Many new technologies and products related to flexible circuits were introduced by mid-sized manufacturers at JPCA Show 2019.

Oki Cable displayed several unique technologies that included stretchable and transparent circuits. They are proactive with introducing materials for base materials as well as conductors and coverlay. Oki Cable provided many circuit examples that featured balances between the materials. They also featured spiral flexible circuits for 3-D-stretchable wiring using both traditional materials and new elastic materials.

Taiyo Industrial, another mid-sized flex circuit manufacturer also displayed transparent flexible and stretchable circuits using new copper laminates and coverlay materials. Taiyo has a supplemental business that uses machines to inspect flexible circuits. Taiyo featured a universal handling robot that can handle thin flexible materials developed for its own manufacturing processes. The robots are capable for managing thin fragile projects in the manufacturing and assembling process, especially in small-volume and prototype production.

Low-loss circuits are a growing category for flex circuit manufacturers (assuming 5G devices will be available this year). Kuraray, a major material supplier in Japan, introduced Liquid Chrystal Polymer (LCP) films and its copper laminate. Yamashita Materials, a prototype flex circuit manufacturer in Japan displayed many examples of flex circuit examples with LCP materials designed for mobile devices. All these companies reported increases in inquiries due to the potential market from 5G devices.

Dominique K. Numakura, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

DKN Research, www.dknresearch.com

DKN Research Newsletter #1918, June 30, 2019 (English Edition) (Micro Electronics & Packaging) 

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Headlines of the Week

1. Micron (Major semiconductor company in the US) completed construction of a new manufacturing plant building in Hiroshima, Japan. It could be a great milestone for its global strategy.

2. JR East (Major railway company in Japan) plans to develop a new hybrid train of hydrogen fuel cell and batteries. Its field test will be conducted in 2021.

3. Stanley (Major device manufacturer in Japan) commercialized a new device of “Super High Power Infrared LED” for DMS (Driver monitoring system. It has 70% higher emission compared to traditional devices.

4. Toshiba (Major electric & electronics company in Japan) successfully achieved 23.8% conversion rate with tandem structure photovoltaic cell of transparent cupper oxide.

5. Oki Cable (Major cable manufacturer in Japan) commercialized expandable flexible circuits for wearable devices using rubber type substrate. Copper base conductors make stable conductance.

6. Tokyo University (Japan) discovered BPVE (Bulk photovoltaic effect) of WS2 (wolfram sulfide) nanotube. It will be valuable to increase conversion rate of photovoltaic cells.

7. Tokin (Major component supplier in Japan) commercialized a new grade of polymer tantalum capacitor with high-volume efficiencies for autonomous driving systems of automobiles.

8. Kyocera (Major electronics company in Japan) will start the volume production of new lithium ion batteries in 2020. It has a higher energy density by a lower cost.

9. JEITA (Electronic industry organization in Japan) published the Electronics Packaging Roadmap 2019. 43,200 yens for non-members.

10. Yaskawa Electric (Major equipment manufacturer in Japan) released a new version for multi-joint robot “MOTOMAN-GP” with long arms up to 3124 mm for automobile assembling lines.