COMPONENTS ON FLEXIBLE SUBSTRATES AND METHOD FOR THE PRODUCTION THEREOF

Abstract

The invention concerns the field of electronics and materials science and relates to components on flexible substrates, as are for example used as sensors or actuators in the automotive industry, mechanical engineering or electronics, and to a method for the production thereof.

The object of the present invention is the specification of components on flexible substrates, the physical and in particular electrical properties of which have long-term stability, and the specification of a cost-efficient and simple method for the production thereof.

The object is attained with components on flexible substrates, composed of a flexible substrate having a barrier layer arranged at least partially thereon, on which layer a components layer is at least partially positioned.

Claims

1. Components on flexible substrates, composed of a flexible substrate having a barrier layer arranged at least partially thereon, on which layer a components layer is at least partially positioned.

2. The components according to claim 1 in which films or thin layers are present as a flexible substrate.

3. The components according to claim 2 in which films or thin layers of polyimide or polyether ether ketone are present.

4. The components according to claim 1 in which electrically insulating layers are present as barrier layers, which prevent to the greatest possible extent the diffusion process between the substrate and the components layers.

5. The components according to claim 4 in which layers of aluminum oxide and/or silicon dioxide are present as barrier layers.

6. The components according to claim 1 in which layers of bismuth or bismuth-based alloys are present as components layers.

7. The components according to claim 1 in which the barrier layer fully covers the flexible substrate and/or is structured.

8. The components according to claim 1 in which the components layer is arranged solely on the barrier layer.

9. The components according to claim 1 in which the components layer fully covers the barrier layer and/or is arranged thereon in a structured manner.

10. The components according to claim 1 in which the barrier layer fully covers and envelops the components layer.

11. A method for the production of components on flexible substrates in which a barrier layer is applied at least partially to a flexible substrate using thin layer technologies and a components layer is applied at least partially to the barrier layer.

Description

EXAMPLE 1

[0032] A 10-nm thick Al.sub.2O.sub.3 layer was applied over the entire area to a polyimide film with the dimensions 100 mm×50 mm×0.1 mm (L×W×H). For this purpose, the coating chamber was evacuated to a residual gas pressure of 2×10.sup.−6 mbar. The coating took place at 120° C. with the use of TMAl(trimethylaluminum) as a precursor and water as a reducing agent (t=100 ms). At a total of 125 cycles, 10 nm Al.sub.2O.sub.3 was obtained. The time between 2 cycles was set at 4000 ms. A 250-nm thick Bi layer was subsequently deposited on the Al.sub.2O.sub.3-coated substrate by means of high-frequency sputtering. To do so, the coating system was evacuated to a residual gas pressure of 4×10.sup.−7 mbar. Argon was then introduced as a sputtering gas to a partial pressure of 1×10.sup.−3 mbar, and the high-frequency plasma was ignited. The Bi coating was performed at an output power of 50 W and a deposition rate of 14 nm/min. The coating took place through a metallic vapor penetration mask so that an additional geometric structuring was not necessary. The sensor was composed of the actual Hall cross and the necessary supply lines and connection contacts. For an improved contact capability, a solderable contact and soldering layer was applied at the ends of the conductor tracks. This coating took place by means of electron beam evaporation. For this purpose, a metallic vapor penetration mask was placed on the Bi-coated Kapton substrate provided with Al.sub.2O.sub.3, wherein the openings in the vapor penetration mask defined the shape and the lateral size of the subsequent contact regions. After the evacuation of the coating chamber, a 5-nm thick Cr adhesive layer (coating rate=0.1 nm/s) was first applied and then a 100-nm thick Au layer (coating rate=0.2 nm/s) by means of electron beam evaporation. The starting vacuum was 1×10.sup.−7 mbar. The contact layers produced in this manner showed excellent solderability and were able to be used to connect the sensor to the electrical measuring devices.

[0033] This component was flexible and could, for example, be bonded in place in bearings of electric motors. After storage in air for 5000 hours at 120° C., it was possible to verify the long-term stability, since no changes occurred in the values for the electrical resistance as part of the measurement accuracy.