critchley Group plc (2000). In December 2000, Tyco went on to purchase Lucent Technologies’ Power Systems (LPS), which provides energy and power products for telecommunications service providers and for the computer industry. Tyco Electronics claims to be a leader in the supply of automotive electronic components and states hat it would be hard to find a car anywhere which does not contain a growing list of AMP and M/A-COM products including GPS antennas, relays, switches, brake and light sensors, engine control connectors, fuse and relay boxes. Tyco claims that, in 2000, 60% of the approximately 410 million cell phones sold worldwide contained one or more Tyco products. These included gallium arsenide chips and input/output connectors. Furthermore, Tyco almost doubled the sales of its fibre-optic communications products in 2000 to $420 million from $215 million in 1999. Tyco is also major producer of multilayer PCBs, backplanes, smart radar sensors and heat shrink products. In 2000, sales of the Tyco Printed Circuit Group nearly doubled to $835 million and a new printed circuit board manufacturing plant was opened in Shanghai, China. Tyco is enthusiastic about e-commerce and claims that AMP’s website customers can order 110,000 different electronic products online. Victrex plc Hillhouse International Thornton Cleveleys Lancashire FY5 4QD United Kingdom Victrex began life in 1993 as a management buy-out of the PEEK polymer business from ICI and has since gone to become one of the world’s leading high-performance polymer

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Polymers for Electronic Components suppliers with the possibly unique distinction, for a British company, of currently exporting 95% of its output. Victrex is best known for PEEK, which is employed in environmentally hostile applications and which accounts for more than 90% of its current manufacturing output. PEEK is a semi-crystalline polymer, insoluble in all common solvents and can be used at temperatures of up to 300 °C. The production of PEEK in 2000 was around 1,300 tonnes. An earlier decision to outsource the production of PEEK pellets to a company in the Netherlands has been reversed to bring the complete production process in-house. This was achieved by installing a new melt filtration and pelletising facility, with automated process control, at the Thornton Cleveleys site. The company reported a 27% sales increase to £58.7 million in the year to 30 September 2000, with profits up by 25% to £15.9 million. Double-digit percentage increases were reported in Asia-Pacific markets, Europe and the USA. Sales growth in Asia was particularly strong with turnover up 66% to £7 million. A deal has been made with Laporte, now a Degussa subsidiary, which supplies raw materials used in the production of PEEK. The deal, struck in January 2000, involved the establishment of a 50/50 joint venture with Laporte to undertake a key material processing step in the production of PEEK whereby difluorodiphenyl methane (DFDPM) is oxidised to form benzonone difluoride (BDF), the raw material for PEEK. Victrex has already purchased Laporte’s DFDPM’s manufacturing business in Rotherham which is the first step of the two-step manufacturing process, the conversion of DFDPM to BDF being the second step. One of the most interesting new applications, from an electrical viewpoint, is for fuel cell membrane material where an agreement with the leading Canadian manufacturer, Ballard Power Systems, has been signed. The four-year agreement involves the joint development of a manufacturing process for ionomers, the polymers which conduct the protons in fuel cell membranes. The objective is to produce an effective material which has low manufacturing costs. Having developed a suitable material, the two partners will establish, probably in the UK, a pilot production plant capable of producing around fifty tonnes of ionomers per annum. Victrex expects to invest approximately £500,000 a year in the project over the four-year period. Ballard Power Systems is generally acknowledged to be the world leader in the development of PEM fuel cells with automotive partnerships with DaimlerChrysler and Ford and other partnerships with key potential fuel cell users including a joint manufacturing venture with Alstom for power conditioning in electricity grid distribution systems. These companies cover a wide range of product sectors. Ballard, which has never made a profit in any of the past twenty years of its existence, has secured over 130 patents to protect its technology. Up till now, its products have been considered to be too heavy and too large to be practicable though it is believed that a technological breakthrough is imminent. Ballard’s new CAN$400 million plant is due to come on stream in September 2001. This new plant is seen as the key to cutting costs by employing mass production techniques. Ballard reported sales of CAN$25 million in 1998, rising to CAN$33 million in 1999 and still higher to CAN$41 million in 2000. Ballard has linked up with Alstom, the Japanese Ebara Corporation and GPU Inc., as in Ballard Generation Systems (BGS). BGS is participating in a pioneering Japanese project for the Japanese residential market. BGS and its partners have built four prototype 1 kW PEM units which, when connected to the domestic natural gas supply, will generate electricity for use in the home and will also heat domestic water with waste heat from the 106

Polymers for Electronic Components fuel cell. Preliminary tests with the prototype generator have recorded a dc gross electrical efficiency of 42% and a heat recovery efficiency of 43%. Ebara Ballard, which has built the four prototypes at its Fujisawa plant in Japan, is pressing on with the development in pursuit of improvements in performance and reliability whilst simultaneously seeking to reduce costs. At the end of 1999, the company launched its polyetherketone polymer which extends the performance of PEEK by the provision of superior temperature resistance and mechanical strength. It has a heat distortion temperature of 165 °C and an estimated continuous use temperature of 260 °C (UL 746B). Vishay Intertechnology Incorporated 63 Lincoln Highway Malvern Pennsylvania 19355 USA Founded in 1962, Vishay reported year 2000 sales of $2.5 billion and claims to be the largest US and European manufacturer of passive electronic components (resistors, capacitors and inductors), discrete semiconductors, infrared communication devices plus power and analogue switching integrated circuits. The company employs more than 20,000 people in 66 plants in fourteen countries including the USA, Austria, China, the Czech Republic, France, Mexico, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Phillipines, Portugal, Taiwan and the UK. Market sectors include automobiles, computers, domestic appliances, medical equipment, military and aerospace equipment, satellites, telephones and television sets. Major customers include AT&T, Alcatel, Bosch, Delco, Ford, IBM, Intel, Lockheed, Motorola, Samsung, Siemens, Sony Sun Microsystem and Texas Instruments.

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ISBN: 1-85957-281-2

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