Cost and Weight Reduction Aluminum Circuit Boards: Plasma Innovations Ends the Copper Era for Conductor Tracks

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Although aluminum scores with its lower weight and significantly lower costs, conductor tracks on circuit boards are almost exclusively made of copper. The use of the light metal has so far failed due to the extremely limited solderability of aluminum—but there is a solution.

With the Flexxal process, Plasma Innovations has overcome the technological hurdle of the limited solderability of aluminum. This means that PCBs with aluminum traces can now be manufactured in the same way as those with copper traces—and without any costly conversion of the production facilities. Because the material costs for the conductor tracks can be reduced by almost 90 percent and the weight by over 50 percent, Plasma Innovations sees enormous potential for its patented technology worldwide.

The Flexxal process is already in use. Production takes place at Croll Technology Limited (CRT), a production partner in Shenzhen, China. The British lighting manufacturer Whitecroft Lighting from Ashton-under-Lyne (Greater Manchester) is the first major customer. As the global market for printed circuit boards is estimated to be worth almost 80 billion dollars per year, investors are showing great interest in acquiring a stake in Plasma Innovations. The nuclear research center CERN has also expressed interest in the products called Flexxalumina.

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Agent Against the Oxide Layer on Aluminum

"We have succeeded in creating a material bond between nickel, tin and aluminum that can be soldered and is therefore ideally suited for conductor tracks," says Plasma Innovations shareholder and Managing Director Fritz Pesendorfer, outlining the technological breakthrough. The Flexxal process is a surface metallization in which the oxide layer that forms on aluminium is removed. This oxide layer cannot be soldered, which prevents the connection to the required electronic components on the circuit board.

The oxide layer is also a good electrical insulator. This in turn reduces the conductivity of the aluminum, making it unsuitable for use as a conductor track. Thanks to the plasma innovation development, the oxide layer is replaced by a tin-nickel layer with excellent intermetallic bonding. The resulting Flexxal layer can be soldered directly with standard soldering pastes and is corrosion-resistant. Flexxalumina PCBs can therefore be processed in the same way as conventional copper-based PCBs.

As no changes need to be made to the production process, the aluminum blanks can be manufactured on all standard systems. "This makes the changeover easy from a technical point of view. From an economic point of view, the arguments are very convincing anyway," Pesendorfer emphasizes.

Technically Uncomplicated, Economically Convincing

In fact, the cost savings in the raw material alone are substantial. In order to achieve the same electrical conductivity as copper conductor tracks with a thickness of 35 µm, an aluminum conductor track must be 55 µm (0.055 millimeters) thick. Replacing copper with aluminum reduces the material costs by around 88 percent and the cost of the PCB by up to 25 percent. "Aluminum is the third most common element in the earth's crust and is therefore readily available. For this reason alone, we can assume that the price gap between aluminum and copper will continue to widen," argues Pesendorfer. As aluminum has only around a third of the density of copper, the weight saving of the aluminum conductor track is 52 percent—despite being 20 µm thicker. "This makes our technology all the more attractive for all lightweight construction applications," explains Pesendorfer.

"Technology is Put Through its Paces"

As a small research company, Plasma Innovations is not in a position to set up a competitive PCB production facility, so it looked for a manufacturing partner—and found one in Croll Technology Limited (CRT) in Shenzhen, China. The British lighting manufacturer Whitecroft Lighting has already become the first customer. Whitecroft installs the aluminum circuit boards in its lighting systems.

There is also great interest in Flexxalumina in many other sectors. "We have provided samples to international technology companies as well as domestic ones," explains Pesendorfer. The interest is usually huge. We have already provided detailed information about the technology, production expertise and capacities in telephone conferences with 20 participants. "Although our samples are always put through their paces to see whether they are suitable for installation in series products, we have only received positive feedback so far," says Pesendorfer. Remarkable and particularly pleasing is an inquiry from CERN (Conseil européen pour la recherche nucléaire).

"The European Organization for Nuclear Research is interested in Flexxalumina because the lower mass of aluminium offers a significant advantage over copper," says Pesendorfer, pleased with the request for product samples. "CERN has probably been waiting for such a development and was relieved that someone can finally manufacture printed circuit boards with aluminum."

Austrian Patent With Global Potential

As the demand for PCBs is likely to continue to increase in general, Plasma Innovations is also considering a licensing model for the patented Flexxalumina technology. Technically, this would be easy to implement. "For PCB manufacturers, it is possible to convert a system from the production of copper traces to aluminum traces with little effort," explains Pesendorfer. The fact that the first major order, which is being manufactured by production partner Croll Technology in Shenzhen, comes from luminaire manufacturer Whitecroft Lighting in the UK, illustrates the international potential of innovation made in Austria. International investors are also likely to have already recognized this. "We are already in very concrete talks with a renowned venture capital company that wants to support us in financing the planned growth course," explains Fritz Pesendorfer. (sb)

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