Lonza Product News/New Materials for High-Speed Telecom and Bendable Electronic Devices

Peapack, NJ, Basel, Switzerland, January 27, 2014 — Novoset, LLC and Lonza are pleased to announce the introduction of Primaset ULL-950 and Primaset HTL-300 ultra-low loss and high temperature thermoset materials for the telecommunication and advanced semiconductor packaging industries. These thermoset resins are based on Cyanate ester (CE) chemistry. Primaset ULL-950 is suitable for high-performance applications such as power amplifiers for 4G LTE and 4G LTE advanced base stations for smartphones, internet infrastructure and high-layer count servers for “cloud computing”. Low dielectric properties coupled with high Glass transition temperature (Tg) makes PrimasetTM HTL-300 an ideal candidate for advanced Integrated Circuit (IC) substrates for semiconductor packaging materials and next generation application processors for mobile chips. Depending on the backbone structure PrimasetTM ULL-950 has a dissipation factor (Df) ranging from 0.0009 to 0.003 and dielectric constant (Dk) between 2.3 – 2.6 up to 40 GHz. The Tg can vary between 175 – 320˚C. High temperature bendable devices can be fabricated utilizing its flexibility. These products also exhibit low moisture uptake and short lamination cycles. The high temperature capabilities and toughness are critical for lead-free assemblies in Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) and build-up films. Low moisture uptake and wet Tg retention with toughness also may open the door for the use of these Cyanate esters for structural aerospace applications.

The processing of these materials is similar to epoxy resins and other commercial PrimasetTM materials. The products co-react with epoxy resins, Polyphenylenether (PPE), Styrene maleic anhydride (SMA), Triallyl cyanurate (TAC), Bismaleinimide (BMI), Vinyl polymers, Primaset™ BA-230S, Primaset™ BA-3000, and other Cyanate esters. The products are soluble in Methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), Toluene, Xylenes and other solvents at high concentration. These products also give excellent adhesive characteristics with various substrates and can be highly filled with fillers for low CTE applications. Dr. Sajal Das, President & CEO of Novoset, LLC stated: “We can design and fabricate high-layer count ultra-low dielectric boards without using Teflon™. PrimasetTM ULL-950’s electrical performance is similar to Polytetrafluoroethylene, it can be processed as easy as FR-4 technology and reaches Tg of Cyanate esters or Polyimides”. He further commented that: “We are getting close to fabricating bendable tablets, smartphones and other devices from high temperature thermosets such as derivatives of PrimasetTM ULL-950 and PrimasetTM HTL-300 in the foreseeable future.”

ULL-950 and HTL-300 were developed at Novoset Technology Center, in Berkeley Heights, NJ. Lonza will manufacture and market these two products globally under Primaset™ trade name.