Interplex Junction - The Place to Connect

The Air Cavity Package (ACP) is a widely used option for RF products, hybrid circuit assemblies, as well as optical/photonic devices. Typical ACP’s have consisted of metal cans and ceramic leadless chip carriers (LCC). Custom ACP’s are also provided by machined metal housings and LTCC options.

However, over the past 10 - 15 years, the development of MEMS Sensors and LED devices has seen the use of thermoplastic pre-molded leadframe packages become the top choice for custom application specific housings. These products are now maturing and moving to “standard” package outlines where possible.

Liquid Crystal Polymers (LCP) are the choice for plastic body components and connectors, developed to suit temperatures of 300 degrees C and above. This means that packages made with such materials can withstand the typical reflow soldering processes used in high-volume system manufacturing.

Following are some key considerations for achieving success with LCP based packaging.

One of the biggest mistakes that companies can make is getting too far down the product design path before involving people with expertise in plating processes and alternatives.

Best practices in Design for Manufacturing call for early consultations with all of the key manufacturing participants to assure that production process choices reflect both the product specifications and the need for optimal production efficiency. 

Early involvement of plating experts assures manufacturability and holds down costs – both by minimizing the amount of precious metal in each product and streamlining production sequence to avoid unnecessary steps.

In many cases, making the relatively small investment at the beginning of the design process to choose the optimal reel-to-reel plating methodology can yield huge cost savings over the lifecycle of a product.