A practical guide on the use of electroless coatings for EMIshielding

摘要

Over recent years there has been an increasing trend to replacemetals with plastics in the manufacture of computers, business andindustrial machines, automotive and telecommunications components andother electronic equipment. Economics is usually the driving force dueto the trend toward miniaturisation and more complex designs. Aconsequence of taking advantage of the full function design flexibilityof plastics is increased susceptibility to EMI/RFI due to the inherentdielectric nature of the plastic itself. It has been necessarytherefore, to develop shielding techniques to protect the sensitiveelectronic devices from any external interference while at the same timepreventing any interference being emitted from the device to adverselyreact with other adjacent equipment. In selecting the correct shieldingtechnology several key issues must be considered, coating uniformity,resistance to environmental exposure as well as shielding capability.Electroless coatings are now one method extensively used as an effectiveshield on plastic substrates. This paper discusses the practical use ofelectroless coatings to meet EMC regulations