This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-101461 filed on Apr. 4, 2003, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a multi-layer printed circuit board and a method for manufacturing the same. The multi-layer printed circuit board includes a resin substrate and a thin film resistor embedded in the resin substrate. Multiple resin films made of thermoplastic resin are laminated and bonded each other so that the resin substrate is provided. A conductive pattern made of metallic film is disposed on the resin film.
A multi-layer printed circuit board having a conductive pad disposed on the surface of the circuit board for mounting an electric part is, for example, disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-349447. In the multi-layer printed circuit board, a crack may be generated at a periphery of the conductive pad by a difference of thermal expansion. A proceeding of the crack is prevented by a conductive pattern embedded in an insulation resin and disposed near the periphery of the conductive pad.
In some cases, an electric part is mounted not only on the surface of the multi-layer printed circuit board but also inside of the multi-layer printed circuit board. One of the electric parts mounted inside of the circuit board is a thin film resistor formed by a sheet forming method, a paste forming method, a sputtering method or the like.
The multi-layer printed circuit board 100 shown in
The film thickness of the thin film resistor 4 is equal to or thinner than 10 μm. Specifically, in a case where the thin film resistor 4 is formed of a sheet of nickel (i.e., Ni) and phosphorous (i.e., P), the film thickness of the thin film resistor 4 is typically equal to or thinner than 1 μm. Therefore, the thin film resistor is extremely thin. Further, since the thin film resistor 4 is formed by a paste forming method or a sputtering method, strength of the thin film resistor 4 becomes small compared with the conductive pattern 2 made of metallic film. Therefore, when the resin films are laminated to manufacture the multi-layer printed circuit board 100, a crack 9 is easily generated in the thin film resistor 4 near the periphery of the electrode 5, as shown in
In view of the above-described problem, it is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-layer printed circuit board and a method for manufacturing the same. The multi-layer printed circuit board is formed of multiple resin films laminated and bonded together. The resin films are made of thermoplastic resin, and a conductive pattern is formed on the resin film. The multi-layer printed circuit board includes a thin film resistor embedded therein. The thin film resistor is prevented from cracking in case of manufacturing the multi-layer printed circuit board. The multi-layer printed circuit board according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a resin substrate formed by laminating multiple thermoplastic resin films; a thin film resistor embedded in the resin substrate; and an electrode disposed on the thin film resistor. The thermoplastic resin film includes a conductive pattern made of metallic film. The periphery of the electrode is covered with the conductive pattern disposed over or under the electrode.
In the above circuit board, the periphery of the electrode disposed on the thin film resistor is covered with the conductive pattern, which is made of strong metallic film and disposed over or under the electrode. Accordingly, when the thermoplastic resin films are bonded together by heating and pressurizing, the fluidized thermoplastic resin film is prevented by the conductive pattern from moving toward the periphery of the electrode. Therefore, stress concentration to the thin film resistor disposed near the periphery of the electrode by the fluidized thermoplastic resin film is limited, so that the thin film resistor is prevented from cracking.
Preferably, the thin film resistor is covered with the conductive pattern disposed on a side opposite to the electrode across the thin film resistor. In this case, when the thermoplastic resin films are bonded together by heating and pressurizing, the fluidized thermoplastic resin film is prevented by the conductive pattern disposed on the side opposite to the electrode from moving toward the thin film resistor. Therefore, the stress concentration to the thin film resistor by the fluidized thermoplastic resin film is limited, so that the thin film resistor is prevented from cracking.
Preferably, when the thermoplastic resin composing the thermoplastic resin film is fluidized, the conductive pattern prevents the fluidized thermoplastic resin from moving toward the thin film resistor.
Further, another multi-layer printed circuit board according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a resin substrate formed by laminating multiple thermoplastic resin films; a thin film resistor embedded in the resin substrate. The thermoplastic resin film includes a conductive pattern made of metallic film and disposed on the surface of the resin film. The resin substrate has a hole filled with a conductive material. The thin film resistor is directly connected to the conductive pattern disposed over or under the thin film resistor through the conductive material in the hole.
In this case, the thin film resistor is directly connected to the conductive pattern disposed over or under the thin film resistor through the conductive material filled in the hole of the resin substrate without forming an electrode. Accordingly, when the thermoplastic resin films are bonded together by heating and pressurizing, local stress concentration to the thin film resistor by the fluidized thermoplastic resin film is limited. That is because the circuit board has no electrode, which triggers the local stress on the thin film resistor. Thus, the thin film resistor is prevented from cracking.
Preferably, the thin film resistor is covered with the conductive pattern disposed over or under the electrode. In this case, when the thermoplastic resin films are bonded together by heating and pressurizing, the fluidized thermoplastic resin film is prevented by the conductive pattern for covering the thin film resistor disposed over or under the electrode from moving toward the thin film resistor. The conductive pattern is made of strong metallic film. Thus, the stress concentration to the thin film resistor by the fluidized thermoplastic resin film is limited, so that the thin film resistor is prevented from cracking.
Further, a method for manufacturing a multi-layer printed circuit board according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention includes the steps of: preparing a conductive pattern film by forming a predetermined conductive pattern made of metallic film on a thermoplastic resin film; preparing a thin film resistor film with an electrode by forming a thin film resistor on the thermoplastic resin film and by forming the electrode on the thin film resistor; laminating the conductive pattern film on the thin film resistor film with the electrode in order to cover the periphery of the electrode with the conductive pattern disposed over or under the electrode; and bonding the conductive pattern film and the thin film resistor film with the electrode by heating and pressurizing the laminates of the conductive pattern film and the thin film resistor film with the electrode.
In the above circuit board, the periphery of the electrode disposed on the thin film resistor is covered with the conductive pattern, which is made of strong metallic film and disposed over or under the electrode. Accordingly, when the thermoplastic resin films are bonded together by heating and pressurizing, the fluidized thermoplastic resin film is prevented by the conductive pattern from moving toward the periphery of the electrode. Therefore, stress concentration to the thin film resistor disposed near the periphery of the electrode by the fluidized thermoplastic resin film is limited, so that the thin film resistor is prevented from cracking. Further, the resin film having the conductive pattern and the thin film resistor film having the thin film resistor are bonded together at the same time by heating and pressurizing. Therefore, the multi-layer printed circuit board manufactured by the above method includes the conductive patterns made of metallic film and formed into a multi-layered construction. The circuit board further includes the thin film resistor embedded in the resin substrate. The circuit board is manufactured at a low cost.
Preferably, when the thermoplastic resin composing the thermoplastic resin film is fluidized in a bonding process for bonding the conductive pattern film and the thin film resistor film with the electrode, the conductive pattern prevents the fluidized thermoplastic resin from moving toward the thin film resistor.
Furthermore, another method for manufacturing a multi-layer printed circuit board according to the other preferred embodiment of the present invention includes the steps of: preparing a conductive pattern film by forming a predetermined conductive pattern made of metallic film on a thermoplastic resin film; filling a hole having a bottom with a conductive material, the hole being formed in the conductive pattern film to have the bottom of the conductive pattern; preparing a thin film resistor film by forming a thin film resistor on the thermoplastic resin film; laminating the conductive pattern film on the thin film resistor film in order to connect directly the thin film resistor to the conductive pattern through the conductive material filled in the hole with the bottom, which is provided by the conductive pattern disposed over or under the thin film resistor; and bonding the conductive pattern film and the thin film resistor film by heating and pressurizing the laminates of the conductive pattern film and the thin film resistor film.
In this case, the thin film resistor is directly connected to the conductive pattern disposed over or under the thin film resistor through the conductive material filled in the hole of the resin substrate without forming an electrode. Accordingly, when the thermoplastic resin films are bonded together by heating and pressurizing, local stress concentration to the thin film resistor by the fluidized thermoplastic resin film is limited. That is because the circuit board has no electrode, which triggers the local stress on the thin film resistor. Thus, the thin film resistor is prevented from cracking. Further, the resin film having the conductive pattern and the thin film resistor film having the thin film resistor are bonded together at the same time by heating and pressurizing. Therefore, the multi-layer printed circuit board manufactured by the above method includes the conductive patterns made of metallic film and formed into a multi-layered construction. The circuit board further includes the thin film resistor embedded in the resin substrate. The circuit board is manufactured at a low cost.
In the drawings:
A multi-layer printed circuit board and method for manufacturing the circuit board according to the present invention are explained with reference to the drawings as follows.
Next, the multi-layer printed circuit board and the method for manufacturing the circuit board according to the present invention is described in detail. Specifically, a construction around the thin film resistor of the circuit board is described as follows.
The multi-layer printed circuit board 102 shown in
Accordingly, as explained above with reference to
Next, a method for manufacturing the multi-layer printed circuit board 102 as an example is described as follows.
At first, as shown in
As shown in
Next, as shown in
Next, as shown in
Here, the adhesion protection film 51 shown in
Thus, the heated and pressurized laminated multi-layer printed circuit board is retrieved from the hot press plate 54, so that the multi-layer printed circuit board 102 shown in
In the above method for manufacturing the multi-layer printed circuit board 102 shown in
In the multi-layer printed circuit board 101-104 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the electrode 5 is formed on the thin film resistor 4 embedded in the resin substrate 1. In a multi-layer printed circuit board according to a second embodiment of the present invention, the circuit board includes the thin film resistor 4 with no electrode embedded in the resin substrate 1.
The multi-layer printed circuit board 105 shown in
Thus, when the thermoplastic resin films are bonded together by heating and pressurizing, the resin substrate 1 has no electrode, which triggers a local stress on the thin film resistor 4, as described in
The multi-layer printed circuit board 105 shown in
In the circuit board 101-104 according to the first embodiment, the conductive patterns are disposed over and under the thin film resistor 4 for covering the periphery of the electrode. Further, in the circuit board 105-107 according to the second embodiment, the conductive patterns directly connected to the resistor 4 through the conductive material member are disposed over and under the thin film resistor 4. However, the conductive pattern for covering the periphery of the electrode or directly connected to the resistor through the conductive material member can be disposed on one side of the thin film resistor 4 so that no conductive pattern is disposed on the other side of the resistor 4. Further, in a case where the conductive pattern is disposed on the other side of the resistor and the conductive pattern is apart from the thin film resistor 4, the conductive pattern for covering the periphery of the electrode or directly connected to the resistor through the conductive material member can be effective even when the conductive pattern is disposed on the one side of the thin film resistor 4.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2003-101461 | Apr 2003 | JP | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
4870746 | Klaser | Oct 1989 | A |
4947531 | Brisson | Aug 1990 | A |
6021050 | Ehman et al. | Feb 2000 | A |
6489668 | Oda et al. | Dec 2002 | B1 |
6734542 | Nakatani et al. | May 2004 | B2 |
6814893 | Takezawa et al. | Nov 2004 | B2 |
6818836 | Shiraishi et al. | Nov 2004 | B2 |
6872893 | Fukuoka et al. | Mar 2005 | B2 |
6889155 | Ogino et al. | May 2005 | B2 |
6906257 | Saccomanno et al. | Jun 2005 | B2 |
7100276 | Fukuoka et al. | Sep 2006 | B2 |
20020117743 | Nakatani et al. | Aug 2002 | A1 |
20020189859 | Shiraishi et al. | Dec 2002 | A1 |
20020195420 | Obert et al. | Dec 2002 | A1 |
20040158980 | Nakatani et al. | Aug 2004 | A1 |
20050000725 | Shiraishi et al. | Jan 2005 | A1 |
20050186768 | Sugaya et al. | Aug 2005 | A1 |
20050230848 | Nakatani et al. | Oct 2005 | A1 |
20060254050 | Fukuoka et al. | Nov 2006 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
A-11-26943 | Jan 1999 | JP |
A-2000-349447 | Dec 2000 | JP |
A-2001-168491 | Jun 2001 | JP |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20050139386 A1 | Jun 2005 | US |