New integrated circuit protection system against moisture

2001/07/24 Elhuyar Zientzia

• Elektronika
• Materialak

A new air insulating material has been invented to protect integrated circuits.

Researchers from Taiwan have developed a new insulator to prevent the circuits from being wet. Low dielectric constant materials are good insulators. Today, silica is the most used, but in very small circuits it is difficult to keep the measure with this material. They should be shaped like sheet metal to cover the circuit.

Now, Taiwan engineers wanted to take advantage of the porosity of silica. To do this, the gaps in the material have been filled with air. Air is a very effective insulator due to its constant dielectric. To round off the invention a layer of hydrocarbons has been added to the material to chemically repel water. With this insulation, building miniaturized integrated circuits is much easier.