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34 The PCB Magazine • September 2014 between 10 and 200 kHz. With its underlying technologies, the LDS method is particularly ac- curate. Implementing laser technology, circuit paths of 150 µm width and 150 µm spacing between the interconnects can be realized with the standard equipment, the standard system used up until now writing at a speed of 4,000 mm/s. With specialized laser sources and opti- mized focusing even finer circuit structures up to the ultrafine range are possible. The laser structuring has to take place in a scan field up to 160x160 millimeters. A special- ized laser system uses these parameters and a stitching routine to machine larger parts up to 400 millimeters in length. The LDS systems in the Fusion3D product line can be equipped with up to four processing units to greatly de- crease the processing time. Materials The main prerequisite is that the metal ox- ide-containing additive has to be evenly dis- tributed and sufficiently concentrated in the thermoplast. Now almost all leading plastic manufacturers offer LDS versions of their ther- moplasts. The spectrum consists of amorphous and partially crystalline polymers, with thermal stability ranging from standard to high temper- 3D LDS COMPONENTS continues figure 5a and 5b: in a currentless metallization bath copper settles on the structured parts. figure 6a and 6b: the structure may be connected via bonding or can be assembled with electronic components.