Electrically Conductive Adhesives in Electronics

Electrically conductive adhesives are materials that are sometimes used in electronics assembly instead of lead-free solders. These are composite materials consisting of an insulating matrix and a conductive filler. The matrix is usually comprised of an epoxy resin, but it is possible to use another type of resin, e.g. silicone one for higher temperatures, polyamide resin, and others. Fillers are usually metallic particles, silver flakes with adhesives having isotropic and silver microspheres for adhesive having anisotropic electrical conductivity. The article in the first part describes the basic properties of electrically conductive adhesives and their basic applications. The second part is focused on the examination of the resistance of adhesive joints made of isotropic conductive adhesives for different types of loading. It has been found that the maximum changes of the joint resistances are caused with combined humidity-heat treatment.