Three-Dimensional Molded Interconnect Devices (3D-MID) : Materials, Manufacturing, Assembly and Applications for Injection Molded Circuit Carriers

Three-dimensional molded interconnect devices (MIDs) enable mechanical, electronic, optical, thermal and fluidic functions to be integrated into injection-molded components. Function integration on this scale goes hand in hand with a high level of geometrical design freedom and opportunities for miniaturization, plus the associated reduction in weight and savings on product costs. MIDs are made primarily of recyclable thermoplastics, so they are more environmentally compatible than alternatives produced using other available technologies. MIDs are used in virtually every sector of electronics. The many standard applications for MIDs in the automotive industry in particular also drive for further development and research into MID technology. The significance of MID technology is also increasing in medical engineering, IT and telecommunications and in industrial automation, with numerous applications now successfully implemented in all these various fields. This book offers a comprehensive insight into the state of the art in 3D-MID technology along the entire process chain. Individual chapters, moreover, deal with systematics of targeted development of MID parts and explore, with a dozen and more successful series-production applications as examples, the widely diverse fields of application for MID technology.