Flexible Electronics & Miniaturization: The Next Frontier in Electronic Design
Not that long ago, technology came in bulky casings that contained rigid boards. Electronics were big, heavy, and often fragile. Today, technology is smaller and more flexible. From health-monitoring wearables to compact consumer devices, the technology of the modern era is thinner and more adaptable than the technology of years ago.
If you’re an electronics technician, this represents a new frontier with challenges and opportunities. Technologies that flex, stretch, and twist are the way of the future. These technologies require precision and special skills to design, assemble, and repair. The more you know about changes in electronics and where the industry is going, the easier it will be to grow your career.
Electronics Are Shrinking
Bulky enclosures were once standard quality among consumer electronics, but today, consumer products are smaller, lighter, and more adaptable. Flexible substrates and ultra-compact design make today’s wearables possible. This has reshaped devices in many sectors, including the medical and industrial industries.
Whereas circuit boards were once large and bulky, today’s circuit boards are micro-scale. This has led to innovations like comfortable wearables and electronics that medical professionals can implant into the body. Circuitry in these devices requires total precision, and troubleshooting requires special skills and diagnostic tools.
Electronics are Becoming More Flexible
Flexible electronics require special circuitry that can be bent, folded, and stretched to wrap around curved surfaces, fit the human body, and fit into extra-small spaces. Materials for these products are often more delicate than traditional circuit boards and require specialized techniques for design, assembly, and repair. This can create unique challenges for electronics technicians.
What Miniaturization Looks Like
Consumers want devices that are portable and slender, while offering improved battery life and more features. Smaller components make this possible by freeing up space for larger batteries and sensors. This technology comes in many forms, including wireless earbuds and smart watches.
Shrinking electronics creates new challenges. Boards can become crowded, making them more difficult to repair broken boards. Diagnostics for miniaturized products require more advanced tools and techniques. Technicians who work with these products need better tools that operate with improved precision.
Precision Is the New Standard
The level of precision required to repair miniaturized electronics is significant. It’s also increasing. What manufacturers used to complete through standard soldering may now require a microscope. Replacing a single chip may mean completing work on a microscopic scale.
Small slips of tools can mean damaging the device, and technicians must use special tools that function on a tiny scale. Electronics technicians must be comfortable using techniques learned in the classroom, such as contamination control and careful handling.
What Electronics Technicians Must Learn
Flexible devices behave differently from traditional rigid circuit boards. Technicians who work with these devices must learn special skills to handle, repair, and assemble these products. These skills include temperature-controlled soldering and repair techniques that protect delicate electronic components. The electronics technicians of today must be more adaptable and must have special skills that technicians of the past didn’t need for their jobs.
Troubleshooting in a Miniaturized World
Troubleshooting small electronics can be challenging. Miniaturized devices have a reduced tolerance for stress and heat, so using harsh techniques during testing can cause permanent damage to the device. Technicians must use extra care and develop new habits to facilitate the inspection and testing of compact circuits.
Use of non-invasive test strategies—meaning strategies that do not touch the board directly—can make diagnostic and troubleshooting easier. Electronics technicians must learn to work in small environments through practice and training.
What’s Coming Next
As this continues, many devices will become more commonplace in everyday life. Examples of this include continuous glucose monitors, advanced activity trackers, and other health-focused wearables. To be useful, these products must be comfortable, lightweight, and flexible, which enables people to wear them all day.
In addition, more consumer products will contain hidden sensors. This enables devices to detect and react to our movements. Foldable tablets and other devices will become an everyday part of life.
Technicians must be adaptable and flexible, just like electronics. Understanding the materials that make these devices possible can help electronics technicians meet the needs of consumers and customers.
Skills for the Future
Electronics are small, and they’re only getting smaller. Microelectronics trends have caused a notable shift from normal PCB work to micro-scale work, and if electronics miniaturization continues, this micro-scale work will become an even more important part of electronics technician work.
Learning to work with miniaturized components is essential for building a career in this field. For those who are already working in the field, continuous learning opportunities make it possible to stay current with microelectronics trends.
It’s A New Era for Technicians. Get Started With Your Education Today
Programs at George Brown Polytechnic equip new technicians with the foundational knowledge needed to work at a miniaturized scale, preparing them to succeed in a new era. Contact us now to learn more about our Electronic Technician Certificate program and explore the opportunities available to you. You can also contact our Program Consultants toll-free at 1-888-553-5333.