Anisotropic Conductive Film | ACF Interconnect

Anisotropic conductive film ACF or ACF Film/ tape is an epoxy / acrylic adhesive system used by electronics industry. This film creates the electrical and mechanical connections from drive electronics to substrates.

ACF (Anisotropic Conductive Film) is commonly used to make electric interconnection between Flexible circuits or ICs on to a wide range of substrates. Examples of substrates include PCB boards, ITO glass and Flexible circuits. The ACF is designed with insulation between adjacent circuits and strong adhesion to the substrates. Compared to traditional interconnection solutions, ACF bonding method offers high production productivity, cheaper and enables for fine-pitch compact design.

The conductive particles in the film provides electrical interconnection between pads through the film thickness (z-direction). These particles are spaced far apart thus not electrically conductive in the plane direction (X&Y) of the film (No shorting)

This interconnection allows low height and fine pitch allowing high density and small area of assembly.

Besides, the conductive particles are made from environmental friendly material (RoHS compliance). It also provides good metallic bonding.

In short, ACF interconnect is cheaper to implement than conventional mechanical connectors or manual soldering interconnect.