Electronics industry

In the electronics industry, fluoropolymers improve the functionality, reliability, and lifespan of ever-smaller microprocessors and other electrical components, thanks to superior chemical resistance and higher purity.

They are vital in the semiconductor manufacturing process. Fluoropolymers enable improved fire safety, reliability and performance of cables, notably data transmission cables enabling a wide range of ICT2, industrial, automotive, medical imaging, analysis and a vast range of other applications. A combination of high dielectric properties, high heat resistance and fire resistance is necessary to produce acceptable products.

Various fluoropolymer components can stand up to aggressive etching chemicals and provide the necessary purity required in the production of microchips and other electronics, where even trace contaminants can severely affect production yield. Annual benefits of fluoropolymers in semiconductor manufacturing are substantial, estimated to be approximately €10 billion, per year in a 2006 study. Semiconductors on the other hand are found in millions of products which are becoming ever more powerful, yet compact.

Fluoropolymers have many unique properties that make them non-replaceable for many electronic applications. They are critical for the manufacturing infrastructure of microprocessors used in personal, industrial and professional high-tech electronic devices. They help meet the needs of ever-evolving design complexities and miniaturization in semiconductors for a wide range of electronic devices and the data transfer between these devices.

Their durability, resistance and chemical inertness provide numerous benefits including:

Improved functionality, reliability, affordability and complexity

thanks to the excellent dielectric properties, superior chemical resistance and the high purity of fluoropolymers

Increased component lifetime and manufacturing cost savings

Reduced environmental risk

Improved fire safety

Improved performance

of high-volume data transmission, better connectivity, hardwired and wireless

Improved reliability

of electronic systems that control a majority of safety critical operations in industrial use

Fluoropolymers are crucial enablers of innovation in the electronics sector and have a critical role to play in a data-driven economy.

• Internet of Things: Fluoropolymers have contributed to breakthroughs in microprocessor wafer size increases, node reductions and processing efficiencies that were needed for connecting billions of “things” to the internet.
• Fluoropolymer cable constructions with excellent dielectric properties comply with demanding high- volume data transfer and fire safety specifications of data centres, e.g. cloud centres.
• Mini and micro coax cables for a multitude of wireless communication solutions.