Electronics place ever-higher demands on plastics. Driven forward by trends like miniaturization, thinnovation, increased electrification in automobiles, and the need for more design freedom, the industry is seeking new ways to deliver reliable electronic circuitry in ever-smaller packages and in challenging environments. One promising solution is Laser Direct Structuring (LDS), which prints conductive traces onto 3D plastic parts, for example, printing an antenna onto a mobile phone frame.

Yet using this technology creates its own challenges that require high-end material expertise to ensure the production of effective and reliable parts, particularly those that will be used in challenging environments, like under-the-hood applications or safety-critical assisted driving applications. Performance during use is essential, yet we must also look at the effect of high-temperature processing on the materials used.

At DSM, we have a proven track record in the electronics and automotive industries. Our ForTii product line is a high performance PPA that meets the demands of these ever-evolving industries. With a high glass transition temperature (Tg), ForTii demonstrates excellent mechanical properties over a wide temperature range, with good chemical stability, and can be used in SMT processes, making it a benchmark across the industry.

For LDS part production, three characteristics are key to success: the plating index, adhesion, and design freedom. Our portfolio of LDS grades of ForTii delivers a consistently high plating index for fast and reliable processing, superior adhesion that ensures the integrity of the 3D circuitry, and tight weldlines with very high resolution to ensure design freedom while maintaining the quality of the circuitry design.

Since we know that our materials need to be used in some of the harshest environments, we complete extensive material testing to ensure our materials consistently outperform competitive materials.

Learn more about how ForTii can help you integrate electronics into your plastic parts. Contact us for technical inquiries or sample requests.