Association Connecting Electronics Industries
IPC-4592
®
Requirements for Printed
Electronics Functional
Dielectric Materials
Developed by the Printed Electronics Functional Dielectric Materials Task
Group (D-63A) of the Printed Electronics Committee (D-60) of IPC
Users of this publication are encouraged to participate in the
development of future revisions.
Contact:
IPC
Tel 847 615.7100
Fax 847 615.7105
August 2022 IPC-4592
Table of Contents
1 SCOPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 3.1.2 Postprocessed Material Requirements . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 3.2 Documentation Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2 Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4 QUALITY ASSURANCE PROVISIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3 Measurement Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4.1 Responsibility for Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.4 Definition of Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4.2 Responsibility for Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.5 Process Control Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4.3 Quality Assurance Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.6 Order of Precedence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4.4 Test Equipment and Inspection Facilities . . . . . . . . 7
1.6.1 Conflict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4.5 Preparation of Samples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.6.2 Clause References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4.6 Standard Laboratory Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.6.3 Procurement Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4.7 Tolerances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.7 Quality Conformance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4.8 Classification of Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.8 Abbreviations and Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4.9 Materials Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.9 Terms and Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4.10 Qualification Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.9.1 Functional Dielectric Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4.10.1 Sample Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.9.2 Postprocessed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4.10.2 Frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.9.3 Preprocessed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4.11 Quality Conformance Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.9.4 Solids Content (Nonvolatile Content) . . . . . . . . . . 2 4.11.1 Inspection of Product for Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.9.5 Solution Processable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4.11.2 Sample Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.9.6 Solvent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4.11.3 Group A Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.9.7 Surface Tension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4.11.4 Group B Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.9.8 Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4.12 Statistical Process Control (SPC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.9.9 Volatiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4.12.1 Reduction of Quality Conformance Testing . . . . . . 9
1.10 Designation System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
5 PREPARATION FOR DELIVERY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.10.1 Functional Dielectric Material Designation . . . . . . 2
5.1 Packaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.11 Manufacturing Processing Parameters . . . . . . . . . . 4
5.2 Container Marking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.11.1 Ultraviolet (UV) Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.11.2 Thermal Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 6 NOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.11.3 Manufacturing Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 6.1 Ordering Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
6.2 Chemical Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2 APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.1 IPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Tables
2.2 ASTM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Table 1-1 Base Dielectric Type Designation . . . . . . . . . 3
2.3 IEC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Table 1-2 Printing Process Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.4 ISO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Table 1-3 Curing Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.5 NCSL International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Table 1-4 Function of Dielectric Material . . . . . . . . . . 3
3 REQUIREMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Table 4-1 Test Method Frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.1 General Characterization Methodology . . . . . . . . . 5 Table 4-2 Sampling Plan for Group A Inspection . . . . . 8
3.1.1 Preprocessed Material Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . 5
v
August 2022 IPC-4592
Requirements for Printed Electronics
Functional Dielectric Materials
1 SCOPE
This standard establishes the classification system and the qualification and quality conformance requirements for functional
dielectric materials used in printed electronics applications. The intended applications include but are not limited to dielectric
materials as protective dielectric or insulator/insulation layer(s), capacitive layer(s), crossovers and encapsulant(s) for devices in
printed electronics systems.
1.1 Purpose The purpose of this standard is to provide a detailed list of parameters and their characterization methods for the
intended application of functional dielectric materials used in printed electronics.
1.2 Classification IPC standards recognize that electrical and electronic assemblies are subject to classifications by intended
end-item use. Three general end-product classes have been established to reflect differences in manufacturability, complexity,
functional performance requirements, and verification (inspection/test) frequency. It should be recognized that there may be
overlaps of equipment between classes.
CLASS 1 General Electronic Products
Includes products suitable for applications where the major requirement is function of the completed assembly.
CLASS 2 Dedicated Service Electronic Products
Includes products where continued performance and extended life is required, and for which uninterrupted service is desired but
not critical. Typically, the end-use environment would not cause failures.
CLASS 3 High Performance/Harsh Environment Electronic Products
Includes products where continued high performance or performance-on-demand is critical, equipment downtime cannot be
tolerated, end-use environment may be uncommonly harsh, and the equipment must function when required, such as life support
or other critical systems.
1.3 Measurement Units All dimensions and tolerances in this specification are expressed in hard SI (metric) units and bracketed
soft imperial [inch] units. Users of this specification are expected to use metric dimensions. All dimensions ≥ 1 mm [0.0394 in]
will be expressed in millimeters and inches. All dimensions < 1 mm [0.0394 in] will be expressed in micrometers and microinches.
1.4 Definition of Requirements The words shall or shall not are used in the text of this document wherever there is a requirement
for materials, preparation, process control or acceptance.
The word “should” reflect recommendations and is used to reflect general industry practices and procedures for guidance only.
Line drawings and illustrations are depicted herein to assist in the interpretation of the written requirements of this Standard. The
text takes precedence over the figures.
1.5 Process Control Requirements The primary goal of process control is to continually reduce variation in the processes, products,
or services to provide products or processes meeting or exceeding user requirements. Process control tools such as IPC-9191 or
other user-approved system may be used as guidelines for implementing process control.
A documented process control system, if established, shall define process control and corrective action limits.
This may or may not be a statistical process control system. The use of statistical process control (SPC) is optional and should be
based on factors such as design stability, lot size, production quantities and the needs of the manufacturer (see 4.12).
When a decision or requirement is to use a documented process control system, failure to implement process corrective action and/
or the use of continually ineffective corrective actions shall be grounds for disapproval of the process and associated documentation.
1.6 Order of Precedence The contract shall take precedence over this standard, referenced standards and drawings.
In the event of conflict, the following order of precedence applies:
1) Procurement as agreed and documented between user and supplier.
2) Master drawing, design brief or tech pack reflecting the user’s detailed requirements.
3) When invoked by the customer or per contractual agreement, this standard.
When documents other than this standard are cited, the order of precedence shall be defined in the procurement documents. The
user can specify alternate acceptance criteria.
1
IPC-4592 August 2022
1.6.1 Conflict In the event of conflict between the requirements of this standard and the applicable drawing(s) and documentation,
the applicable user-approved drawing(s) and documentation govern.
Some examples of documentation include the contract, purchase order, technical data package, engineering specification or
performance specification. In the event of a conflict between the text of this standard and the applicable documents cited herein,
the text of this standard takes precedence. In the event of conflict between the requirements of this standard and drawing(s) and
documentation that has not been user approved, this standard governs.
1.6.2 Clause References When a clause in this document is referenced, its subordinate clauses apply, unless the requirement
references specific subordinate clauses.
1.6.3 Procurement Documentation The procurement documentation shall provide sufficient information to the supplier so
the supplier can produce functional nonconductive dielectric materials and ensure the user receives the desired product. The
procurement documentation should specify the requirements that can be selected from within this standard.
1.7 Quality Conformance This standard establishes a quality conformance system for suppliers to demonstrate the continual
conformance of materials to the quality requirements of the standard. See Section 4 for quality conformance inspection requirements.
1.8 Abbreviations and Acronyms When used, periodic table elements are abbreviated in the standard.
1.9 Terms and Definitions Terms and definitions shall be in accordance with 1.9.1 through 1.9.9, IPC-T-51 and IPC-T-50.
1.9.1 Functional Dielectric Material A material or material composite typically containing a component or components that
have intrinsic material properties providing dielectric and/or insulative function to the final (postprocessed) printed pattern
(thin or thick film).
As-supplied and preprocessed functional dielectric material typically includes both volatile and nonvolatile components. Volatiles
are liquid solvents. Nonvolatiles are solids responsible for the functional properties of the printed pattern.
1.9.2 Postprocessed The state of material following deposition and any curing or drying process.
1.9.3 Preprocessed State of material following deposition but prior to any curing or drying process.
1.9.4 Solids Content (Nonvolatile Content) Component(s) of a preprocessed functional material that cannot be removed by
evaporation or decomposition through thermal treatment (drying) or curing. They form a printed pattern which provides the
dielectric functionality to the printed pattern after postprocessing.
1.9.5 Solution Processable A material which has rheological properties that enable it to be processed via a liquid-phase dispensing
technology.
1.9.6 Solvent A nonreactive liquid which is added to a vehicle to enable the process of printing the functional material and removed
during postprocessing.
Typical solvents could be organic or aqueous.
1.9.7 Surface Tension The property of the surface of a liquid that allows it to resist an external force. The cohesive forces between
the liquid molecules are responsible for surface tension. Expressed in Newton per meter (N/m) or dyne per cm (dyn/cm).
1.9.8 Vehicle A liquid component which carries the functional material and binds it to the surface of the substrate during the drying
process. It typically comprises a resin (binder), solvent(s) and additive(s). The composition of the vehicle is strongly dependent on
the printing process and the substrate.
1.9.9 Volatiles Component(s) of a preprocessed functional material that can be removed by evaporation through thermal treatment
(drying) or curing.
1.10 Designation System The user has the responsibility to specify on the procurement documentation materials capable of
meeting the requirements of this specification and end-item use.
Note: When possible, material callout information should be reviewed with the supplier to obtain concurrence that the part will
meet customer requirements and, if necessary, to update the procurement documentation accordingly.
The classification system defined in 1.10.1 identifies functional dielectric materials for printed electronics applications.
1.10.1 Functional Dielectric Material Designation The functional dielectric material designation is intended for use on material
purchase orders (see 6.1).
