Analogies are a time-honored way of trying to convey information. By using the familiar to provide a means to getting a grasp on something not so familiar, one can accelerate understanding. With this in mind, one way to describe electrical and electronics interconnections to those unfamiliar with them is that they are the streets, avenues, highways and byways which electronic devices use to communicate with one another. 

A number of different types of electronic interconnection structures are used to accomplish communication. In broad brush strokes, they are wire harnesses, cables (flat, round and optical) and printed circuits (rigid, flexible and rigid-flex). It can be rightly argued that wireless interconnections are also interconnections, but they are of a more ethereal sort of interconnection and need really to be examined separately.

While interconnections have historically not been considered all that glamorous by many in the world of electronics design and manufacture, it is becoming increasingly clear such seemingly simple circuit features will be the gate keepers both the cost and performance of future electronic products.

This column will focus primarily on one general type of interconnection: The flexible circuit in all of its various forms. The name flexible circuit is certainly descriptive enough to give even a lay person a good idea of what the technology is in general terms, but flex circuit technology is much richer in both possibilities and practice than the simple descriptive term we use to describe them reveals. Just as one can accurately say that a forest is an area of land covered in trees, it barely scratches the surface of the biological and geological diversity that can be found in a forest--the same holds true for flexible circuits and the materials and manufacturing technologies that are used to create them.

The plan for this column is, thus, to explore, examine and discuss flexible circuits from all possible perspectives including, but not limited to: Structures, applications both old and new, design principles and practices, materials both polymeric and metallic, manufacturing equipment, tools, methods and processes, assembly methods and materials, inspection, testing and evaluation. With so many things to cover, it is hoped that this space will provide many new mental "springboards" from which to leap off and explore the myriad possibilities that flexible circuits offer. The present plan is to prepare a column at least once a month, but it might be that a greater frequency is warranted.

While Flex007 provides a rich and continuing source of information from which to draw inspiration and material as to what topics might be of interest, the reader's participation is sought as well both in terms of suggesting topics that might be of interest and sharing information that they feel might be of interest to others. Thanks in advance for your active participation.

Stay flexible!

Verdant Electronics Founder and President, Joseph (Joe) Fjelstad, is a four-decade veteran of the electronics industry and an international authority and innovator in the field of electronic interconnection and packaging technologies with more than 250 U.S. and international patents issued or pending. He is also the author of "Flexible Circuit Technology" and author, co-author or editor of several other books and more than 300 technical papers, articles and columns. To contact Joe, click here.

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