Patent ID: 6099745
Filing Date: 2000-08-08
Classification: H05K,Y10T

Abstract:
A method of fabricating a rigid/flex printed circuit board, comprising the steps of:depositing a protective barrier material on copper circuit traces appearing on a surface of a flexible first circuit structure, the protective barrier material being resistant to a copper-etchant solution to be used in a subsequent step of the fabricating method;laminating at least a second circuit structure to the surface of the first circuit structure after the protective barrier material has been deposited, the second circuit structure including an insulating layer having a window area opening and an outer copper foil a portion of which covers the window area opening;etching the outer copper foil using the copper-etchant solution, the etching being effective to remove the portion of the outer copper foil covering the window area opening of the insulating layer and to thereby expose a flex area of the first circuit structure;stripping the protective barrier material from the copper circuit traces in the flex area of the first circuit structure exposed by the etching step; anddepositing a sealing coating onto the laminated structure formed by the foregoing steps such that the flex area of the first circuit structure and the adjacent edges of the second circuit structure are sealed against moisture and contaminants.