Technology advances in the electrical/electronic (E/E) industry are accelerating the growth of the plastics industry to meet the needs of highly complex electronic devices, according to a Technical Insight report, Advances in Plastics for Electronic Devices, from Frost & Sullivan.
Plastic materials, which have developed beyond use as insulation and now offer excellent conductivity, are finding more and more application in the electronics industry.
"The E/E market is the world's third largest plastics end-user segment, following packaging and building/construction," noted Technical Insights Sr. Research Analyst Donald V. Rosato.
Globally, this market uses about 27 billion pounds of total plastics and the demand for conductive electronic polymer products is expected to grow by 14.5 percent annually to 2008, said Rosato.
Plastics use in automotive electronics is expanding due to the application of microcontroller and sensor technologies and the demand for wireless connectivity and in-car entertainment, the study showed.
For the consumer electronics market, digital electronic devices, including networking and information appliances, combined with a shift toward IP-enabled devices are spurring the development of more versatile plastics.
According to the analysis, highly sophisticated materials such as inherently conductive polymers, composite plastic materials and advanced engineering plastics are already being widely used in automotive and digital consumer electronics.
Designers are using plastics, in electronic components or devices, for their rigidity or flexibility, durability, resistance to low or high voltage, electrical insulation or conductive qualities, ease of fabrication, mechanical properties, temperature resistance and flame retardant capabilities.
As new plastic materials are developed, researchers need to understand the current move towards miniaturization of electronic components and circuit boards such as computer chips.
"Compact and complex printed circuit boards with rising operating temperatures are driving the need for plastics with superior thermal management capabilities," said Rosato. "New resins, additives and fillers that accommodate higher temperatures and meet the thin-wall requirements are proving to be extremely popular."
According to the report, other plastic materials that are slated for growth include compounds made of high-temperature thermoplastics such as liquid crystal polymer and polyethersulfone used in molded interconnect devices and low-k dielectric polymers in semiconductor fabrication.
But the EU's WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) and RoHS (Restriction of Certain Hazardous Substances) directives that restrict the use of certain hazardous materials will certainly have a significant impact on the use of plastic materials in E/E devices.
As an example, the analysis noted, the RoHS regulation that calls for lead-free soldering means that plastic materials used in electronic devices must be able to withstand higher soldering temperatures (20 degrees C to 30 degrees C hotter) than the temperatures used in lead soldering.
Plastics researchers are meeting these thermal challenges by developing more efficient heat sinks that help cool the semiconductors. Although aluminum and copper are mostly used to develop heat sinks for electronics, thermally conductive thermoplastics are becoming an interesting alternative, concludes the report.