Abstract
The demands on the automotive industry, where organic materials have been used
for decades, continue to evolve. With the increasing trend for better and safer products,
protection and reliability of various electronic components (pressure and temperature sensors,
PCB's, MEM's and fuel cell components etc.) used in automotive industry are critical as they are
becoming smaller, more complex and provide life of vehicle performance in harsh environments.
The challenge is to find a suitable thin organic coating that could provide much needed
protection from harsh environments for advanced parts and be thermally stable at higher
temperatures.
This paper describes a revolutionary development in the area of vapor phase polymer coating for
protection of various automotive components from solvent, gasoline, corrosive vapors, moisture
and other harsh environmental effects. A RoHS compliant, fluorinated vapor phase organic
coating, which is free of solvent, catalyst and pinholes, offers solutions to many existing
protection, packaging and reliability challenges of automotive components. It is because of its
excellent electrical & mechanical properties, chemical inertness and long-term thermal stability
at high temperature exposure to over 350 o C.
Following automotive requirements, this work also demonstrates that the fluorinated vapor phase
organic coating (1), called Parylene HT ® , can easily be applied at room temperature to a variety
of automotive components and parts. It provides excellent corrosion, solvent, acid, moisture and
UV resistance and barrier to harsh environmental gases and vapors. Its very low dielectric
constant, low coefficient of friction, high dielectric capabilities and strength make it ideal for
protecting parts that are exposed to high temperature corrosive environments. This coating is not
limited only to electronic applications, but also protects silicone, glass, composites, plastics,
ceramic and ferrite cores. In addition to enhancing component's overall reliability, it is also
suitable for contamination and corrosion control, dry film lubrication and as an interlayer
dielectric in manufacturing high density and high-speed integrated circuits.
Keywords: Parylene, Coatings, Harsh Environments, Electronics, Protection.