Base materials for circuit boards based on phenolic resin/paper laminates are used primarily for low-performance materials, which are needed, for example, in consumer electronics. The actual properties standard of these materials meets the requirements of the market. The laminating adhesives used for the manufacture of base materials are organic solutions or aqueous dispersions of thermosetting resins such as poly(vinyl butyral)- phenolic resin or acrylate-phenolic resin.
Flexible circuit boards consist primarily of polyimide-based carriers. The problem of bonding the copper foil on the polyimide carrier has not yet been solved satisfactorily. Due especially to their low bonding strength at elevated temperatures, the production of such materials is very limited. Nevertheless, adhesives for copper-polyimide systems were developed, where one-component epoxy resins (e. g., epoxy-polyester mixtures) and reactive hot melts (e. g., phenolic resin-nitrile rubbers) reached importance.
A wide range of high-performance materials for circuit boards is available for such systems, where the laminating resin acts simultaneously as adhesive for the copper foil. The majority of the systems consist of resins, which are based on epoxies, bismaleimides, cyanates, BT resins, and carrier materials, made from glass and carbon fibers and polyamides. Since the properties of the resins are adjustable over a wide range using combinations and modifications of the resins, the bonding strengths desired for the resulting circuit board base materials can be achieved for almost all kinds of applications. On the other hand, further developments are needed to get base materials having, for example, high thermal and moisture resistance.