CA2233721A1 - A method of forming a monolayer of particles, and products formed thereby - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a number of interrelated methods for the production of random and ordered arrays of particles and recesses, as well as films containing such arrays and recesses. The present invention also relates to the random and ordered arrays of particles and films prepared therefrom. The ordered arrays are obtained by the use of ferrofluid compositions which may be curable, solidifiable or non-curing/non-solidifiable. The arrays and films may contain electrically-conductive particles useful in electronic applications for effecting contact between leads or pads.

Description

A METHOD OF FORMING A MONOLAYER OF PARTICLES, - AND PRODUCT~ FORMED THEREBY
s :BackgrQ-lncl of the Invention Field of the Invention This invention relates to a method of forming a monolayer of particles, and to products formed thereby. It is particularly concerned with forming an ordered array of particles in a monolayer, which may be incorporated into a film. Films formed by the inventive method have anisotropic conductive pathways formed by ordered arrays of conductive particles, and are especially useful in interconnection technology in the electronics industry.
The invention is also useful in other fields of technology and may be applied to particles which are not electrically conductive.

nescription of Related Technology Anisotropically-conductive adhesives and the ordering of "magnetic holes" in ferrofluids is fli~c~ e~l in WO g5/20820, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference.
JP 62-127 194 of Fujikura Cable Works KK describes the production of anisotropic conductive solder sheets by forming an adhesive coating having a thicknes~ of less than 10 micrometres on a support film, applying soft solder powder having a grain size of 10 - 50 micrometres onto the adhesive coating, and filling the spaces between granules of the solder with a plastic m~t~ l. It is stated that the soft solder granules can be evenly dispersed in the pIastic material on the film. However, application of particles onto an adhesive film to which the particles adhere on contact is not believed likely to achieve s~qti~f~ctory dispersion or ordering of the particles in the plane of the film.
~ 30 EP 0 691 660 A1 of Hitachi Chemical Co. Ltd. describes an anisotropically electro-conductive film m~t~ri~l produced by ~ hering electro-conductive particles to an adhering layer forrned on a support and fixing the particles therein, and then introducing a film-forming resin incompatible with the ~-lhering m~t~ri~ elw~ll the electro-CA 0223372l l998-04-Ol conductive particles, the film m~teri~t having electro-conductivity only in the film th;cknees direction via the electro-conductive particles uniformly dispersed in the plane direction.
The particles may be arranged in a grid or zig zag pattern in the plane by means of a film, net or screen having holes therein ("screen"~, through which the particles are fixed on the 5 adhering layer. The particles and the screen may be electrostatically charged with dirr~
electric charges. However problems exist in the use of such a screen, including difficulty in producing and h~n~lling thin screens, and m~kin7~ the desired patterns of holes. An individual screen would be re~luired for each pattern. Also it would be difficult to (I) ensure that all of the holes are filled by particles and (2) guard against clogging of at least some 10 of the holes by the adhesive material. Removal of the screen may also cause disruption of the pattern. The use of electrostatic charging would be a complex procedure involving large electrical fields.
U.S. Patent No. 5,221,417 (Basavanhally) describes the use of photo-lithographic m~eking and etching to form a matrix array of mutually isolated f~Lro. I ~gn~t;c 15 elements. These elements are magnetized and a single layer of conductive ferromagnetic particles is adhered to an upper surface of each of the ferromagnetic elements, so that the conductive particles are in an array. The layer of particles is then contacted with a layer of soft adhesive polymer to cause penetration of the particles into the polymer. The adhesive polymer is then hardened to assure co~ ...e~t of the particles in the polymer. The 20 adhesive polymer co~ g the conductive particles is used for i,~ ;oll"ccting cnn(1~r.~r arrays. However, it is believed that this technique may be used only with conductive particles which are ferromagnetic. Such particles may be difficult to obtain in specific shapes, sizes and types (e g., monodisperse spheres.) JP 3-95298 discloses a conductive and m~gn~tic fluid composition compri~ing 25 colloid ferromagnetic particles and conductive particles dispersed in a carrier organic solvent.
US Patent No. 4,737,112 discloses an anisotropically conductive composite layer medium compri~ing electrically conductive magnetic particles in a non-conductive matrix. The particles are aligned via the interaction of an applied magnetic field with the 30 electrically conductive particles. The invention relies on the use of magnetic particles as WO 98/06007 PCT/US97tl3677 the conductors, and so has no utility in the ~ ,dlion of ordered arrays of non-magnetic and subst~nti~lly non-magnetic particles or in the ~ ald~ion of systems in which ordered arrays are transferred from one substrate to another.
In WO 95/20820, a composition is described which includes: (i) a ferrofluid of a colloidal suspension of ferrom~gnetic particles in a non-magnetic carrier liquid, and (ii) electrically-conductive particles having substslnti~lly uniform sizes and shapes, dispersed in the ferrofluid.
The average particle size of the electrically conductive particles is at least 10 times that of the colloidal ferromagnetic particles. The non-magnetic carrier liquid may be curable or non-curable. Examples of the liquid include a curable liquid composition, a mixture of a curable liquid composition and a liquid carrier in which the ferromagnetic particles have been suspended, or a non-curable carrier liquid, provided the electrically-conductive particles have a latent adhesive ~lo~.Ly.
In this application, a method of making an anisotropically-conductive bond between two sets of conductors is also described. The method includes applying to one set of conductors a layer of an adhesive composition of the composition so described; hringing a second set of con~ ctor~ against the layer of adhesive composition;
exposing the layer of adhesive composition to a ~ulwL~Lially uniform magnetic field such that interaction between the ferrofluid and the electrically-conductive particles causes the electrically-conductive particles to form a regular pattern of particles each in electrical contact with an adjacent particle and/or with a conductor in one or both sets whereby conductive pdLhw~s are provided from one set of conductors to the other set, each ~aLl,w~y inclu~ling one or more of the electric~lly-conductive particles; and curing the composition to m~int~;n the pattern in position and to bond the conductors.
It may not however always be convenient to install a means for creating a m~gnetiC field at the location of assembly of two sets of conductors. Therefore, in EP
757,407, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, other ways are described of achieving the benefits of the invention of the WO 95/20820.
The EP 757407 describes an anisotropically-conductive film or a substrate having a surface coated with an anisotropically-conductive coating. The film or coating is -formed by solidifying a composition which includes a solidifiable ferrofluid composition and electrically-conductive particles dispersed in the ferrofluid. The ferrofluid includes a colloidal ~u~pell~ion of ferromagnetic particles in a non-magnetic carrier. The electrically-conductive particles having been arrayed in a non-random pattern by application of a 5 substantially uniform magnetic field to the composition in a liquid state and have been locked in position by solidification of the composition.
EP 757407 also describes a solid-forrn anisotropically-conductive film or a ~ub~lldl~ having a surface coated with a solid-forrn anisotropically-conductive coating the f~llm or coating includes a composition containing colloidal ferrom~gnçtic particles and 10 electrically-conductive particles arrayed in a non-random pattern.
The term "ferrom:~gnetic" as used herein includes ferrimzlgnetic m~t~ such as ferrites.
The term "solidifiable" as used herein means capable of existing as a solid at ambient lelllpcldL~t;s (~L, temperatures less than about 40~C, usually about 20-30~C).
15 Solidifiable compositions include curable compositions which cure to solid forrn by heat tre~fmen~ or otherwise. The word "solid" as used in EP 757407 and also herein means stable in shape and includes a gel or polymer network.
The inventions of WO 95/20820 and EP757407 are a significant breakthrough in the uniform dispersion of conductive particles and address the issue of particle 20 aggregation and the consequences in fine pitch electronic interconnection [cf. U.S. Patent No. 5,221,417 ~Basanvanhally)3. However, the ~l~,paldtion of a curable particle-loaded ferrofluid adhesive composition co~ olllises between the r~ ,nuid character of the composition, including high magnetization saturation and low viscosity at room temperature for rapid ordering of the particles, and the adhesive character of the 25 composition, including the use of mediurn to high molecular weight systems having relatively high viscosity, to impart good mechanical properties and functionality to the cured adhesive.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide ways in which monolayers of di~ jed or ordered arrays of particles may be prepared as well as films ~ d thc~rlo 30 which are easy, fast and employ readily available, easy to m~mlf~cture components and which allow for the reuseability/recovery of otherwise expensive and/or government regulated m~ter~
It would also be desirable to prepare stable monolayers of particles and arrays of particles and films and prepared therefrom which are free or substantially free of 5 ferromagnetic particles and which contz,ininp random and ordered arrays of particles with improved physical and performance characteristics, ~, improved strength andlor adhesiveness as well as transparency or translucency, and the like.

Sllmm~r,v of the Tnvention The present invention provides methods for producing monolayered r~n~lom and ordered arrays of particles which are m~int~ined in place by use of a cured tack layer.
These methods employ a curable matrix in which the particles are dispersed and the curable matrix is partially cured to form a thin film which m~int~inc the particles in place but does not subst~nti~lly encase the particles.
The present invention also provides methods for producing films from such particle-~io"l;1i~.i..g curable matrices where the particles are m~int~ined and contained within a film. In these methods, the monolayers of particles are ba~kfilled with a film-forming m~teri~l which substantially encases and securely m~int~in~ in place the particles.
The present invention further provides a method of producing such ordered 20 arrays and films prepared the.~Lom by use of a curable ferrofluid exposed to a m~pnetic field where the so-formed arrays and films are free or substantially free of ferrofluid or ferrom~gn~tic particles. The particles may be lld l.,rt;l~c;d from the cured ferrofluid to an adhesive or latent adhesive free of the ferr- ms-gn~tic particles.
The present invention still further provides for the p~ udlion of ordered 25 arrays and films cn~ ;i, .g the ordered array of particles by use of standard ferrofiuids or ferrofluid waxes, where the ordered array is m~int~in~l in place by (1) pressing the ordered array in the ferrofluid or ferrofluid wax and (2) then trzln~ferrin~ it under pressure upon the particles, and optionally under heat, to an adhesive, latent a&esive or film-forming m~t~ri~l In addition, the present invention also provides for monolayer random and CA 02233721 l998-04-Ol ordered arrays of particles and films prepared therefrom in accordance with the methods disclosed herein.
The present invention also provides for an article having a support tape substrate and an ordered monolayer array oftransferable particles temporarily bound thereto 5 as well as to an article having a sequential lRmin~e of a first substrate, an adhesive matrix cllL~ g an ordered monolayer array of particles and a second substrate joined to the first substrate by the adhesive matrix.
This invention pertains to a method of forming an anisotropic conducting bond between a first set of conductors and a second set of conductors.
The invention also pertains to a method for forming an adhesive film having a regular array of recesses in the surface thereof, and an article made by such method. Such an adhesive film results from the llall~r. . of an ordered array of particles from one adhesive film to another.
The invention will be more fully ~ln-1~rstood by a reading of the " Detailed Description of the Invention" together with the drawings.

l~rief Description of the r)rawin~s Figure 1 is an electron micrograph at a m~gnification x 800 of particles having a 25 micrometre diameter on a cured "tack layer" as l1esc libe~l in Example 1. The distance between the "+" syrnbols is 23.6 micrometres.
Figure 2 is an electron micrograph at a mslgn;fication x 3~0 of sirnilar parti-cles L.dl,~rc-lcd to a pressure-sensitive adhesive tape as described in Example 2.
Figure 3 is an enlarged view at a m~gnTf ~ ~tion x 2,500 of similar particles tothose of Figure 2, showing in particular one of the particles embedded in the pressure-sensitive adhesive.
Figure 4 is an electron micrograph at a m~gnification x 400 of particles on a cured tack layer.
Figure 5 is an electron micrograph at a m~gnific~tion x 100 ofthe same cured tack layer.
Figure 6(a) is a ~ ~m (side view) of al.~aldLu~ for carrying out the coating WO ~8/06C-7 PCT/US97/13677 method of Example 7.
Figure 6(b) is a top view diagram of the ap~lus of Figure 6 (a).
~ Figure 7 is an optical photomicrograph of the coating of Example 6 at X 100 m~gnification, with the trzm~mi~ion field having the following dimensions: 730 X 490 5 micrometres, and the particles having a diameter of about 10 micrometres.
Figure 8 is an optical photomicrograph similar to Figure 7 of a coating prepared without the exposure to a magnetic field (conl~ ive).
Figure 9 is a magnetization curve as described in Example 7.
Figure 10 is a viscosity-telllp~ Lul~ profile as described in Example 7, I 0 viscosity being measured in centipoise (Nm~2s x 103).
Figure 1 l(a) is a diagram in side elevation of an a~aLu~ designed and built to produce films having anisotropic conductive pathways.
Figure 1 1 (b) is a liis3gr~m in elevation of the apparatus of Figure 1 1 (a), taken along the line A-A in Figure 14(a).
Detailed Description of the Invention The present invention provides gent~r~lly methods of fii~rrnin~ a monolayer of particles. One such method ("method A") includes applying to a substrate a curable composition having particles contained therein having a particle size on at least one 20 dimension thereof of at least 1 micrometre; and exposing the particle-co.~ i..g curable composition to a source of energy suitable for effecting polymerization of the curable composition for a suf~lcient time to effect polymerization of a layer of the curable composition having a thickness of no more than about 50% of the height of the largest particles; optionally, the method also includes removing the uncured curable composition, 25 if any rem~in~
The source of energy for t;~-;Li~g cure or polymeri7~ti~ n may suitably be any source of electromagnetic heat radiation or particularly actinic radiation, including ultraviolet (UV), infra red, visible, X-ray or garnma ray, E-beam or microwave. The time of exposure should be chosen by those persons skilled in the art, depending upon the source 30 of energy, the exposure conditions, the depth of cure desired, the pro~cl Lies of the curable composition (such as, its ability to absorb of the chosen energy) and the structure confining the composition. In the case of W light, an exposure time of about 0. l to about 1 seconds may suffice. Desirably, the exposure time should be the minim11m required to produce a Iayer or film of cured material in which the particles are m~int~ined. This layer or film is 5 referred to as the "tack layer", and the tack layer with the particles attached thereto is referred to as the "tacked array", both of which are distinguished from, although may be a part of, the particle contz-ining film, refe red to as the "film", which is produced in accordance with the methods of the present invention.
rhe particles employed in ~e present invention should have a particle size of 10 at least one micrometre on at least one dimension thereof. These pa7~icles are refe~ed to as "the substantive particles".
In various aspects, the invention provides:
B. A method of fo7 ming a film having a monolayer of particles contz~ined therein. This metllod includes applying to a substrate a curable composition particles con1z~ining having 15 a particle size of at least one ~1irr7en~ion thereof of at least l micrometre; exposing tlle particle-co~ g curable composition to a source of energy suitable for effecting polyme ization of the curable composition for a s17fficient time to effect polymerization of a layer of the curable composition having a thickness of no more than about 50% of the height of the largest particles; removing the uncured curable composition; and applying a 20 film-forming mz~.t.o.ri~71 to fill the h~ ial spaces between tlle particles. The so-applied film-forming m~7t~ri~71 may also cover areas of tlle substrate fl~nking the particles to a film-thickness similar to that of the particle-cf~ ;..g areas. In addition, the film-forming m~teri~71 may be at least partially solidified, also the so-formed film may be removed from the substrate.
25 C. A method of forming a monolayer of particles. This method includes applying to a substrate a curable colllE~o~ilion c~ particles having a particle size of at least one dimension thereof of at least 1 micrometre; exposing the particle-co~t~ining curable composition to a source of energy suitable for effecting polymerization of the curable composition for a sufficient time to effect polymeri~tion of a layer of the curable 30 composition having a thickness of no more than 50% of the height of the largest particles;

CA 0223372l lsss-04-ol applying an adhesive film over the surface of the particles, remote from the layer of cured composition; pressing the adhesive film onto the particles; and se~aldLillg the adhesive ~ film with the particles ~(~h~rin~ thereto away from the layer of cured composition. The said film should have an adhesiveness with respect to the particles of at least greater than that 5 of the cured composition. In addition, to the extent some of the curable composition remains uncured, the uncured composition may be removed from the substrate. Also any substS~nti~l amount of uncured and/or cured composition rem~ining on the adhesive film or on the particles adhered thereto may be removed.
D. A method of forming a film co~ g a monolayer of particles. This method includes 10 applying to a substrate a curable composition CIJI I~ particles having a particle size of at least one ~im~n~ion thereof of at least 1 micrometre; exposing the particle-contS~ining curable composition to a source of energy suitable for effecting polymerization of the curable composition for a sufficient time to effect polymerization of a layer of the curable composition having a thickness of no more than about 50% of the height of the largest 15 particles; applying an adhesive film over the surface of the particles, remote from the layer of cured composition, pressing the adhesive film onto the particles; separating the adhesive film with the particles ~lhering thereto away from the layer of cured composition; and optionally, removing any substantial amount of uncured and/or cured curable composition rem~inin~ on the adhesive film or on the particles adhered thereto; and applying a film-20 f rmin~ m~terizll to fill the hlh ~ ial spaces between the particles. The film should havean adhesiveness with respect to the particles of at least greater than that of the cured composition. In addition, to the extent some or most of the curable composition remains uncured, the uncured curable composition may be removed from the substrate. The so-applied film forming material may also cover areas of the adhesive film fl~nking to the 25 particles to a film-thickness similar to that of the particle-co,.l~ areas. The film-forming m~tl~..ri~l may also be at least partially solidified.
In the method of A through D above, the particles are desirably dispersed in thecurable composition -- ~. as a result of mixing the particles into the composition or by means of dispersion techniques, such as those described in Fp 0 691 660 Al, the disclosure 30 of which is hereby inco-~oldl~d herein by reference. However, some particles may be CA 0223372l l998-04-Ol WO 98t06007 PCT/US97/13677 aggregated in the composition. It is particularly desirable for the particles to be arrayed in the monolayer. The invention in further aspects therefore provides:
E. A method of forming a monolayer non-random array of particles. This method includes applying to a substrate a curable ferrofluid composition co.,l~ g particles 5 having a particle size on at least one ~limen~i~ n thereof of at least 1 micrometre; subjecting the particle-cont~ininP curable ferrofluid composition to a magnetic field for a sufficient time to array the particles in a non-random manner in the composition; and exposing the composition having the particles arrayed therein to a source of energy suitable for effecting polymerization of the curable ferrofluid composition for a sufficient time to effect 10 polymeri7~tion of a layer of the curable ferrofluid composition having a thickness of no more than about 50% of the height of the largest particles. Optionally, the method also includes removing the uncured ferrofluid composition, if any remains.
F. A method of forming a film having a monolayer non-random array of particles therein. This method includes applying to a substrate a curable ferrofluid composition 15 cont~ining particles having a particle size on at least one ~1imen~ion thereof of at least 1 micrometre; subjecting the particle-co~ i "i l ~g curable ferrofluid composition to a magnetic field for a sufficient time to array the particles in a non-random manner in the composition;
exposing the composition having the particles arrayed therein to a source of energy suitable for effecting polymerization of the curable r~llonuid composition for a sufficient time to 20 effect polymrri7~tion of a layer of the curable ~llvfluid composition having a thickness of no more than about 50% of the height of the largest particles; removing the uncured curable ferrofluid composition; and applying a film-forrning m~t~ri~l to fill the hlt~,~lilial spaces between the so-formed array of particles. The so-applied film forming m~t~?ri~l may also cover areas of the ~ub~ Le fl~nking the particles to a film thickness similar to that in 25 the particle co~ g area. In addition, it may be at least partially solidfied. Also the so-formed film may be removed from the ~ul~ e.
G. A method of forming a monolayer of a non-random array of particles. The method includesapplyingtoasubstrateacurableferrofluidco~ o~ilioncc",lS~;";.Igparticleshaving a particle size on at least one dimension thereof of at least 1 micrometre; subjecting the particle-c~ curable ferrofluid composition to a magnetic field for a sufficient time WO ~8/Q~C~7 1 1 PCT/US97113677 to array the particles in a non-random manner in the composition; exposing the composition having the particles arrayed therein to a source of energy suitable for effecting ~ polymerization of the curable ferrofluid composition for a sufficient time to effect polymerization of a layer of the curable ferrofluid composition having a thickness of no 5 more than about 50% of the height of the largest particles; applying an adhesive film over the surface of the arrayed particles, opposite to the layer of cured composition; pressing the a&esive film onto the particles; and sep~r~tin~ the adhesive film with the arrayed particles adhered thereto away from the layer of cured ferrofluid composition. The film should have an adhesiveness with respect to the particles at least greater than that of the cured 10 composition. In addition to the extent some or all of the uncured curable ferrofluid composition remains uncured, the uncured curable ferrofluid composition may be removed from the substrate.
H. A method of forming a film having a monolayer non-random array of particles therein. This method inclu~es applying to a substrate a curable ferrofluid composition 15 cont~inin~ particles having a particle size on at least one ~iimen~ion thereof of at least 1 micrometre; subj ecting the particle-co ~ ; " i . ,g curable ferrofluid composition to a magnetic field for a sufficient time to array the particles in a non-random manner in the composition;
exposing the composition having the particles arrayed therein to a source of energy suitable for effecting polymerization of the curable ferrofluid composition for a sufficient time to 20 effect polymeri7~tion of a layer of the curable ferrofluid composition having a thickn~ss of no more than about 50% of the height of the largest particles; removing the uncured curable ferrofluid composition, and applying an adhesive film over the surface of the arrayed particles, opposite to the layer of cured composition; pressing the adhesive film onto the particles; S~hld~ g the adhesive film with the arrayed particles adhered thereto away from

2~ the layer of cured ferrofluid composition; and applying a film-forming material to fill the hllel~LiLial spaces in the array of particles. The film should have an adhesiveness with respect to the particles greater than that of the cured composition cover areas of the sul~Ll~le fl~nking the particles to a film-thirl~n~ similar to that of the particle-co~
areas. In addition, to the extent it exists, any substantial amount of uncured curable 30 composition rem~ininp on the adhesive film or on the particles adhered thereto may be -WO 98/06007 PCT/US97tl3677 removed. Also, the film-forming material may be at least partially solidified.
Optionally, a latent catalyst may be dispersed on the surface of the arrayed particles and cured curable ferrofluid composition prior to applying the adhesive film.
Upon pressing the particles into the adhesive film, the latent catalyst should accompany the 5 arrayed particles.
I. A method according to any of A to H above where, during exposure of the curable composition to the source of energy, a mask is located between the source and the curable composition. The mask has certain areas which allow for the passage of energy and other areas which block the passage of energy.
Alternatively, the substrate upon which the curable composition or curable ferrofluid composition, as a~n~ iate, is applied may have areas that allow for the passage of the energy and areas that block passage of the energy. Accordingly, the substrate acts as a mask when the source of the energy is on the opposite side of the substrate to the curable composition.
In accordance with the present invention, the curable composition, or curable ferrofluid composition may be applied to the substrate in a pattern, for example by screen or stencil printing, or may be applied by conventional coating techniques.
The particles should be conductive particles, such as electrically-conductive particles. However, therm~lly conductive or optically-tr~n~mi~sive particles may also be 20 used.
In the method according to any of E to H above the curable ferrofluid composition suitably comprises either:
(a) A colloidal dispersion of ferromagnetic particles in a curable liquid composition (i.e.
the curable composition acts as the carrier of the ferrofluid); or 25 (b) a ~ lul~ of a curable li~uid composition and a colloidal dispersion of ferromagnetic particles in a liquid carrier.
In the method of any of B, D, F and H, the film-forming m~t~ri~l may be organic or inorganic and may be selected from thermodeformable coatings such as thermosets (thermosetables), and/or thermoplastics. The film-forming m~tt?risll should be 30 an adhesive m~t~ri~l A single film-forming material should be sufficient to m~nllf~chlre WO 98/(~6007 13 PCT/US97/13677 the films in accordance with the present invention. In addition, two or more layers of different film-forming materials may also be appropriate to apply to the particles, such as a first layer of film-forming material which may be adhesive (e.g. an elastomer) and a second layer of adhesive film-forming material. The second layer may have been formed S with the additional step of sep~d~ g the film formed by solidification of the film-forming m~t~ri:~l with the particles therein away from the layer of polymerized curable composition, the tack layer, and then applying a layer of adhesive material over the so-exposed surface of the film.
The invention provides a bi-layer film which includes a layer of thermoset 10 material and a layer of thermoplastic m~t~ri~l The layer of thermoset material may be either the tack layer with a secondary or latent adhesive cure system (B-stage mech~ni.~m) therein, or a layer of thermoset backfill m~t~ri~l with a thickness not more than about 50%
of the height of the largest particles. The layer of thermoplastic material may be backfill m~teri~l with a thickness of about 50% or more of the height of the largest particles, so that 15 the total thickness of the film is about equal to the height of the largest particles. The thermoset layer m~int~in~ in position the arrayed particles while the thermoplastic layer may be rc;wu-~d, such as by use of heat. For example, if the bi-layer film is applied with the thermoset layer iqf1herin~ to an electronic device and the thermoplastic layer adhering to a printed circuit board, the thermoplastic layer allows a reworking function if the parts 20 need to be ~ s~mhled for repair or repositioning or re-use, while the ordering of the arrayed particles is ~ ; . ,P.1 In a reuse operation, a new layer of thermoplastic material need only be applied to the circuit board, not to the electrical device, which is of much smaller size. ~ltern~tively, if further reusability is not desired, a second thermoset material may be applied instead of the thermoplastic material.
2~ The invention also provides a tri-layer film which includes a layer of thermoset material and two layers of thermoplastic material. In this instance, the two thermoplastic layers sandwich the thermoset layer in which the particles are m~int~ined in place and the tack layer has been removed. Specifically, after removal of the uncured m~teri~l a first layer of thermoplastic may be backfilled followed, sequentially by a layer 30 of thermoset m~t~-ri~l and a second layer of thermoplastic. ~ltern~tively, after removing , WO ~8/O~D7 14 PCT/IJS97/13677 the uncured material, a layer of thermoset m~tçri~l may be backfilled followed by application of a layer of thermoplastic. Then the tack layer may be removed and replaced by a second layer of therrnoplastic. This allows for reworkability and/or recovery of the substrate parts being mated with the film, as well as recovery of the film itself.
The depth ofthe film should ordinarily be no more than about 125%, desirably about 110%, of the height of the largest particles, i.~, the dimension perpendicular to the plane of the film. If the film is thicker than the height of the largest particles, the film material should be such as to allow for or facilitate penetration by the particles and/or elements (particularly conductors) with which the particles are brought into contact during an end-use application of the film.
The height ofthe tack layer is no greater than about 25%, desirably about 10%, of the ~limen~ion of the largest particles perpendicular to the substrate.
The largest particles (the substantive particles~ are of substantially uniform size (monodisperse), ordinarily having a diameter of at least 2 micrometres. Alternatively, particles of two or more groups of different sizes but of substantially uniform size within the group of larger size may be used. In accordance with the present invention, the curable composition may also contain one or more fillers having a particle size in the range 0.1 to about 1 micrometres.
In the method of C, D, G or H, the depth of penetration of the particles into the adhesive film is ordinarily no greater than about 25%, desirably about 10%, of the height of the largest particles, i e., the ~1imen~ion perpendicular to the plane of the adhesive film.
When the particles are of substantially uniform size, the height of the cured layer is measured in relation to the average diameter of the particles. When the term "diameter" is used herein in relation to non-spherical particles, it refers to the tlimen~ic)n perpendicular to the substrate.
In the method of B, D, ~ or H above, film-forming m~t~ri~l may be applied to areas fl~nking the particle-co~ irl;..g areas. Flanking strips of adhesive, which may be the same adhesive as the adhesive material in the particle-co-l~ g areas, are useful for 30 providing extra strength in a conductive adhesive film. Thus, for example, in edge , connection to liquid crystal displays, peel strength is a particularly important property to the extent that a flexible connection attached to the display does not peel away during - operation.
In the method of A or E, the further step of forrning a solid structure alongside S and, optionally, opposite to the monolayer of particles is provided. In this regard, it is particularly useful to array the particles along a micro~h~nn~l in a solid structure. Palticles coated with a chemical or biochemical agent may thus be located in microchannels which function as chromatography columns or patterned test coupons.
The invention further provides:
10 J. A method of forming a monolayer non-random array of particles. This methodincludes applying a composition comprising a ferrofluid composition and particles to a ~u~Lldte having a surface of adhesive material; subjecting the composition to a magnetic field for a sufficient time to array the particles in a non-random manner; pressing the particles onto the adhesive surface of the subskate; and removing the ferrofluid 1 5 composition.
K. A method of forming a monolayer non-random array of particles. This method includes applying a composition compri~ing a ferrofluid composition and particles to a substrate which has a surface of lal;ent adhesive m~teri~l; subjecting the composition to a magnetic field for a sufficient time to array the particles in a non-random marmer in the 20 composition; activating the latent adhesive plU~lLy ofthe ~iUbSlldl~e surface material;
pressing the particles onto the adhesive surface of the substrate; and removing the ferrofluid composition.
L. A method of forming a film having a monolayer non-random array of particles therein. This method includes applying a composition of ferrofluid composition and 25 particles to a substrate having a surface of adhesive m~teri~l; subjecting the composition to a magnetic field for a sufficient time to array the particles in a non-random manner;
pressing the particles onto the adhesive surface of the substrate; removing the ferrofluid composition; and applying a film-forming m~tPri~l to fill the interstitial spaces between the particles and optionally to cover areas of the adhesive m~t~ri~l fl~nking the particles to a film-thickness similar to that of the particle-co~ areas. In ~dt~ on~ the film-forming material may be at least partially solidified. Also the so-formed film may ~e removed from the adhesive material.
M. A method of forming a film having a monolayer non-random array of particles therein. This method includes applying a composition of a ferrofluid composition and 5 particles to a substrate which has a surface of latent adhesive m~t~ri~l; subjecting the composition to a ms~n~.tic field for a sufficient time to array the particles in a non-random manner in the composition; activating the latent adhesive property of the substrate surface material; pressing the particles onto the adhesive surface of the substrate; removing the ferrofluid composition; and applying a film-forming material to fill the interstitial spaces 10 between the particles and optionally to cover areas of the adhesive surface ~l~nkin~ the particles to a film-thickness similar to that of the particle-co~ .g areas. In addition, the film forming material may be at least partially solidified. Also, the so-for~ned film may be removed from the adhesive surface.
In the method of J, K, L, and M, a conventional ferrofluid composition may 15 be used accordingly, whether the composition is made curable is the choice of the user.
The present invention also provides:
N. A method of forming a wax film c(~ g a monolayer non-random array of particles. The method includes applying a composition comprising a ferrofluid wax composition and particles to a ~u~ dle; elevating and/or ms~i"~ g the ferrofluid wax 20 compos;tion at a temperature at or above its melting point; subjecting the composition to a magnetic field for a sufficient time to array the particles in a non-random manner; and cooling the composition to a l~ ld~ ;; below its melting point. In addition, the wax film may ~e r e~oved rrom the substrate.
O. A method of forming a monolayer non-random array of particles. This method 25 includes applying the wax film prepared in accordance with Method N above to a second substrate having a surface of adhesive m~t~ri~l or a surface of latent adhesive material;
activating the latent adhesive, if present, and elevating the lelll~C~dlUle of the wax film and/or the second sukstr~te to a t~ dLule at or above the softening point of the ferrofluid wax; pressing the particles onto the adhesive surface of the substrate; and removing the 30 ferrofluid wax co~l~po~ilion. In addition, the first substrate may then be removed if it has not already been removed.
P. A method of forming a film having a monolayer non-random array of particles therein. This method includes applying the wax film prepared in accordance with Method N above to a second substrate having a surface of adhesive material or a surface of latent adhesive material; activating the latent adhesive, if present, and elevating the temperature ofthe wax film and/or the second substrate to a Le,~ ,dLure at or above the soft~ninf~ point of the ferrofluid wax; pressing the particles onto the adhesive surface of the substrate;
removing the ferrofluid wax composition and the first substrate, if it has not already been removed; and applying a film-forming m~t~ri~l to fi11 the interstitial spaces between the partiGles and optionally to cover areas of the adhesive material flz~nking the particles to a film-thickness similar to that of the particle-cont~inin~ areas. In addition, the film forming mzltçri~l may be at least partially solidified. Also, the so-formed film may be removed from the adhesive material.
In the method of N, O, and P above, the ferrofluid wax composition includes conventional ferrofluid and/or ferrom~gnetic particles dispersed in a low melting point organic mixture or compound such as waxes, higher molecular weight fatty acids, fatty esters, and the like, rosin; and the like. Such modified ferrofluids are referred to below as ferrofluid waxes. These materials are typically solid or semisolid at room temperature, with m~ltin~ or softening points of at least desirably 30~C, desirably at least 40~C, and a melting point of less than about 12~~C, such as less than 1 00~C, and desirably less than about 60~C.
In step (b) of the methods of O and P, it may be desirable to elevate the ~ dLule to at least the melting point of the ferrofluid wax so as to f~-~ilit~te the transfer of the particles and the removal/recovery of the ferrofluid wax composition.
Suitable waxes for use in p-~a dlion of the ferrofluid waxes include natural and synthetic waxes, such as ~d~ms, ethylenic polymers, polyol etheresters and chlorinated n~phth~lenes. Functionalized waxes which become incorporated into the adhesive, latent adhesive or film-forming m~t~riz~l may also be used.
A film having a monolayer non-random array of particles therein may be ~l~a cd from the methods of J, K, and O by employing a substrate where t_e adhesive or latent adhesive is a solidifiable film-forming m~teri~l and the particles are pressed into the WO 98/O~'C7 PCT/US97/13677 adhesive. The film-forming m~t~ri:~l should be in a liquid or penetrable state so as to allow the particles to penetrate into the film-forrning m~tçri:ll, with the film-forrning materials filling the interstitial spaces between the particles. The thickness of the film-forming m~tPri;~l should be at least about 50% of the height of the largest particles, desirably at least S about 95% of the height of the largest particles, not thicker than about 200% of the height ofthe largest particle, which is about 125% ofthe height ofthe largest particle. A thickness in the range of from about from 95% to about 105% of the height of the largest particle, such as 95% to 100% of the height of the largest particle, generally provides beneficial results. Here the particles are intended to fully or substantially penetrate into the adhesive 10 or latent adhesive material which is used as a film-forming m~ieri~l This contrasts to other aspects of the present invention where the adhesive or latent adhesive is not a film-forming m~t~ri~l or is intended only to tack the particles onto the surface thereof. In such case, the particles should penetrate to a depth of no more than about 25% of the height of the largest particles.
In the method of O and P, in order to prevent too much int~rmixing of the ferrofluid wax and the adhesive, latent adhesive or film-forrning material, the ferrofluid wax may be removed as the particles are pressed into the adhesive, latent adhesive or film-forming material. ~Ite~tively, one may employ an adhesive, latent adhesive, or film-forming material having a viscosity, under the softening or melt temperature of the 20 ferrofluid wax, substantially higher than that of the ferrofluid wax but not so high as to make it difficult for the particles to penetrate the same. Still, the telllp~ld~ul~ may be varied so as to activate the adhesive characteristics of the latent adhesive at a temperature which is ~ub~l~ullially the same as the "softening point" or melting point of the ferrofluid wax. As used herein, the softening point is that temperature at which the ferrofluid wax is 25 sufficiently pliable or flowable under minor ple~ulG to allow for the easy and ready transfer of the particles from the ferrofluid wax to the adhesive, latent adhesive or film-forming material, as aL,p~ iate.
In the method of J through P, the ferrofluid and ferrofluid waxes may be reused or recycled for subsequent reuse. In addition, since the ferrofluid is not incol~o~dled 30 into the film, the films can be made ~dlls~ or translucent so as to allow for ease of WO ~8/O~C~7 rCT/US97/13677 positioning of the formed film on a substrate in its intended end use. This may also be attained by the method of D and H, as well as by the method of B and F provided the tack - layer is sufficiently thin or is removed after ~ .kfilling.
A film or tacked array formed by a method of the invention may be formed in S situ on a subskate on which it be used, e.g., an electronic component. In such case, the film or tacked array produced in accordance with the invention forms a coating on the component or other ~ub~ . Thus, the terrns film and tacked array as used herein include "coating".
In certain situations, the film may not need adhesive properties. For example, 10 if the film is to be used between two sets of conductors which are to be assembled temporarily for test pu~poses but which are not to be bonded. However, generally it is desirable that the film-forming m51t~ri~ contains a secondary or latent adhesive/cure system, which is activatable in an end-use application of the film.
Solidification of the film-forming m~teri~l (and optionally also the curable 15 tack layer composition) generally involves two stages, an A-stage and a B-stage. The A-stage, or primary soli-lifi~tion, has the function of producing a film with the particles i "~d in place which is capable of being handled. The A-stage may involve a primary cure, ~,by photocure, heat, or E-bearn. Solvent evaporation, cooling (in particular from a melt), chemical reaction ~., polymerization), physical association phenomena and the 20 like are also acceptable means of effecting viscosity increases to an effectively solid A-staged condition. The B-stage which occurs during end-use application of the film may use thermoplastic p~ lies of the A-staged filrn or coating, but desirably involves a cure, for example to a thermoset cnn~liti~-n When the A-stage solidification has been effected by a plh~ r cure, the B-stage cure is a secondary cure which may use the same or a .li~t;lenl 25 cure mechanism from that of the A-stage.
In the method of E through H, the curable ferrofluid composition may be applied to the ~ul>sll~le, or in the method of J through P, the ferrofluid or ferrofluid wax composition may then exposed to the m~gn~tic field. The composition may be exposed to the m~netic field while the composition is being applied to the ~-lbAit~ . The composition 30 may be applied continuously or in step-wise manner. Likewise the substrate may pass continuously or in step-wise manner past the apparatus applying the magnetic field.
The composition may be applied to the substrate by stf?n~ilin~ or screen printing using stenciling or screen printing equipment having one or more mounted magnets.
The substrate on which the composition may be applied may be rigid or flexible. A release layer may form the substrate andlor may be applied to the tack layer in order to prevent the tack layer from bonding with the film-forming material. Similarly, it may be applied to the surface of the film, remote from the substrate, so as to allow for stacking or rolling of the films. The release layer itself may be rigid or flexible or may include a coating or film of an appropriate releasing m~teri~l The adhesive films to which the monolayer non-random array of particles are transferred may also be on release-coated substrates. It is desirable for the adhesive films to be either transparent or kanslucent and to at least partially transmit W radiation.
The present invention also relates to the monolayered random and ordered arrays of particles and films cont~ining the same produced in accordance therewith. It includes substrates having a film as described above applied thereto or a film or tacked array formed thereon. It also includes articles having a support tape substrate and an ordered monolayer array of transferable particles, the particles ranging from 1 micrometre to about 500 micrometres and the particles temporarily bound to the substrate with the substrate in contact with no more than about 50% of the surface area of the transferable particles. Moreover, the strength of the bond b~Lw~ell the particles and the support tape should be less than the cohesive strength of ~b~ lly all of the transferable particles.
In one such embodirnent, the support tape substrate comprises a release coated paper.
These articles may fur~er comprise an adhesive matrix having more than one cure merh~ni~m These articles may further include a silicon wafer substrate, an indium tin oxide-coated glass substrate, or any ~ul~ dtt; with a pattern-wise cleline~tion of electri~ ~l conductors thereon, to which the array of ~ r~,~able substantive particles may adhesively bound, with the strength of the adhesive bond between the s~lksl;l, .1; ve particles and the substrate excee~1in~ the strength of the adhesive bond between the substantive particles and the support tape. Optionally, the support tape substrate may contain WO 98/O~C-7 PCT/US97/13677 ferromagnetic particles or contain colloidal ferromagnetic particles.
The invention is further directed to an article sequential l~min~e of a first - substrate, an adhesive matrix ~,~L~ illg an ordered monolayer array of ~ub~Li~e particles of at least 1 micrometre to about 500 micrometres and a second substrate joined to the first S substrate by the adhesive matrix, where the adhesive matrix is ellbst:~nti~lly free of ferrom~netic particles smaller than about 1 micrometre. The ordered monolayer array may be inc1~lce(1 by a pattern of magnetic flux lines acting on the substantive particles which are supported on a continuously moving substrate taken in a plane extt?n~ling through a magnetic flux field, desirably a plane extending normal to the flux lines in said flux field, 10 more desirably still, where the flux lines are vertical. The adhesive matrix may further include additional discrete layers of different adhesive compositions.
The invention is further directed to an article having a support tape substrate,and an ordered monolayer array of transferable substantive particles of at least 1 micrometer to about 500 micrometers bound thereto by an adhesive, the adhesive being 15 substantially free of ferromagnetic particles and the a&esive strength of the adhesive being less than the cohesive strength of the particles and being greater to the support tape substrate than to the transferable particles.
The invention is further directed to a method of forming an anisotropic c~-n~ ctin~ bond bet~veen a first and a second set of conductors. The method includes the 20 steps of forming an assembly by applying a first adhesive to a first set of conductors and further applying an article co..l~;..in~ a monolayer ordered array of particles bound to a support tape substrate to the first set of conductors such that at least some of the ordered monolayer array of transferable substantive particles are in contact with the first set of conflll~ t~rs. The first adhesive is then at least partially cured. The support tape is removed with the ordered monolayer array of transferable substantive particles adhering to the first set of con-lllct re A second adhesive, optionally the same as the first adhesive, is applied ~ to the ordered monolayer array of transferable sub~LallLi~/~ particles and a second set of cnn~ tors applied to the ordered monolayer array of tr~n~fer~le substantive particles.
The second adhesive is then activated.
In one embodiment, the first adhesive is W curable and the support tape is WO 98/~6007 PCT/US97/13677 at least partially W L~ l. O~er types of adhesives may be used as well as discussed in several of the examples below.
The first set of conductors can occur on a substrate such as an indium tin oxidecoating on glass, metalization on a semiconductor and met~li7Ation on an insulator.
The present invention includes an active or passive eleckonic component having conductors on its surface or periphery and having a film as described above contsTinin~ electrically conductive particles applied to its conductors or a film or tacked array formed thereon.
The film or tacked array may be forrned on an electrically-addressable 10 substrate, such as a silicon wafer including circuitry, or conductive glass, such as indium tin oxide ~ITO)-coated glass which has paLL~lllwise delineated conductive tracks thereon or alternatively, may be affixed to such substrates via an adhesive. Ceramic, epoxy composite, polyimide films and the like represent other forms of substrates which may include conductive tracks.
15In the case of ITO-coated glass sub~LldLe~, the tack layer of the curable composition is suitably rendered susceptible to photopolyrnerization, and is cured by irradiation through the transparent ~ub~LlaLe, with actinic ~IJV) radiation. Exposure conditions may be selected such that only a layer of the curable composition solidifies.
After removal of uncured mAteriAI, a bArlrfillin~ mAt~ri~l is then applied and cured (primary 20 cure or A-stage).
~ lt~rnAtively, b~ckfillinp~ is not n~ce~ / if a film forming material is to be applied intçrme~TTAte the ITO-coated glass substrate and the substrate to which it is to be mated con-;ullcnLly with or prior to mating or if the second substrate has a pre-applied coating of a solidifiable film forming mAt~riAI on its surface. The solidifiable film-fc rming 25 mAt~ri~l should either be a liquid or in a softened or pliable state, such that as the ~ub~LldLes are mated and pressed together, the particles p~n~tr~te through the solidifiable film forming materials until contact is made with the surface of the second substrate.
Similar methods are a~pr~l;ate in the case of substrates which are non-trAn~mi~ive to W or visible radiation but which are ~TAn~mi~ive to other forms of 30 ele.;Ll~ gnetic radiation. In such case, the initiator systems in the curable compositions may require modification. Alt~m~tively, a pre-formed "patch" of film according to the invention may be applied to the electrically-addressable substrate. In either case, the ~ backfill composition contains a latent thermal hardener or other B-stage cure system so that it has latent adhesive plv~ ies. The resulting products can be used for device S hll~lcol..lection to ffat panel displays of various types, or direct die ~ chment, using "flip chip" techniques in the case of a coated and subdivided wafer.
The average particle size of the substantive particles should be at least about 10 times that of the colloidal-size ferromagnetic particles, more particularly at least about 100 times, and advantageously at least about 500 times. The substantive particles have an 10 average particle size (measured on the minor dimension in the case of non-symmetrical particles) of at least about 2 micrometres while the colloidal ferromagnetic particles have an average particle size not greater than about 0.1 micrometres, such as about 0.01 micrometres.
For electronic interconnection uses, the interconnection pads generally have a width in the range of about 10 to about 500 micrometres, suitably is about 100micrometres. The separation between the pads generally is less than about 150 micrometres, such as about 100 micrometres. The present invention facilitates pitch or separation reduction below about 100 micrometres, even to about 10 micrometres or less.
The substantive particles may be arrayed in a regular pattern in a monolayer.
20 The thickness of the uncured curable composition on the substr~te should be desirably regulated (e.g., by colllpl~s~ion, squeegee, and the like) before cure so that essentially all of the particles (or at least the largest particles) are in substantially the same plane.
The ~ bs~ e particles should have subst~nti~lly ~lllirOlll~ sizes and shapes.
Substantial uniformity is not affected by the presence of smaller than average particles 25 (which may not fimction as conductive particles in the film) or larger than average particles (which may be co~ cssible and/or otherwise capable of size reduction in the conditions of production of the film or coating, ~., solder particles which may melt or deforrn). The size distribution for solder powder particles is defined according to test methods of the Tn~tihlt~ for Illl~l co~ ctin~ and P~k~gin~ Electronic Circuits, Lincolnwood, IL 60646-1705, U.S.A.. For ç~ ~mple, in Table 1 below distributions from test method IPC-TM-650 CA 0223372l l998-04-Ol WO 98/0601)7 PCT/US97/13677 are presented:

TART F I % of Sample by Wei~ht - Nominal Size (micrometres) None Lar~er Than J ess Than 1% 90% Minimum 10% Maximum T~r~erThan BetweenLess Th~n I
Type 4 40 38 38-20 20 Type 5 30 25 25-15 15 Type 6 20 15 15-5 5 In method of E through H, the curable composition may be cured or otherwise solidified while the m~gn~tic field is applied or shortly after removal from the field.
Pressure may be applied to the layer of film-forming m~teri~l before and/or during the primary curing or other solidification step.
The substantive particles should be compliant when pressed upon, either during plep~Lion of the film, or during its end-use application. Such compliancyfz~cilit~tes greater than single point contact and enables compensations for srnall variations in particle size or substrate fl~tnPss. This is particularly desirable in the preparation of electrically-conductive ~llms.
The thickness of the film should be subst~nti~lly the sarne as the average m~tr~r of the substantive particles. In the event the particles are of two or more groups of dirre~elll sizes, particles belonging to the group of larger particles should be of substantially uniform size and the thicl~ne~c of the film should be in relation to the average diarneter of that largest group of particles. During exposure to the magnetic field, the thickness of the layer of curable ferrofluid composition may be greater than the average mPtrr of the ~ e particles, although ordinarily the thickness should be less than twice the average diameter. In this way, each particle may be surrounded by the carrier liquid and may migrate in the layer of the composition.
After b~rl~filling ~ies~ule may be applied to the material to reduce the thickness so that the substantive particles lie at, or protrude slightly from, both surfaces of the film. Alternatively, the thickn~ of the film may be reduced by ~hrink~ge during the A-stage, ~. as a result o~ cure or drying.
If the particles are con~ ,s~ible spheres7 the thickness of the film may be 5 reduced by conl~ression to less than the average diameter of the electrically-conductive particles. In so doing, the particles may be co~ sed into a non-circular cross-sectional shape and the area of electrical contact on the surface of each particle thereby increased.
Compression of individual particles to different degrees of Co~ leSSiOn may alsocompensate for some variations in particle size and flatness of the substrate. The 10 compressibility of electrically-conductive particles having a core of polymeric material coated with an electric~lly-conductive metal will be a degree of dependent upon the extent of cross-linking of the polymer. Gold-coated spherical polystyrene particles [supplied by Sekisui Fine Chemical Co, Osaka, Japan under the name AU 212, (which were found to have an average diameter of 11.5 micrometres) compressed on the Z-axis under 3.3 MPa 15 pressure were found to have a Z-axis dimension of 10.5 micrometres, i.e., an aspect ratio (Z/X) of 0.79 co~ onding to an 8.7% contraction on the Z-axis.
Generally, the uniform magnetic field is applied normal to the layer of the curable composition ~i.e. in the Z direction) and the substantive particles form a regular array of particles in a monolayer. With a monolayer, there is primarily single-particle 20 bridging in the Z direction between two sets of conductors (when the film is used between two sets of conductors). The regular pattern improves the reliability of electrical contact.
The magnet;c field may be applied parallel to the layer of the curable composition (~. the X direction) and the ~ub~L~Liv~; particles form parallel chains of particles, each in contact with an adjacent particle or particles of the same chain. The chains are forrned to lie 25 parallel to the lon~itn-lin~l axis of two sets of conductor pins or tracks. Here again, single-particle bridging in the Z-direction is achieved between the two sets of conductors. The particles, however, are also in electrical contact with adjacent particles in the same chain so that reliability is further improved.
In the case where two S~ sets of conductor pins or tracks are located on 30 ol.~o~iLe edges of an integrated circuit or other conl~onent, the layer ofthe composition will normally be int~llu~t~d at a central area ofthe component so that no conductive chain of particles extends across the width of the component to connect the two sets of conductors on the same component (unless desired).
In the case of a "quad" component having conductor pins on four edges, with 5 two sets at right angles to the other two sets, the layer of the composition is applied, exposed to the magnetic field and cured in the tack layer in two steps, so that chains of conductive particles are formed in the X-direction and Y-direction with the a~propliate ~lignmçntc and interruptions in the respective areas. Screen printing of the composition and/or the use of masks, for example, may f~(~ilit~lte this operation. With those areas in 10 which particle chains of one direction are desired are screen printed and cured, followed by a second screen printing step and cure for particles in the other direction. Alternatively, those areas in which a di~elellL direction or orientation of the particle chains is desired may be masked during curing or polymerization, with subsequent curing or the previously m~ e~l area.
Where a m~gn~tic field is used normal to the layer of the composition, no ~ignific~nt ~lipnment in the X-direction or Y-direction occurs, so that no interruption of the layer of the composition or double alignrnent step is neeclel1 The colloidal ferromagnetic particles of the ferrofluid may be magnetite but other ferromagnetic particles may also be used as described in U.S. Patent No. 4,946,613 20 (Ishikawa), the disclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.
Exemplary ferr~m~n~tic particles include: (i) ferromagnetic oxides, such as m~ng~nese ferrites other than magnetite, cobalt ferrites, barium ferrites, metallic composite ferrites C~-, zinc, nickel and ll~ixlules thereof), and llli~lules thereof; and (ii) ferroTn~gn~tic metals selected from iron, cobalt, rare earth metals and mixtures thereof. A ferrite is a ceramic 25 iron oxide compound having ferromagnetic pl-~p~llies with a general formula MFe204 where M is generally a metal such as cobalt, nickel or zinc [Chambers Science and Technology Dictionary-, W.R. Chambers Ltd. and Cambridge U~ iLy Press, Fngl~ncl,1988)]. The pht;no,. ,~ .c n of ferromagnetism is observed in ferrites and similar m7~t~ri~1~
The diarneter of the ferromSl~n~tic particle diameter may be in the range of about 2 nanometres to 0.1 micrometrès, with a mean particle size of about 0.01 micrometres. The ferromagnetic particle content may be in the range of about 1 to about 30% by volume of the curable ferrofluid composition. In the case where a monomer forms the carrier of the ferrofluid7 the suspension of ferrom~nPtic particles in the monomer may have a particle content of from about 2 to about 10% by volume.
A surfactant may generally be used to produce stable dispersions of the ferrom~gnPtic particles in the carrier, particularly in curable carriers. Surf~rt~n~ may be selected from lln~ lr~tPcl fatty acids and salts thereof, where the fatty acid or salt has one or more polar groups such as COOH, SO3H, PO3H and ~ ule~ thereof. Other snrf~ct~n~
well known in the art such as silicone-type surfactants, fluorine-type surf~< t~nt~ and the like, may also be used. Suitable surfactants include sodium oleate, or oleic acid, silane coupling agents, such as those available under the tr~lpm~rk~ SH-6040 from Toray Silicone Co. Ltd., Saloosinate LH from Nikko Chem. Co. Ltd, the fluorine-co..~ il.g surfactant X
C95 - 470 from Toshiba Silicone Co. Ltd.
Primary surfactants form an adsorbed coating on the surface of the ferromagnetic particles. A secondary surfactant may also be used, to achieve dispersability, particularly an anionic surfactant, for example an acid form of a phosphate ester, particularly an aromatic phosph~tP ester type surfactant such as GAFAC RE6 10 from GAF
(Great Britain) 1 imite~l, Wyll.~ we, M~nchest~r, U.K. or RHODAFAC RE610 from Rhone-Poulenc, Chimie, France.
Conventional ferrofluid compositions include colloids of the ferromagnetic particles in a suitable non-m~gnPtic carrier liquid. Such non-magnetic carrier liquids may be chosen from among those described in U.S. Patent No. 4,946,613 (Ishikawa), U.S.
Patent No. 3,843,540 (Reimers) and WO 95/20820, the disclosures of each of which are hereby expressly h~co~ d herein by reference. The carrier may be an organic solvent selected from (a) hydrocarbons, such as kerosene and fuel oils, n-pentane, cyclohexane, petroleum ether, petroleum benzine, benzene, xylene, toluene and nlix~ ,s thereof; (b) halogenated hydrocarbons, such as chlorobenzene, dichlorobPnzPnP, bromobenzene and es thereof; (c) alcohols, such as methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, n-butanol, isobutanol, benzylalcohol and ~ es thereof; (d) ethers such as diethyl ether, diisopropyl ether and llh~l~es thereof; (e) aldehydes, such as furfural and ~ s thereof; (f) ketones, such as WO 98/06007 PCT/~JS97/13677 acetone, ethyl methyl ketone and mixtures thereof; (g) fatty acids such as acetic acid, acetic anhydride and mixtures thereof and derivatives thereof; and (h~ phenols, as well as n~ ;s of the various solvents. Commercially available ferrofluids, such as those from Ferrofluidics Corp., New Hampshire, USA, include dispersed magnetizable particles in 5 suitable carriers, such as water, esters, fluorocarbons, polyphenylethers and hydrocarbons.
For a more detailed fli~c~ ion of ferrofluids, see e.g., Ferromagnetic M~t~n~ Wohlfarth E.P. (Ed), Vol. 2, Ch. 8, p.509, North Holland Publishing Co. (1980); Aggregation Processes in Solution, Wyn-Jones, E., C~ormally, J., Ch. 18, p.509, Martinet A Elsevier Sci.
Publishing Co. (1983); R.E. Rosensweig, Ann. Rev. Fluid Mech. 19, 437-63, (1987).
Ferrofluids are normally effective insulators. The resistivity of a ferrofluid adhesive composition should be further increased after curing. If desired, an electrically-conductive filler, such as carbon or metallic powder may be included in the ferrofluid (see EP ~ 0 208 391). In those embofliment~ in which the tack layer remains in the final product, including such an electrically-conductive filler results in covering the lower surface of the electrically-conductive particles, and allows for conductivity to be i l led. Ordinarily, the filler itself would itself be ordered in the manner of "magnetic holes". Additional conducting filler may be loaded in the tack layer so that electrical continuity does not persist in the plane of the tack layer for distances greater than a few micrometres.
The curable ferrofluid composition may be an adhesive composition. More specifically, it may be any suitable monomer composition into which the colloidal ferrofluid can be mixed or in which the ferromagnetic particles can be dispersed to form a colloid. A wide variety of polym~?ri7~ble systems, based on acrylate, epoxide, siloxane, styryloxy, vinyl ether and other mnn~ mer~, oligomers, prepolymers such as polyimides and cyanate ester resins and/or polymers and hybrids thereof, may be used as the curable tack layer composition and/or as the film-forming m~tf-ri~l Conventional anisotropically conductive adhesive films have been described in ~nt~rn~tional Patent Publication WO
93/01248, based on cyanate ester resins in conjunction with thermoplastic resin additives.
The adhesive may be selected from olefinically ~ls~ led systems, such as acrylates, lllellla~,.ylates, styrene, maleate esters, fumarate esters, uns~Lul~ted polyester resins, alkyl resins, thiol-ene compositions, and acrylate methacrylate or vinyl-t~rmin~tccl resins, such as silicones and urethanes. Suitable acrylates and methacrylates are those used in polymerizable systems, such as those disclosed in U.S. Patent Nos. 4,963,220 (Bachmann) and 4,215,209 (Ray-ch~lt~lhllri). Other acrylate cont~ining m~t~ri~l~ useful herein are S methylmethacrylate7 polyfimctional methacrylates, silicone diacrylates and polyfunctional acrylated urethanes of the type known to be useful in form~ ting adhesives (~ asdisclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,092,376 (Douek) or a thiol-ene or thiol-nene (ç~z, as disclosed in U.S. Patent Nos. 3,661,744, 3,898,349, 4,008,341 and 4,808,638~. Suitable epoxy systems are included among those described in F. T. Shaw, ed. "Chemistry and 10 Technology of Epoxy Resins", B. Ellis, Blackie Academic and Professional, London, 7, P.206ff. (1993). Suitable styryloxy systems are disclosed in U.S. Patent Nos. 5,543,397, 5,084,490 and 5,141,970. The disclosures of these documents are hereby expresslyincorporated herein by left;~ ce. In the case where the solidification process involves the resolitlific~tion of a molten matrix m~teri~l, suitable matrices include polyamide hot melt adhesive polymers, such as Uni-Rez(R) 2642 and Uni-Rez(R) 2665, which are commercially available from Union Camp Corporation, Savannah, Georgia, and polyester polymers, such as Vitel(R) 1870 and Vitel(R) 3300, which are cornmercial available from Shell Chemical Co., Akron, OH. These m~t~n~lc are disclosed in U.S. Patent No.
5,346,558 (Mathias) in the context of conventional solderable anisotropically conductive 20 compositions and methods for using the same. The adhesive system for the tack layer should either be colllp~L~ible with a commercially available ~llonuid or be capable of acting as a carrier for the suitably treated magnetically polarizable particles which are used in the m~king of a ferrofluid.
The curable tack layer composition, like the film-forming composition, may 25 be one that undergoes a one-step or two-step cure or solidification (or is reversibly solidifiable~. In the first step, the tack layer is sufficient to a&ere and ~ in place the particles. In the second step, particularly where it is desired to adhere the so-formed tacked array or film to a ~ ~Ib.~ 7 a full cure or solic1ifit~tion or resoli~ific~tion is ~ ine-l Such a result may be achieved by use of curable compositions, which include two or more 30 polymeri7~hle systems, a primary cure system and a secon-1~ry or latent cure system, or

3~ . _ monomers which have two or more reactive or functional groups thereon, ~, an epoxy and acrylate.
Suitable solidifiable ba~kfilling or film-forming materials may be organic or inorganic and solidification may occur through a variety of mech~ni~m~. Desirable S b5l~kfilling materials are organic, such as thermosets or thermoplastics, the latter including conventional "commodity" therrnoplastics, such as polyolefins, polystyrene and polyvinylchloride, as well as "engineered" therrnoplastics, such as polyalkyleneterephth~l~tes, polycarbonates, polyetherimic~es, polyphenylene ethers, polyetheretherketones, and the like. Thermoset materials include, but are not limited to, those m~t~ri~l~ discussed above as suitable for the tack layer, save the ferrofluid or ferromz~n~tic particles. Cure or polymerization of the film-forming m~t~ may occur through free radical, anaerobic, photoactivated, air-activated, cationic, anionic, heat-activated, moisture-activated, instant or other cure systems, such as the addition of hardeners to resins. In addition, one cure system may be used in the A-stage or primary solidification, and a second, distinct cure system may be used in the B-stage. Those persons skilled in the art should recognize that other curable or solidifiable monomers, oligomers, pre-polymers and polymer materials and systems may be employed as the film-forming material.
~ckfilling may be accomplished by pouring or dispensing the film-forming m~teri~l onto the tacked layer or the adhesive film. Additionally, b~qckfilling may be accomplished by squeegeeing the film-forming material onto the tacked layer or adhesive film. Alternatively, b~ filling may be accomplished by pressing together a catTier film or substrate having a layer of film-forming material disposed thereon and a tacked array or an adhesive film with the paTticles disposed thereon. The film-forming material should be in a liquid or readily penekable state. In ~is way, the particles may penetrate to a depth of at least about 50% of the height of the largest particles, such as least about g5% of the height of the }argest particles. For b~kfillin~ the layer of film forming material is desirably less than about 125% of the height of the largest particle and desirably of a thicl~ within the range offrom about 95% to about 110% of t_e height of the largest particle, such as from about 95% to about 100% of the height of the largest particle. These ratios may vary WO 981O~J7 31 PCT/~JS97113677 depending upon the depth to which the particles penetrate the tack layer or adhesive film.
After cure or A-stage cure, the carrier film or substrate may be removed.
~ Alternatively, the carrier fiber or substrate may be removed just prior to use of the so-formed film in its intended end-use application.
The carrier f1lm may also be a latent adhesive or have a layer of adhesive or latent adhesive m~t~ri~l on the face opposite the film-forming material so that in use, the adhesive or latent adhesive is activated to bond the film to a second ~ub~dl~ and the carrier film itself should be sufflciently pliable or penetrable to allow the partieles to penetrate therethrough in assembling a device, particularly an electronic device, with the film.
The monomer composition at which the ferrofluid is comprised may include two poly ~ - ,e~ hle systems, one of which cures wholly or partially in the A-stage or primary soliflific~tif n, and the second of which cures in the B-stage (accomp~nie~l by further curing of the first system, if a~pru~liate). Alh .-ldlively or additionally, the monomers themselves may be hybrids having more than one reactive or curable functionality, such as an epoxy 1 S acrylate.
The substantive particles may also be m~gn~tic.
Depending upon the end-use application of the produets of the present invention, the partieles may be conductive or non-conductive. That is the particles may conductive, whether th~ lly or electrically conductive, or optically tr~n~mi~ive. Those persons skilled in the artshould recognize the wide-range applicability ofthis invention and should choose a~plopliate particles for the intf n(1e~1 result, e.g., glass or ~dn~alclll/tr~n~ cent polymer particles for optical k~n~mi.c~ion; carbon, carbon black, alu~nina, zinc oxide, m~gn~ium oxide and ferric oxide for therrnal conductivity, and silver, copper, gold, niekel and the like for electric conductivity. Alloy particles, especially solders, may also be used as electrically conductive particles. The '558 patent describes solder powder whose particle size is less than 37 micrometres and preferably less than l S
micromekes. Int~LIldlional patent publication WO 93/1248 describes a superfine solder powder, average diameter 10 micrometres available from Nippon Atomizer.
However, for electronic applications, the sub~lallliv~ particles should be eleetrically conductive and substantially non-m~gn~tic The term non-magnetic as used herein means that each particle has no significant net magnetic dipole. A particle with a "non-magnetic" core may have a coating of a metal (such as, nickel) which is ferr~m~gnetic in nature. But in view of the small volume of the coating, the net magnetic moment per unit volume of the particle is not significant. The substantially non-magnetic particles do 5 not typically respond to magnetic fields in environrnents which themselves are not susceptible to magnetic fields, such as a non-ferromagnetic liquid medium. Suitable particles may be constructed entirely of conductive m~tPri~ls or they may have a non-magnetic non-conductive core, such as of a plastics material like polystyrene, or of glass, coated with an electrically-conductive metal like nickel, silver or gold. A core of 10 conductive material, such as graphite or a metal, may also be used. The core may optionally be hollow, such as a hollow glass sphere with an outer coating of a conductive m~tPri~l Particles of carbon fibre or solder may also be used.
The substantive particles may suitably have a size in the range of about I to about 300 micrometres. Spherical particles are desirable but other spheroidal shapes, 15 elongated shapes, cylindrical shapes, regular shapes, such as cubic or fibrous structures, may also be used. For spherical particles, a diatneter in the range of about 2 to about 100 micrometres is desirable, such as about 2 to about 50 micrometres, particularly about 5 to about 30 micrometres or about 5 to about 20 micrometres.
For particles having a major dimension and a minor dimension, the major 20 dimension is desirably in the range of about 2 to about 300 micrometres and the minor r~;men~ion is desirably in the range of about 2 to about 100 micrometres, such as 2-50 micrometres, particularly 5-30 micrometres, or 5-20 micrometres, with the aspect ratio beingintherangeofabout 15/1 toabout 1/l,moreparticularly 10/1 to 1/1.
In the case of fibrous structures, an aspect ratio of up to about 50/1 may be 25 acceptable. If used, fibres should be of ~ulJ~L~Lially uniform length (~ in the form of cylinders) and arrayed so that their long axes are orthogonal to the substrate.
Application of a magnetic field to the ferrofluid composition creates interiqctions between the colloidal ferrom~gnPtic particles and the non-m~ nPtic ~ b~ e particles. These inter~-tions result in mutual stabili7~tic n in a non-random structural 30 pattern (with chain form~tio~ where the a~lopliate ~limPn~ion of a layer ofthe composition CA 0223372l lgss-04-ol WO 98/06007 PCT/USg7/13677 so perrnits) due to attractive interactions between particles and repulsive interaction between chains [(see Skjeltorp, One- and Two-Dimensional Cryst~ fion of Magnetic~ Holes, Physical Review Letters, 51(25) 2306-2309, (19 December 1983)].
The concentration of substantive particles in the composition should be 5 chosen according to the desired spacing between those particles in the ordered array and other factors. With spherical particles of about 2 micrometres diameter, a concentration in a monolayer of about 107 particles per square centimetre may be suitable. A qualitative concentration in the range 0.5 - 60%, by weight of the composition may also be suitable (see U.S. Patent No. 5,366,140, the disclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference, particularly column 2, lines 24 - 28 which describes average densities of about 600 - 6,000,000 microbeads/cm2, such as 160,000 - 6,000,000 beads/cm2).Desirable concentrations of substantive particles depend upon a number of factors that can be determined by those person skilled in the art through routine e2~. ;."~-nt~tjon and/or m~them~tical calculations. U.S. Patent No. 4,846,988 (Skjeltorp) 15 notes that the concentration of magnetic holes in ferrofiuids polarized with a magnetic field, determines the distance between them. Shio~awa et. al. 1st Tntern~tion~l Conference on Adhesive Joining Technology in Electronics Manufacturing, Berlin (November 1994)inc1ie&/tes that contact resistance in traditional anisotropically conductive adhesives decreases as particle count (per unit area) increases. An increasing nurnber of conductive 20 particles increases the current carrying capacity. The current carrying capabilities are not only concentration dependent but also particle type dependent [(See Lyons and Dahringer in Handbook of Adhesives Technology, Pizzi and Mittal, eds., Marcel Dekker Inc., p.578, (1994)]-Thus, the actual concentration of conductive particles should depend on the 25 particle type, density, Ai~meter, electrical pattern, minimum required contact resistancemeasurements, the spacing b~lw~t;n opposing and adjacent conductors, the surface area of the conductors and the like.
Li and Morris, 1st Tnt~m~tional Conference on Adhesive Joining Technology in Electronics ~nllf~r*lring, Berlin) (November 1994) describes con~ulel programs which calculatethe~ lpadsizefordirr~ lLloading~tn~iti~andthelll;llillllllllpad space for different particle sizes of conductive particles in conductive adhesives. In ordering the array of particles, a magnetic field may be applied by a perrn~n~nt magnet or by electrl)m~nt~tic means. The magnetic field is described to be in the range of 1 OmT to lOOOmT, such as lOmT to lOOmT, applied for a time in the range 0.1 to 10 minl-tes, such S as 0.5 to 5 minlltes The magnetization saturation of the ferrofiuid composition should influence the selection of the m~gn~tic field strength.
Films or coatings according to the present invention contslining electrically-conductive particles are int~nt1ç-1 for use in electrical interconnection of active and/or passive electronic components, for example chip-on-board, chip-on-flex, chip-on-glass and 10 board/flex and flex/glass. The invention is particularly well suited for interconnection of fine-pitch sets of conductors and for flip-chip technology.
The present invention further provides a product in the form of the tack layer following removal of the particles therefrom. The tack layer, free of particles, may inherently produce a result of the separation of an adhesive film with the particles 2q~1h~nnp 15 thereto away from the layer of cured curable composition or cured curable ferrofluid co~ o~ilion in the method of C or G abovej respectively. The so-formed product includes a layer of cured composition having a~ltul~s or recesses therein corresponding to the locations of particles, such as arrayed particles.
The invention also provides an adhesive film having recesses in the a&esive 20 surface layer thereof, prQduced as a result of removal of particles formerly adhered thereto in the method of C or G above. The removal of particles from the adhesive film should be effected by applying to the particles a second adhesive film having an a&esiveness with respect to the particles greater than that of the first adhesive film. Alternatively, the recesses may be created in the second a&esive film by removal of the particles thc~erlv 25 by applying a third adhesive film having even stronger adhesiveness with respect to the particles than the second adhesive. I~is procedure may be repeated in a m~tçringoperation from one adhesive film to another with greater adhesiveness. The adhesive film may be in the form of a ~l~S~ sensitive adhesive tape.
The array of craters in the first (or subsequent3 adhesive film may be of higher30 quality than that in the cured tack layer because of possible rol~~hn~ in the tack layer after CA 02233721 Isss-04-ol WO 98/06007 PCT/US97tl3677 removal of uncured curable composition.
The particle array on the first adhesive film may also be used as a master to ~ create a pattern by ~L~llL,illg, or the like, into a substrate capable of producing a smooth surface and retaining the shapes o~ the recesses created by the particles.
S The recesses or "craters" may be circular in outline, or may have non-circular shapes, such as squares or hexagons, depending upon the cross-section of the particles. The craters may have a parabolic or flat base, depending upon the shape of the particles.
The crater arrays may be overcoated with a thin layer of moldable material, such as metal, for example to make a reflector array of parabolic mirrors, or glass, for example to make waveguides with geodesic optical elements incorporated thereon.
The invention also provides a film having ~C;l LUL~S therein corresponding to the locations of particles, such as in an arrayed pattern, produced by removing particles from a film produced by the method of C, D, G or H above. The particles may, forexample, be removed from the film by treatment with a solvent which dissolves the particles but not the f~llm, e.~. THF or acetone for dissolving polystyrene spherical particles.
The cratered array may also be prepared from other backfill materials including ceramics or metallics, and highly resistant polymers. Particles may be removed by dissolution, pyrolysis and the like to leave voids in an arrayed configuration in the film, which may be useful for example in membrane applications, mastergrid applications for displays or display elements, confining other species such as liquid crystals, photochromic m~ri~l~, dyes, phol~s~ ivt; or emissive materials, or for vibrating plate orifice devices for aerosol production [Berglund, R.N., En~ u~ ntzll Science and Technology, 7, 2, 147.
(1973)3-The invention additionally provides a method of making an assembly of two components which includes forming a monolayer of particles in a cured layer of curable composition according to the method of A or E, removing the uncured curable composition, bringing the second component into contact with the particles, and applying a fluid adhesive m~tt~ l into the space between the components and optionally over the assembly.
The method is particularly suitable for forming a "globbed" assembly of an electronic device onto a substrate such as a board. The cured tack layer with the particles arrayed WO 98106l)07 PCT/US97113677 therein is created on the substrate and the device is assembled onto the particle array. It may optionally be held in position by a "chipbonder" adhesive in small quantities, or the particles themselves may have adhesive pl~p~llies, such as is described in the WO '820 publication. The assembly may then be globbed and underfillled simultaneously by5 applying adhesive over the devicc and into the space between the two components including the in~l~LiLial space between the particles. This method m:~cimi~ electrical contact and environmental protection for the particles.
The following examples serve to provide further appreciation of the invention but are not meant in any way to restrict the effective scope thereof:
I O EXAMPLES
In the ~xamples, the following abbreviations are used:
Ms = Magnetization saturation G = Gauss T = Tesla mPa-s = (10~3Nm-2s) = centipoise FX~MPLE I
A curable ferroadhesive composition was prepared from the forrn~ tion described below:
Reference Nn-nber COI~UOA ~nt Percentw/w 1 ' Epoxy-Acrylate, resin IRR 282 36.71 ucb Chemicals, Drogenbos, Belgium 2 Bisphenol F. Dow, US 10.84 3 Irgacure 1700, Ciga-Geigy, UK 3.85

4 Butane diol diacrylate 26.92 DICY (dicy~n~ mi(le) 5.24 6 Benzyl dimethylamine 0.35 7 Au-coated spheres, Sekisui KK, 16.08 Osaka, Japan In order to (,~Li,~ e viscosity and m~n~tic strength of the f~rm~ tion, item 1 was derived from an IRR282 based ferrofluid (Ms 1 l 5 G; viscosity at 27~C of 1 l 5 mPa s) and 29.8% of item 4 was derived from a butane diol diacrylate based ferrofluid (Ms 1 l 6 G;
viscosity at 27~C of l 2 mPa-s). The ferrofluids were prepared by Liquids Research ~ imite~l, Unit 3, Mentech, Deinol Road, Bangor, Gwynedd, U.K.
The residual balance of item 4 was derived from pure butane diol diacrylate monomer. The formulation formed a stable colloid when all ingredients were admixed.
The m~gn~1ic strength of the resulting low viscosity forrnulation was approximately 50G.
The gold-coated spheres were either exclusively 12, or exclusively 25 micrometres in diameter.
This particle-cont~inin~ ferroadhesive composition was applied to a microscope slide and confined by placing a glass cover slip on top ofthe liquid form~ tion.
The liquid film was squeezed gently with even ~I~S~iUlt; to give a uniforrn film which was less than two particle diameters in thickness. The sample was poled in a Halbach m~ tic cylinder with a uniform magnetic field of 0.6 T for app~ illlately 30 seconds at room tel~ ,dLul~ (approx. 26~C). The field direction was perpendicular to the substrate plane.
The sample was removed from the poling field and irradiated with UV light from the microscope slide side for 0.2 of a second. The glass cover slip was then prized off with a blade and the upper portion of the sample was seen to be in a substantially uncured liquid form. Inspection under the microscope however revealed that an ordered particle array was still intact following the clel~min~ti~ n of the top cover slip, and the gold particles were completely uncovered by material. There was nevertheless some free liquid material still surrounding the particles. The free liquid material was washed from the sample with a jet of acetone. Washings were coloured with ferrofluid. The sample was re~ min.ocl under the microscope to reveal an intact array of bright gold particles on a dry surface. No trace of liquid m~teri~1 was observed in the particle hllel~lilial spaces. Electron microscopy revealed that a 23.6 mic~ Gs of a 25 micrometre diameter particle was st~n-lin~ proud on a cured layer of the ferroadhesive composition as shown in Figure l i.e. the cured layer had a thickness of l .4 micrometres which is 5.6% of the ~ met~r of the particles. This t~n~ e could be controlled by adjusting parameters relating to the absorption of the ~llonuid composition, the confining structure and the i1111min~ion conditions.

The array of ordered particles st~ntling proud on the surface was backfilled with film-forming adhesive ofthe composition tabulated above i.e. of identical composition to that from which the ferroadhesive was derived except that it contained no magnetite nor ingredients n~c~ to disperse same. The b~ckfilling m:~t~n~l filled the il~ lilial spaces S between the particles. This backfilled system was confined by a cover slip and again irradiated from the slide side, now for ten seconds, to invoke an A-stage cure as described in the second parent application, Example 7. The A-staged film was peeled free from confining cover slip and substrate sequentially and used in electrical and mechanical tests.
Mechanical testing involved bonding a 36mrn2 silicon die onto an FR4 10 substrate with the above-mentioned film. The bonding conditions (B-stage cure) for both the backfill and the tack layer were: 90 seconds, 100N, and approximately 180~C in the bon~lline The sample was left for one hour at room temperature before die shear testing.
Die shear strengths averaging 1 3mPa were recorded. Typical values obtained in identical tests for pure ferroadhesives were around 4mPa.
Electrical testing of the sample prepared according to the invention showed Z-axis contact rç~i~t~nce of 350 mOhms. The bz/ckfilling m~1Pri:~l was an electrical insulator with contact resistance in excess of 200 kOhms.
E~MP~ ~, 2 An identical t;2~ ent to that described in Example 1 was conducted up to 20 the point where the ordçred array was washed and left adhering to a cured layer of the ferroadhesive composition. Next a comrnercially available pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) tape (Sellotape - registered trade mark) was used to transfer the ordered array of particles from the cured ferroa&esive layer directly on to the PSA while re~ining order as shown by electron microscopy and illustrated in Figures 2 and 3. In this way the particles 25 were set free from the cured ferroadhesive layer or tack layer. The top of the spheres shown in Figure 2 coll~;s~u,lds to the bottom, or tacked portion, ofthe spheres shown in Figure 1.
Depending on the applied pressure the particles may be ~ d into the PSA to di~lc~
depths. Figure 3 shows a 25 micrometre sphere embedded to a ~ t~nre of 4 micrometres in the PSA. The particles supported on the PSA were backfilled and part cured (A-stage) 30 in the same way and to the same effect as described in the previous exarnple. The liner on -the PSA tape was removed for test purposes, but otherwise supported the films and facilitated h~nc1lin~ The transfer operation left behind an array of craters in the ferroadhesive layer or tack layer rems~ining on the substrate. This ferroadhesive layer with the array of craters therein could be used for other purposes.
S I~MPLE 3 Since the function of the ferroadhesive composition is to order and tack particles, it is not necessary that this m~tf ri~l be formnl~te~l to impart dual stage cures or any specific strength characteristics. However it is advantageous if the ferroadhesive adheres better to the substrate than to the backfilled matrix of film-forming material. To 10 this end acrylic acid was ~lm;xç~l with the comrnercially available ferrofluid APG 51 lA
(Ferrofluidics Inc., NH, USA) in a 1:1 mix together with some 10% of photoinitiator IC
1700 (Ciba-Geigy, UK) (cf. WO 95/20820 Example 18-19). This produced a polymerizable fluid with a m~gnetic saturation of almost 90G and with a viscosity considerably less than 40 mPas at room Lem~ dlul~ (APG 511A alone has a room 15 temperature viscosity of 40 mPa-s, whereas acrylic acid is of lower viscosity) which was extremely responsive to a m~gn~tic field and capable of ordering included magnetic holes (i.e. paIticles) in one to three seconds at room temperature. Various other ratios of acrylic acid and APG511A were used to get greater m~n~tic strength or greater polymerization.
Ordered arrays were established by the means described in Example 1 (photocure for 0.2 20 seconds). The ordered particles were washed on the cured polyacrylic acid layer with acetone and the tack layer remained intact.
The skeletal array of particles was backfilled with the non-ferroadhesive equivalent ofthe curable composition tabulated in Example 1. The backfilled adhesive was cured for ten seconds as previously described (A-stage) and stripped free from the cured 25 polyacrylic acid film layer which rem~in~-1 tenaciously adhered to the substrate due to its rich polar structure. The free st~n-ling test filrn was completely lla~ L and uncoloured by ferrofluid and comprised an array of bright gold spheres. This was subjected to mrrh~nical and electrical testing according to the methods already described. Mech~nir~l testing showed die shear strengths of 10 mPa and electrical testing showed a Z axis contact 30 rçci~t~nre of some 500 mOhms. The backfilled matrix without particles was an electrical WO 98t06007 PCT/US97/13677 in~ul~tor.
F,XAl\~P~,F, 4 A comrnercial double-sided PSA tape (Sellotape - registered trade mark) was used to prepare a test substrate. One side was adhered to a glass microscope slide and the other side which faced upwards was stripped of its siliconized backing film. A
comrnercially available (non-polymerizable) ferrofluid (APG 51 lA from Ferrofluidics Inc, NH, USA) cont~inin~ 25 micrometre Au-coated uniform plastic spheres at approximately 10% w/w was prepared and applied on top of the PSA tape. A siliconized reIease paper was gently placed on top of the ferrofluid droplet taking care not to press so much that particles became stuck to the PSA before ordering. This was achieved by placing a glass cover slip on top of the siliconized paper to function as a low mass weight which would exert pressure over a given area. The sarnple was poled in a uniform magnetic field as described in the second parent application. After poling for one to three seconds the sarnple was removed and ~ ule was uniforrnly applied to the assembly to drive the particles onto the PSA sllrf~e The siliconized paper was removed and the sarnple was washed free of ferrofluid with a brief acetone wash. Optical inspection revealed that an array of ordered particles rf~m~ine~l on the PSA which could be b~ rfilled by the method described in the previous examples.
Examples 5-11 illustrate further ferrofluid adhesive compositions useful in the invention and techniques for orienting particles in a mz~ tic field.
~,X~T~P~,~, 5 Magnetite particles of average particle diameter 9.7 nanometres, (Liquids Research Limited, Unit 3, Mentech, Deiniol Road, Bangor, Gwynedd, U.K.) were coated with oleic acid and dispersed in heptane at an a~loL,l;ate content (3.5% and 8.4%) by volume m~netite to produce fluids with magnetizable saturation of 100G and 2~0G as described below. Five millilitres ofthe above mPntioned heptane-based m~ter1~1 was added to Sml of butane diol dimethacrylate and a filrther 2 ml of a secondary s~ t~nt was added which was an acid forrn of an aromatic phosphate ester sold under the Trade Mark GAFAC
RE610 by GAF (Great Britain~ Limited and now available as RHODAFAC RE610 =
GAFAC RE610 from Rhone Poulenc Chimie, France. This is described as nonoxynol-9-, phosphate.
A good quality ferrofluid resulted with good stability. Fluids with - magnetizable saturation of 100 G and 250 G were thus prepared. The saturation magnetization curve was steep and typical of supe~ netic systems in that it exhibited S no hysteresis. These fluids, even when forrn~ t~cl with radical initiators, were stable for periods of one year at room L~ )e.d~ule when stored in air permeable polyethylene bottles such as those used for ~e storage of traditional anaerobic adhesives by those skilled in the art.
The butane diol dimethacrylate ferrofluids could be polymerized in the bulk 10 with standard radical photo and/or thermal initiator systems.
To the but~ne diol dimethacrylate based ferrofluid of 100 G was added 10%
weight/weight spherical gold-plated cross-linked polystyrene microparticles of 11 micrometre diarneter and 6% w/w of photoinitiator 2,2--1im(~th~xy-2-phenyl acetophenone.
The said particles are essPntiSIlly monodisperse (i.e. of substantially uniform 15 shape and fli~7netl~r) and are an article of commerce from Sekisui Pine Chemical Co Ltd, Osaka, Japan.

(a) In order to demonstrate the in sit~ ordering of m~gnPtic holes in a ferrofluid co~tin~, the following t;x~ Pnt was conducted. A DEK 245 high performance 20 multipurpose screen printer was modified in such a way that a substantially uniform magnetic field could be applied to a specific area of an overlying substrate, such that the direction of the m~gnPtic field was orthogonal to the substrate and the so-called 'w-~hklble' of the printer ~DEK Printing ~ hinPs LTD, Dorset, Fngl ~nfl). As shown in Figures 6(a) and 6(b) the conventional worktable of the DEK 245 was replaced with a custom-built worktablewhichcomprisedapolishedall.,.. l-.. surfaceplate(320mmX240mm)(1)witha central milled depression (2) sufficient to accommodate a standard glass microscope slide (approxirnately 76mm X 25mm) (3).
The polished plate was mounted over an array of flat perm~nent magnets arranged so that a stripe of magnetic m~t~ l (4) some 170mm long by 50mm wide lay 30 directly beneath the milled depression in the plate, the said depression being located approximately 70mm from the squeegee (5) end of the stripe so that a magnetic field was developed in advance of the substrate (slide 3) with respect to the direction of print, the direction of print being that which moves squeegee blade (5) from left of Figure 6(a) ~A
end) to the right of the Figure 6(b)(B end). The magnetic stripe was constructed from a S series of flat ferrite magnets each 40mm X 25mm X 8mm (length X width ~ depth). These were poled across their thickness and collectively delivered approximately 400 Oe field strength, measured directly on the surface of the overlying polished plate. Each magnet had its flat face parallel to the face of polished worktable top plate (1) and was arranged so that the long ~limen~ n of each magnet was parallel to the long axis of the top plate. Flanking 10 the central magnetic stripe on either side, were two similar stripes poled in the opposite direction to the central stripe. All three stripes were bonded together to complete a m~nPtic circuit with vertical flux lines rising up through the substrate coincident with the milled depression (2) in the top plate (1).
In col-,p~ ive t;~y~ lents where no magnetic field was required, the same 15 polished top plate was used, but the array of underlying magnets was temporarily removed.
A particle-filled ferrofluid form~ tion was prepared based on a commercially available ferrofluid having a 1500 mPa-s (1.5Nm~2s) viscosity (APG 057 available from Ferrofluids, Inc, NH, USA) and 10 weight percent of transparent 11 micrometre cross-linked polystyrene spheres (Sekisui Fine Chemical Co., Osaka, Japan). The spheres were 20 thoroughly dispersed in the f~lrm~ tion by vigorous mixing. The formnl~tion was applied to the m~netic worktable (1) in a 20 mm stripe positioned about 20 mm in advance of the milled depression (2) which now contained a standard laboratory microscope slide (3). The worktable was raised to a position that would enable the printing of a thin coating of ferrofluid. The worktable position, rrintinp speed, printing plc;S:iul'e, and squeegee type 25 were adjusted in independent ~ .Pnt~ to ~lilni~ coating for the particular forrn~ tion under consideration. ~he motorized squeegee blade pulled the formulation across the length of the microscope slide. During this coating action the filled fluid experienced a m~netic field. After the printing cycle the squeegee blade lifted free from the worktable surface and reverted to its nn~in7/l position in re~liness for another operation.
Thecoatedsubstrate(3)was~ ;l,r~1OpticallyusingamicroscopeconnPctPd CA 02233721 l9ss-04-ol Wo 98/06007 PCT/US97/13677 ~3 to an optical image analyzer. The latter equipment is capable of processing the image and assessing the quality of the field-in~ cerl ordering of particles in the ferrofluid. The - particles order in the ferrofluid coating because they act as magnetic holes in the fluid matrix. The phenomenon of magnetic holes has been described by Slcjeltorp (see for

5 example "One and Two Dimensional Cr.vst~11i7~tion of Magnetic Holes" in Physical Review Letter, 51(25), 2306, 1983) in fluid ftlms which are conf1ned in a cavity formed by two rigid ~ub~LIaL~;s. In this case, the coating was unconfined.
Image analysis of the coated substrate indicated that a substantially uniform film with discrete particles dispersed therein resulted as illustrated in Figure 7.
A comparative experiment was con~ ctP~l using the above mentioned formulation and methodology except that the array of magnets was removed from the underside of the worl~table. The results of this e~ lent are indicated in Figure 8 and clearly show that the particles are not uniformly dispersed nor isolated as discrete particle entities.
Although this Example was carried out using a non-curable ferrofluid composition and non-conductive particles, the Example illustrates the method which can be used in drawing down a coating in accordance with the invention, as described elsewhere herein.
(b) In order to demonstrate the effect with polymer-based ~y~Lell~s, epoxy-novolac 20 ferrofluid solutions were developed. These essentially comprised resinous materials dissolved in volatile ferrofluids derived from methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) and toluene.
Ferrofluid solvents having saturation magnetization (Ms) values of 112 and 166 G in MEK and toluene respectively were prepared. These were used to dissolve epoxy-novolac DEN 438 EK85 (Dow Dellt~hl~nrl, Werk ~hPinm~1PnctPr) and bisphenol F epoxy 25 monomers at an overall concentration of 20 w/w. The relative percentage weight of each constituent and curatives are listed below. The concentration, Ms~ and viscosity of these solutions could be adjusted by solvent evaporation.
Epoxy Bisphenol F Dow, US 78%
DEN 438 EK85 (in ferrofluid solvent) 13.9%
DICY (Dicy~n~ mi~le) 7 0%

BDMA (benzyl dimethylamine) 1.0%

Conductive particles of 25 micrometre rli~meter were loaded at 10% w/w into the above-mentioned casting solutions and drawn down onto conductive ~ubsl~les such as S copper or gold clad FR4 boards. The boards were taped in place on an ACCU-LABTM draw down coater (Industry-Tech., Oldsmar, Florida) and the form~ tion was drawn down with Meyer rod to give a wet thickness of approximately 40 micrometres. The coated substrate was placed into a EIalbach magnetic cylinder with the uni~orm field of 0.6 Tesla disposed norrnally to the sample plane. Poling was conducted when the film was still wet and 10 solvent evaporation proceeded while the sarnple r~mz~in~l in the m~gn~tic field until a tacky film was obtained. This was exarnined under the optical microscope and particle ordering was confirme~l The film was subsequently dried by warming at 80~C for several hours (A-stage drying).
EX~i~IPT,F. 7 An epoxy based formulation was yl~;y~d based on the following composition:
Component CommercialName/Supplier Weight ~/O
Triglycidyl aliphatic EtherHELOXY 5048 (Shell Chemicals) 38%
Resin 20Cyclo~qliph~tic EpoxyCYRACUREUVR63Sl (Union Carbide) 10%
Resin Bi~rh~n- l A Diglycidyl ARALDITE 6010 50%
Ether Polymer Thennal and/or IRGACURE261 ~Ciba) 2%*
25Photoinitiator 1 Photoinitiator 2 GE1014 (General Electric) 2%*

* In both cases the initiators were as 50% solutions in propylene carbonate. Therefore 2%
30 above refers to 1% actual initiator (i.e. a 50% solution).

A liquid film of said composition photocured in an 'A' stage (primary cure) after 2 X 60 second exposures (one per side), yielded a supple solid film. This film could ~ be transferred to a metal lapshear and an adhesive bond formed by overlapping with a further metal lapshear. When this 'sandwich' structure was clamped and heated toS a~ o~ Ately 115~C for 30 minlltes, the metal lapshear specimens were strongly bonded (secondary cure).
The composition described above was rendered into a ferrofluid by the addition of precoated magnetite using techniques known to those skilled in the ferrofluid art and alluded to in Example 5 of the application and also in the parent application. The 10 magnetization curve for the epoxy ferrofluid is shown in Figure 9. The magnetization saturation for this fluid was 97 gauss. The viscosity-temperature profile for this fluid (~lesign~tecl) LOC 22 is illustrated in Figure 10.
The viscosity of the ferrofluid was further modified by dilution with 10% of the CYRACURE UVR6351 cycloaliphatic epoxy resin. A thin liquid film of this 15 composition could be photocured to form a supple film as noted previously. However the ferrofluidized version had increased exposure times (2.5 ~ s per side), even with increased levels of the photoinitiators.
To the liquid epoxy ferrofluid composition was added 15% (w/w) 11.5 micrometre gold-coated polymer mono~l,h~ ~;;s available from SEKISUI KK, Osaka, Japan.
20 E~AMPT,~ 8 ~ dhesives derived from coatings or films can be made by B-staging a pre-cast m~t~ l. in such cases, the primary solidification, or A-stage, may result from solvent evaporation and/or partially in~ ce-l thermal cure. The A-stage, which has the function of locking con~ tr r particle arrays in place, may equally be perforrned by ~h~mic~l reactions 25 which cause partial gelling at temperatures which are nevertheless well below the thermal threshold l~lllpel~Lul~ required to trigger latent polymeri7Ati-~n catalysts used to activate ~ul~se~lù~ l B-stages, e.g. <120~C in the case of dicy~n~1iAmiAe ~DICY~. An example of a system that ~ ldles at room l~lnl~.dLule involves reaction b~..w~en multi-functional isocyanates and polyols to yield a polyuletL~le. The ferrofluid content of such a 30 f~rm~ tion may be derived from a ferrofluid polyol, a ferrofluid isocyanate or from some CA 0223372l l998-04-Ol WO ~8/O~C C 7 PCT/US97/13677 other monomeric system which does not enter into polyurethane formation but is present to provide subsequent heat cure, eg, ferrofluid epoxy or acrylic monomers. The formnl~tion below has been used to order conductive particles and lock them in place by chemical reactions (polyurethane formation) at room temperature which were unassisted by light:
S Hexamethylene Disocyanate l.lg Hydroxy E~thyl Methacrylate (HEMA) 0.7g Ferrofluid - Butane Diol Diglycidyl Ether (Ms = 343 G) 1.47g DICY 0.07g Benzyl Dimethylamine 0.015g 25 micrometre Au coated polystyrene spheres O.lg An alternative approach to locking particles in ordered arrays in ferrofluid adhesives involves photochemi~try. Thus the A-stage can be a photoin~lucefl cationic or radical cure. Formulations which respond in this way may only partially cure with light, 15 or may comprise two different types of reacting system which act independently (in the same or in different monomers). In the former cases a mixed cycloaliphatic and non-cycloz~liph~tic system may be partially cured with photocationic initiators and subsequently tllerm~lly cured in a B-stage process. In the latter case, a mixed acrylic-epoxy system may be designed and a photoin~luced radical cure used to act on the acrylic functionalities to 20 lock ordered conductor arrays in place. Exarnples which follow describe these approaches in detail.
F',XAl~IPLE 9 In order to produce high quality anisotropically conductive adhesives or films (ACAs or ACFs respectively) it was n~?cessz~ry to design specialized form~ tions and 25 specialized eqllipment. The film making eqlli~m~nt is illustrated in Figure 5. 1 l(a~, and 1 l(b) and provides films up to approximately 20 square centimeters in area, although the test pieces routinely used were ~ xilllately 7.5 square centimeters in area. This example describes in detail the apparatus used to produce films and the processin~ steps involved.
As shown in Figure 1 l(a), carriage 10 which is a flat platform constructed 30 from polished non m~gnetic steel is used to hold the sample. The carriage comprises a vacuum chuck to hold a substrate in place as well as a cartridge heater capable of raising the platform temperature to approximately 100~C, and a thermocouple for temperature - sen~in~ The carriage is mounted on a Tufnal base to prevent any thermal transfer to the substructure on which it rests. The carriage rides on single track 1 1, again constructed from S non m~gnetic m~teri~l The arrangement is such that the mounted carriage assembly can be moved to specific positions from the leftmost side of the ~pal~ s to the right. On so doing it can be passed into the central plane of large magnetic (Halbach) cylinder 17. When processing is finished, the carriage can be retracted and moved from the right of the a~pa,dl~ls to the left.
10The ferrofluid adhesive formulation cont~ining a plurality of conductors is applied to a release coated substrate mounted on top of carriage 10. The said substrate is flat and may be reflective. A cimil~rly treated substrate is placed over the top of the ferrofluid adhesive film. This substrate is W tr~ncmi~ive When the ferrofluid adhesive composition comprising a plurality of 15 conductors is confined by the two substrates the disposition of the conductive particles is initially random in three ~limen~ions. The confined fluid is brought and locked into position in the next step of the film making process. If initial film assembly is considered step 1 of the process, the second step may be described as 'wet film thickness ~l~4~"~ tion~ In this second step, the assembled film is conll~lcs~ed by apparatus identified by nlmler~l~ 12 - 14 20 in l~igure 1 l(a). The ob3ect of this conl~les~ion stage is to produce a homogeneous fluid film occupying the entire area of the confining top substrate with excessive liquid being squeezed out around the entire periphery of the top substrate. Not only does thecompression achieve a substantially uniform fluid film, but plc~ulc is applied which produces a fluid layer between the ~ub~kdte~ such that the liquid layer is less than t~vo 25 conductive particle diameters in thickness. This situation is referred to as a monolayer of conductive particles. The fluid film is however thicker than a particle diameter so that the individual particles are free to move in the XY plane of the sample.
The haldw~lc used in this second stage comprises an air driven cylinder 12 capable of delivering a continuously variable pl~,S~iU~'C; Up to 20 Kgs per square centimeter, 30 a ~ S:~iUlC m~ lrin~ device 13 and a specially clesign~(l cube 14 which eventually applies pressure to the film assembly. Cube 14 is open on one of its vertical faces to allow optical access for a W beam. At a position corresponding approximately to the cube diagonal a high quality mirror 15, tuned to optimize UV reflection, is mounted at an angle of 45 degrees or less to deflect light downw~.ls towards the underlying sample. The bottom face 5 of the cube, i.e., that which is parallel to the sample plane, is a high quality fused silica optical flat 1 centimeter in thickness and approximately 5 centimeters on each side. This component is flat to ~/4 or better over 25 square millimeters measured at the green Ar ion laser line. The optical window in the cube base created by this component after mounting onto the cube assembly is 3 centimeters X 3 cçntimeters. The optical flat sits proud from 10 the base of the cube framework and hence applies ~lt;S~ ; across an area up to 5 centimeters X S centimeters. The entire assembly attached to the cylinder 12 can be made to appear weightless by dirr~lenlial pressure control to the cylinder regulated through precision controls in box 18. These controls also enable extremely gentle touch down of the assembly onto the sample below. Control box 18 further comprises heater control and 15 feedback for the carriage cartridge heater. The ~ g sides of the cube framework are polished metal optionally fitted with heat sinks on their outer surfaces. A heat sink may also be bonded to the rear side of the mirror within the cube to remove any heat generated by the lamp.
To generate a wet film having a thickness of approximately one conductive 20 particle diameter, the l,.e~ e controls are regulated to cc,mpl.,s~ the film assembly. This requires pressures typically in the order of a few Kgs per square centimeter. The ~les~
is then removed and the film remains e~senti~lly at the colll~re~sed 1hicknPc~ The carriage 10 bearing the compressed film is then inspected in step 3. Inspection is conducted with reflective mode microscope 16 usually operating at 200X ms-~nification. The length of the 25 film can be scanned. The image is relayed to a monitor by a video camera attached to the trinocular head of the microscope. When the opcldLol is satisfied that the film is a monolayer with respect to thickness, the assembly can be sent to the next process step. If the film is not a monolayer, it may be sent back a step and recl~lnl.lessed under different conditions until a s~ti~r~ .y result is observed. Once in monolayer c--nfig-lration, the film 30 is advanced into the poling gate 17 which col..l~lise~ a large Halbach mZlgnP~tic cylinder with WO 98/06007 PCT/US97/l3677 a circular al~elluie of approximately 55 millimeters and a length of approximately 14~) millimeters. This permanent magnet has been designed and constructed to deliver a - substantially uniform magnetic field over the vast majority of its length. The Halbach cylinder delivers a field of 0.6 T, the orientation of which may be controlled by rotating it 5 in its cup shaped housing. The strength of the m~netic field was selected to subst~nti~lly saturate the ferrofluid compositions employed. To achieve a uniform dispersion of conductive particles such as that depicted in Figure 7, the field will be applied normal to the sample. It has however been found helpful to achieve very high degrees of order to first pole the sample with the field direction parallel to the sample then subse~uently redirect the l0 field to a position normal to the sample. The period required for poling depends on a number of parameters such as the composition of the fluid with regard to magnetizable m~tl ri~l, m~gn~t;7~tion saturation ofthe fluid at the specific field applied, the viscosity of the formulation, the t~l,lpel~Lule of the sample, etc.. The sample telllpcld~ule can be regulated by heating the mounting platform 10.
l 5 After the fourth step of poling, the sample is retracted from the magnet and re-inspected to check for conductor particle ordering. If ordering is not satisfactory, the sample may be re-poled. At this fifth stage or at the third inspection stage, the video camera output may be connect~-l to an optical image analyzer which provides quality control of the ordering process. The ordered fluid film is next retracted in step six back to 20 the colllpL~,ssion position. The ordered sample may be photocured at this point with or without ples~ul~ applied to the liquid film. In this process the sample is illnrnin~te~ with W light, item 19 in Figure 11 (a), to induce photocure aIld lock the arrayed conductors in place. An Oriel 1 kW XeHg arc lamp (LOT ORIEL, Leatherhead, Surrey, UK) with a 50 mi11imeter beam diameter and fitted with a dichroic mirror and electronic shutter was built 25 into the film m~king fixture and used to partially cure, or A-stage, the ACFs. Following UV irradiation, the pleS~ule, if applied, was released from the assembly and the cured film was carefully released from the ~ulJ~ les The central section of the thus produced ACF, which was approxim~te1y 7.5 s~uare centimeters in area, was used for physical testing.
Following cleaning or replacement of substrates, the operation could be 30 repeated. The a~ u~ was ~1esi~ne~1 to accornrnodate different ~pes and sizes of WO 98/06007 PCT/US97tl3677 con~ etor particles and dir~ viscosity formulations. Process parameters could thus be obtained for continuous film making equipment.
~X~MPI,F, IU
An example of a catalyzed fnrm~ tion suitable for ACFs is described below:
Component Supplier Description Pt;lc~llL~ge w/w Ebecryl Resin 604 ucb Chemical, Acrylated epoxy 16.8 Drogenbos, Belgium Dihydrodicyclopentadi- Tohm & Hass, Acrylate 23.6 enyloxyethyl Germany Methaclylate Butane diol diglycidyl Aldrich, US Epoxy 15.8 ether (BDDGE) Bisphenol F Dow, US Epoxy 15.8 NadicAnhydride Aldrich, US LatentE~ardner 21.5 lrgacure 1700 Ciba-Geigy, UK Photoinitiator 3.0 HX3722 Ashai, Japan Catalyst 3.9 Such a formulation photocures after 20 seconds irradiation by a medium pl~s~ e W arc lamp at a film thickn~ of approximately 25 micrometres. A Si die of 36 . . .
mm2 was placed on top of the photocured (A-st~ged~ film and bonded to a FR4 board with 100 N force and 90 seconds heat tre~tme~t at approximately 1801C. Average die shear forces of around 450 N were recorded for this size of die.
A version ofthe above formulation was built up by mixing ft;llonuid adhesive monomers with standard monomers as outlined below:

CA 0223372l lsss-04-ol Wo 98/06007 51 PCT/USg7/13677 - Refer~llce Nl~mber Component Percent w/w FF* - Ebecryl Resin 604 7.3 2 FF - Dihydrodicyclopentadienyloxyethyl 3.0 Methacrylate 3 FF - Bisphenol F 14.8 4 Butane diol diglycidyl ether (BDDGE)15.0 Ebecryl Resin604 9 5

6 Dihydrodicyclop~nt~-lienyloxyethyl 19.5 Methacrylate

7 Nadic Anhydride 24.5

8 Iragacure 1700 3.0

9 ~IX3722 3.5 FF' refers to ferrofluid monomers prepared by Liquids Research ~imited - see Example 1.

- This can be pelro-ll~ed either by adding two monomers to a third which has already been converted to a ferrofluid, or using a blend of monomers as a singlepoly, . .~ le carrier. In the former case, the production of a typical ferrofluid based upon the low viscosity monomer Dihydrodicyclopentadienyloxyethyl Methacrylate (Ref 2.above) is detailed below.
Heptane intermediate:
Dissolve 404g of Ferric Nitrate in pure water and make up to 500mls.
Dissolve 1 50g of Ferrous Sulphate Heptahydrate in water and make up to 500mls. Mix the above solutions together and add 450mls of ammonia solution (specific gravity 0.88). Add 150 mls of oleic acid. Acidify the solution and separate the solid magnetite. Wash solids copiously with water and re~lieper.ee in heptane. Production of Dihydrodicyclopent~tlienyloxyethyl Methacrylate ferrofluid using heptane stock:
Pre- ipit~te the required arnount of heptane fluid and separate the solids. Add 0.3ml/100emu* of a ph-~sph~te ester s~ ct~nt such as GAFAC RE610 and 0.3mVlOOemu WO 98/~6007 52 PCTtUS97/13677 of dispelsallL Bykanol-N from Byk - chemie GmbH, D-4230 Wesel, Germany. ~dd the required amount of monomer and heat to evaporate the residual solvent.
*emu is "elec~ ,Lic unit" which is an alte~native unit for the expression of ~lla~ Lic saturation. 4xPix fer~ofluid density converts emu/g to Gauss units.
The approximate component percentages resulting from the above procedure are:
Dihydrodicyclopentadienyloxyethyl Methacrylate = 80%
Oleic acid = 5%
Magnetite = 5%
Bykanol-N= < 5%
Phosphate ester= 5%
The above composition produces a ferrofluid of Dihydrodicyclopentadienyloxyethyl Methacrvlate with a m~gneti7~tion saturation of approximately 100 Gauss. Stronger fluids require additional loading of magnetite. The I-ltim~te strength ofthe fully formulated adhesive composition is determinecl by dilution of high strength monomeric ferrofluids which are relatively easy to prepare, with more viscous non-ferrofluid monomers. The three constituents of the above-mentioned formulation, reference numbers 1-3, were derived from a single ferrofluid made up from these co~ Jollents in the a~pl~l;ate ratios. A stable colloidal blend resulted with a viscosity at 27~C of 1800 mPa-s (1.8 Nm~2s) and an Ms of 135 Gauss.
The ferrofluid adhesive formulation set out in the above-mentioned table was cured and mechanically tested in the same way as the non-ferrofluid version of the forrnulation. Average die shear strengths of approximately 260 N were recorded.
Additionally when the formulation was loaded with 10 % w/w 25 rni~;lvlllell~ Au-coated poly~Lyl~ ~.e spheres and aligned in a magnetic field, then A and B-staged according to the invention, Z-axis contact re~i~t~nce measurements using the four point probe method recorded 10 mOhms with an upper Cu substrate and a Au-coated FR4 lower substrate.
To ...;..i~";~ migration or exudation of a ~, rn~ ~n the ferrofluid adhesive composition, it may be advantageous to utilize a reactive or polymeric s~ t~nt such as available from Monomer-Polymer and Dajac Laboratories Inc. Trevose, PA 19047, U.S.A
(see also Wu, H.F. ~1., Polymer Composites, 12(4), 281, 199; Rao, A.V. et ~1., Paint and WO ~810CC~7 PCTIUS97/13677 Ink Tntern~tional, 15,1995, Holmberg, K, Surface Coatings Int~rn~t;onal, (12~, 481, 1993).
I~XAMPLE 11 ~ In this example, photochemi~try is also used to invoke A-stage cure, however the constituents of the formulation which are responsive to photocure are derived from 5 acrylic monomers rather than epoxies. The basic formulation is detailed below:
Reference Number Component Percent w/w Epoxy-Acrylate, resin IRR 282 36.71 ucb Chemicals, Drogenbos, Belgium 2 Bisphenol F. Dow, US 10.84 3 Irgacure 1700, Ciga-Geigy, UK 3.85 4 Butane diol diacrylate 26.92 DICY ~dicy~n~ mi-le) 5.24 6 Benzyl dimethylamine 0.35 7 Au-coated spheres, Sekisui KK, 16.08 Osaka, Japan In order to optimize viscosity and m~gn~tic strength of the form~ tion, item 1 was derived from an IRR282 based ferrofluid ( M5 115 G; viscosity at 27~C of 115 mPa-s = 0.115Nm~2s) and 29.86% of item 4 was derived from a butane diol diacrylate based ferrofluid ( Ms 116 G; viscosity at 27~C of 12 mPa-s = 0.012Nm~~s). The ferrofluids were prepared by Liquids Research Limited - see Examples 1 and 10. The residual balance of 20 item 4 was derived from pure butane diol diacrylate monomer. The forrn~ ti~-n formed a stable colloid when all ingredients were a-lmixe~l The magnetic strength of the resulting low viscosity formulation was approximately 50G. The gold-coated spheres were either exclusively 12, or exclusively 25 micrometres in diameter.
Forrmll~tions of this type have been ~1e~ignecl to A-stage cure to a handleable 25 solid form which may be either ~u~olLed or ul~su~orted. In this case the films were unsupported or free st~n~lin~

A f~-rrm-l~tif)n similar to that described in Fx~n~ple 11 was ~lc~ d acc~ lillg WO 98/06007 . PCT/US97/13677 to the details set out below:
Reference Number Component Percent w/w FF* - Epoxy-Acrylate Resin IRR~82, S ucb Chemicals, Drogenbos, Belgium 26.8 2 Bisphenol F, Dow, US 12.5 3 Irgacure 1700, Ciba-Geigy, UK 4.5 4 Butane diol diacrylate 20.4 Nadic Anhydride, Aldrich, UK 18.36 6 HX3722 2.5 7 Au-coated spheres, Sekisui KK, Osaka, ~apan 15.0 FF* refers t~ ferrofluid morlomer prepa~ed by Liquids Research Limited - see Examples I and 10.
l~e formulation had a m~n~tic strength of approximately 31 G. Alignrnent 1~ of conductor particles was facilitated by gentle heating before photocure. Free st~n~lin~ 25 mi~n~ films were produced after 20 seconds of W irr~-liatit)n. Si die 36 mI'112 in area were bonded in a B-stage operation on the photocured film which entailed 90 seconds of therm~l treatment at 180~C and 100 N force applied to the die with flip-chip bonding equipment ('Fineplacer', FINETE~C~ electronic, Berlin, Germany). Average die shear 20 streng~s of 140 N were recorded. Electrical measurements in the Z-axis show the film to have 120 mOhm resi~t~nce after B-st~in~.
Examples 13-27 ~urther illustrate the present invention.
~,X~l~IPLE 13 A series of ferroadhesives were ~ ,d. The form~ tion details are described below:
Type I Formulations Entry Fo ~mulation Composition % w/w Chara.~teristics APG511AAPG513AAcrylicIC1700 KR-55Ms (G)Approx.
Acid Tl (mPa-s) ~ RT
- lO 10 5 lS0 30 6 - 40 30 20 10 l60 60 , Note: APGSI lA and ~l PG513A are ferro~luid products available from Ferrofluidics Inc.
Type II Formulations Entr Formulation Composition % w/w Characteristics y S LOC249LOC259 HDDAAcrylicIC1700 KR-55Ms (G)Approx.
Acid rl ~mPa s)

10 5 - 60 - 17.5 12.5 10 177 42 Note: LOC 249 and 259 are custom preparedferroadhesives prepared in hexanediol diacrylate (HDDA) polymerisable carriers.
The abovementioned fonnlllation~ may be classified into two general classes, viz., those in which the conventional ferrofluids are not in them~elvespolymerisable, but are f~rmulsltecl with various levels and types of monomer(s) which are polymPri~ble ~Type I), and those derived from 100% polyn~eri.~ble ferrofluid carriers (Type II). In each case the formulations contained various levels of initiator systems, such as a photoinitiator (IC 1700). The formulations may further contain specialized adhesion promoters for spècific ~u~ dle~ for example, KR-55 is an adhesion promoter for polyester available from ~ennrich Petrochemicals, Inc., NJ which is compatible with ferrocolloids of either Type I or II.
In a typical procedure, a form~ ti~ n co"l~ approximately 10 % w/w of 18 micron Au coated cr~s~link~l polystyrene spheres (Sekisui KK, Japan) was applied to a polyester film. The liquid sample was l~ l with a second polyester film or a thin glass cover slip. In the case where polyester films formed both sides of the l~o~ e, rigid substrates, such microscope slides, were applied above and below the polyester films to keep the whole assembly flat and convenient to handle. The sS~mples were poled in a 0.6 T uniform m~gnt-tic field generated by a perm~nent magnet configured in a Halbach cylinder arrangement. The direction of the field was perpendicular to the plane -of the samples. Poling time was in the order of a few seconds. Following field poling the samples were irradiated from one specific side, for example, the underside, for appro~im~tely 0.3 seconds or less. The l~min~te was subsequently split apart by peeling the top polyester film off, to reveal a m~tf ri~l which was only partially cured. The sample was washed or 'developed' with an or~anic solvent, to reveal an array of bright golden spheres adhered to the lower substrate by a thin carpet of cured ferroadhesive which uniformly covered the area which the lamp exposed. The organic solvent waschosen so as not to damage the thin cured layer of ferroadhesive. The washings removed all uncured ferroadhesive Electron microscopic e~min~tion of the final cured layer o revealed that the tacked spheres were held in place by a layer of cured Ferroadhesive a~r~xilllately 1.5 microns in thickness.
Expçrimente were also conducted with particles of different sizes, types as well as with different concentrations of particles. Thus for example, 7 micron Au coated croselinkprl polystyrene spheres at 15% w/w were locked in arrays on the surface of a thin cured ferroadhesive. Non-conductive 25 micron uncoated polystyrene spheres were similarly adhered to the snrf~res as were 15 micron regular hexagonal zeolite crystals, etc. Solder particles were also locked onto surfaces using the abovementioned methods.
,EXa.l\~PT.~. 14 Tacked array e~mples were ~ d according to the general descriptions in Example 13 with the lower flexible ~sLldl~ having release p lu~e~lies. Suitable substrates included oriented polypropylene (OPP) films siliconised OPP and polyester available from Sterling Coated Materials Ltd, Cheshire, UK. Care had to be exercised in the development of tacked array samples which adhered on substrates with release 25 ~l.,p~Lies to avoid debonding the tacked array prematurely. Nevertheless robust samples could be ~l~aled by op~imi~ing exposure conditions particularly with the OPP
substrates. Siliconised polyester substrates have the advantage of greater ~iimen~ional stability at elevated t~ f "l~le relative to OPP which can be illlpol~lL in dowl~L~
drying operations aimed at solvent removal from adhesive compositions cast atop the 30 tacked array of particles.

l;XAMPT,h'. l~
Tacked array samples prepared on release conferring flexible substrates -were backfilled with different types of adhesive compositions to produce final transfer tape embo~limen1~ In these embotl;ment.~ the entire adhesive film, complete with particle 5 arrays, may be transferred from their supporting substrates to substrates such as those comprising the device to be assembled, for example. In aIl cases the adhesive transfer tape had a built in B-stage capability; it thus contained a latent therrnal hardener. The latter was css~nti~1 to effect subsequent cure in end use.
In order to form a tape capable of transfer in the first in~t~n~e, adhesives lO were formn1~t~d to produce an initial so}id product form. This so-called A-staged film, was either completely uncured but derived from solid film forming resin mixtures after evaporation from a casting solvent, or, was initially partially cured, for example by photorhemi.ctry, to a solid like product form. The former approach has the advantage of presenting a film which can be completely cured by the end user, while the latter s approach is completely solventless. Typical a&esive formulations suitable for b~ckfîllin~ tacked array samples from each type of sample are described below:
A typical solvent cast system comprised the following ingredients:

Bisphenol A Epikote lOOl (ex.Shell) 57%w/w Bisphenol F ' YDF-l 70 (ex. Tohto Kasei~ 28%
Epoxy diluent Heloxy 505 (ex. Dow) 10%
Wetting agent FC~30 (ex. 3M) 2%
Furnedsilica (ex. Degussa) 3%

25To this formulation a latent epoxy curing agent could be added. The arnount of latent ~;UldLiv~;s is to be added depends on ~ dLiv~ type as well as the final cure - profile le~luil.,d in the B-stage and are readily adjusted by those skilled in the art.
OlJt;...i,~lion ofthe B-stage cure was effected using Differential Sc~nnin~ Calorimetry (DSC) analysis, hot stage optical rnicroscopy, and Dynamic Mechanical Thermal 30 Analysis (DMTA) of final cured co~ting.~. The casting f~rrm11~tion~ were typically 50 %

WO 98/06007 ' PCT/US97/13677 solids. Films were prepared at approximately 40 micron dry film thickness. Standard draw down techniques and Meyer rod applicator bars (Industry Tech Inc. USA) wereused to apply the films to tacked array substrates which were taped on glass sheets during the backfilling operation. Toluene and or MEK were used as casting solvent systems.
s The films were dried in a fan ~c~i~tecl laboratory oven.
A typical UV A-staging system comprised the following ingredients:
Bisphenol A Epikote 828 (ex. Shell) 46%w/w Epoxy-Acrylate Ebercryl 3201 (ex. Ucb) 46%
Wetting agent FC-430 (ex. 3M) 2%
Photoinitiator ICl700 (ex. Ciba-Geigy) 2%
Latent Hardener Casamid 783 (ex. Swan) 4%

In the abov~rnçntioned G~ lc a specific DICY type hardener (C~.~.c~mi~l 783) iS described. This is not meant to limit the example. Other latent hardeners were ls also used.
In this case no solvent was used and films of comparable thickness to the aforem~ntic-nf?~l could be prepared by draw down. In some cases it was found helpful to l~min~te over the liquid film before curing with some flexible release coated material.
Exposures of a~pr~ lately 5 seconds or less at about 1 OOmWfcm2 effected A-stage cure.
20 Subsequent mech~nical testing of lap shear joints prepared by placing a patch of thus cured (A-staged) backfiller itself (i.e., independent from a tacked array sample) between two metal lapshear specirnens then heat curing the assembly at t~ cldlulGs in excess of 150C for 10 minlltes indicated that much additional curing occurred and strong bonds resulted.
2s l~ IpT~F~ 16 Hot melt adhesive films (lGa ;live types available from Sika Werke GmbH, Liepzig, GG1111a11Y) and passive types available from S~rn~1~çh-~iro Ltd., CH-3185, Scl " ";~ " Swil ,~ 1) were individually placed atop a tacked array sample as described in Examples 13 and/or 14. The tacked array - ~dhesive film assembly was placed belwGGI~ the rollers of a desktop office l~ m~r.hin~, of the type used to make WO ~)8/O~C-7 PCT/US97/13677 Membership or Visitor card badges abico ML~). The m~hin~ heated the assembly andapplied ples~ulc to it. After passage through the machine, the ordered array of spheres - had completely transferred into the hot melt film which could be peeled away. The spheres could be further depressed into the hot melt film if necessary by further s l~min~tin~ the film between two release coated substrates. In these ~ iments, the relative adhesion between the tacked layer to its initial substrate, e.g., polyester as in Example 13, and the adhesive film which was applied atop, was controlled with various tre~tment~ Thus polyester adhesion promoters in the initial ferroadhesive formulation (cf, Example 13) encouraged the tack layer to remain on the initial substrate after the kansfer o operation into the hot melt film. Adhesion of the tack layer to the hot melt film was discouraged by incorporating a release agent in the developing solvent used to wash away excess ferroadhesive (cfExample 13). Suitable release agents included the RA10 series and RA-95H available from Mayzo Inc., Georgia, USA, and Silwet~ (ex. Witco).
Alternatively one or more release agents were sprayed atop the tacked array before I~, -, i"~ g with a hot melt film. In some cases ferroadhesive co~ lible release agents were included in the initial formulation prepared for the process. Exarnples of ferroadhesives compatible release agents included RAD 2200 available from Tego Chemie Service GmbH, Essen, Germany, which was compatible with diacrylate (Type II) ferrofluids.
In cases where cured ferroadhesive from the tack layer had l~ r~led to the adhesive film as a result of l~min~tion and the ferroadhesive layer was not required in the final product, the ferroadhesive layer could be removed easily from the final adhesive film by rubbing the sample with a moist tissue. With ferroadhesives derived ~om acrylic acid, moi~t.oning with aqueous solutions was particularly effective. In cases employing predomin~ntly diacrylate based ferroa&esives, moi~tenin~ with acetone solutions was particularly effective. Cleaning solvents were chosen on the basis of their non, or very limited, reaction with the surface layer of the a&esive matrix forming m~ri~l In either case, the fact that the ferroadhesive film was so thin (approximately 1.5 microns) meant that it was easily and quickly removed. Removal of the colourassociated with said film gave a simple method for ~ ging when the cleaning process WO 98t06007 PCT/US97/13677 was complete. This process further enhanced the optical clarity of the reslllting ACF.
The use of non reactive hot melt films provided a means of produeing thermoplastic transfer adhesives. The films may also be used as anisotropicalIy eonduetive test films when their bonding capability is not activated. The latter also is true s of fully cured backfill matrices, or ~ filled W curing matrices which purposely do not have a B-stage capability.
EXAl~IPT.li' 17 Formlll~tion~ similar to those described in Example 15 were used to form B-stageable transfer tape or films on release coated flexible substrates withoutlO incorporating any particles therein. Particle arrays from tack layer samples were then d to these tapes via l~min~tion as in Example 16. The t~ ine~s of the films was adjusted to facilitate array transfer by including or adjusting epoxy diluent monomer (Heloxy 505) concentrations, and/or through the use of conventional tacifiers known to those skilled in the art (for example, Unitac types available from Union Camp, Vistanex 15 available from Exxon, Vylons available from Toyobo). Thus the b~ filling matrix could be applied to the particle array chassis by either b~ fillin~ with a wet follnulation (Fx~nnple 15), or, with a dry or preapplied film, in this case derived from çc,$enti~lly the same formulations modified for tack.
The dry l~min~tion option in advantageous in that already formed 20 eommercially available ~-stageable ~ rer tapes may be used as a matrix. It further permits a greater level of eontrol of illVt;lllOly msm~gemf~nt in the produetion of ACF type products which may require user defined specifie partiele types, concentrations, sizes, matrix types, and product formats. The process of transferring particle arrays into plefolllled films perrnits separation of the two key processes in the formation of ordered 2s ACFs: (1) the process of follning a tacked array which involves ferroadhesive coating, tel~o~ , field ~ ning, W exposure, del~...;.l;1l;..g and solvent developing, and (2) the b~cl~filling operation which entails application and A-stage forrnation of the adhesi~e matrix to produce a solid form transfer tape. Where these processes areintegrated, the rate fl~ . .. ,;ni..g step of the process is the field ~lignin~ step, which by 30 default, would dictate the coating speed of wet b~rl~filling operations. In certain eases it CA 0223372l lsss-04-ol WO 98/06007 PCT/USg7/13677 may be desirable to control the backfilling rate independent~y from the formation of the tacked array.
EX~l~PL~, 18 Tacked array samples were prepared on polyester substrates as described in Example 13. These were used in l~min~tion experiments using the equipment andmethods described in Example 16. Polyethylene coated paper, however, was used as a second substrate. A tacked array sample was placed, array side down, atop a polyethylene coated paper (Sterling Coated l\/~t~ri~l~ Ltd, Cheshire, UK), with the polyethylene side facing towards the array of gold spheres. The thus configured substrates was l~min~te(l o as in Example 13 and the polyester substrate bearing the original array of spheres peeled away from the lower paper substrate immediately after l:~minslti~n, the entire array of gold spheres, from the tack layer ~ 711dl~, had l~ d onto the paper ~ub~lldle in perfect registration with the original. This experiment thus describes the use of a tacked array sample as a master in a transfer-replication process employing a substrate with a surface which can be rendered tacky, for example by heat. The particles in this ~ e~hllent were transferred to the polyethylene coated paper substrate in by a processing of heating and pressing during the l~minz~tion process. Similar experiments were performed on L~ s~ l polyethylene coated polyester substrates, low density polyethylene films, wax coated polyester, and hot melt (ethylene vinyl acetate) coated polyesters.
Samples prepared in this way may be used in a variety of ways. Since the substrates mentioned above are release substrates, the particle arrays on polyethylene coated paper form a convenient structure for assembling a lldl~,r~l anisotropically conducting adhesive tape. The h~ Lilial spaces between the arrayed particles were backfilled using both the wet and dry methods described in Examples 15 and 16 respectively to produce ACFs already formed on a release substrate. Thus formed ACFs were heat de-tacked onto parts, eg, glass microscope slides, ITO coupons or metalised boards, by gently heating the back side of the paper release liner, for example, whereupon the active adhesive matrix m~t~ri~l complete with inrl~ l particle arrays was deposited cleanly onto the receivhlg ~ub~lldL~ without actually physically h~nf11ing the thin adhesive polymer film.

CA 0223372l l998-04-Ol 6~2 --EXAMPl,h', 19 Tack array sarnples were produced according to the method described in Example 13 and used to prepare replica arrays on polyethylene coated paper according to the method described in Example 18. To an Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) coated glass5 substrate coupon, such as the type used in the production of Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) oriented with the ITO side facing upwards. A few drops of Loctite 358, a W
curing a&esive were applied to an Indium Tin Oxide (ITO). The array of gold spheres on the release coated paper substrate was presented release side down to the liquid adhesive on the ITO subskate, and was tightly held in position. The assembly was10 irradiated briefly with UV light from the glass substrate side and the paper layer subsequently removed. Inspection showed that the array of golden spheres had transferred from the paper substrate onto the ITO substrate and was locked-in-place by the cured adhesive, which nevertheless did not completely cover the spheres. A further drop of the liquid adhesive was dispensed atop the array of spheres located on the ITO substrate and 15 a flexible edge cormector circuit was brought into contact with this and held tightly in place the adhesive was W cured from the underside. This procedure enabled the array of golden spheres to be located in part between two conductive ~ul,~L,dles. The assemb~y procedure furthermore did not displace the particle array as it had been locked in position in the first step of the two step cure-on-part procedure. Contact resistance measurements 20 were performed to demonstrate reliable electrical interconnection between the flex circuit arld the ITO mediated through the formed-in-place ACF.
li.Xkl~lP~,F. 20 Tack array sarnples were prepared and replicas prepared th~lc;rlolll as described in Fx~mples 13 and 1 g. A few drops of a W curable a&esive with a B-stage 25 capability such as the second formulation described in Example 15, were placed on an opaque substrate such as met~ ecl glass, the adhesive being in direct contact with the metal. The release coated paper substrate with particle arrays thereon was placed atop the liquid adhesive and the assembly clamped together. The assembly was irradiated from the paper side with radiation passing through the paper and curing or partially 30 curing the adhesive. Upon removal of the reiease coated paper, the a&esive had a&ered to the opaque substrate and the array of golden spheres had also transferred from the paper to the opaque substrate. The substrate complete with preapplied ACF was used to form a joint on another metal clad substrate by the action of heat and ~ s~ule with the joint displaying anisotropic electrical conductivity through the bondline.
Identical exper;ment~ were con(1llctl?cl on polyethylene and wax coated polyesters in place of the polyethylene coated paper. These substrates had better optical clarity than the paper samples. The experiments described in this example indicate the feasibility of L~Lc:~dlillg preapplied ACF to opaque (to W light) electronic devices or parts such as unbumped integrated circuits, flex cormectors and metal substrates.
0 ~x~MpLl~ 21 Tack array samples were used to prepare replica samples on release coated paper as described in previous examples. Samples on polyethylene coated papers were used to form instant anisotropically conductive joints by employing an instant cyanoacrylate adhesive to replace the UV, or UV plus heat, curing adhesives described in the previous two examples. While cyanoacrylate bonds are not known for their particular durability, they can be used in less cl~m~n-ling ~lvilO~ ents or in temporary ACF joints.

An ex~Gl ~ ~llent was c- n~ ctç~l as described in Example 19 up to the point 20 where partic}es had been locked-in-place in arrays on the ITO substrate (to ~im~ tç an LCD). Instead of applying the same liquid a&esive which was used to adhere the particles to the part, a di~;lGllt adhesive was applied atop the structure on the part. Thus, for e~mrls, a hot melt film was applied and a flexible circuit was brought to bear on said film using pressure and elevated temperature to unite the assembly. Low contact 25 r~ n~e measurements and optical in~pection through the ITO-glass substrate indicated good electrical cu~ luily and no particle movement on the part after bonding. The joint could be subsequently reworked by remelting the hot melt film.
The joint could ~lt~rn~tively made permanent by application of a second liquid or paste adhesive atop the array which was locked on the part. Examples of 30 suitable adhesives include two part epoxies which are highly durable, structural acrylics, WO 98/06C_7 PCT/US97/13G77 and polyurethane adhesives with high peel strengths. ~dhesive selection was based on application type, e.g., edge connection or chip mount, as well as whether rework was desirable or not.
Similar e~ lPnt.~ were conducted on opaque substrates such as metalised Si wafers, FR4 circuit boards and the like using the methods described in Examples l 9 and 20.
li X~l\~P~.~ 23 Customized test circuit boards were ~l~cign~-l to accommodate a single test chip. The test chip comprised an approximately SX5 mm2 silicon substrate on which was 10 deposited a metallic seed layer used to promote adhesion to a copper overlayer which was deposited electrodlessly. The test die had a peripheral array of 54 bumps grown on the copper layer. The square bumps measured approximately 100 microns on edge and approxim~tely 14 microns tall and were gold plated. Bump separation was a~ llately 80 microns. The circuit boards had a m~t~hin~ electrode pattern with gold plated15 metalisation. The board tracks fanned out to a pad array on the periphery of the square board which was convenient for manual testing with electrical probes using the four point probe test methodology know to those skilled in the art. The m~ rin~ device employed was a GenRad precision digibridge. Chips were assembled on a 'Finetec' Flip Chipplacement machine.
Bonding conditions depended on the adhesive employed but generally bondline t~lllpel~ules of approximately 180~C were employed for a~pr~xilllately 60 seconds. The joints were assembled under approximately 100 N pressure applied across the entire test die. Anisotropically conductive adhesive films ~ ,d according to the methods described in Examples 15, 16, 17, 19, 20 and 21 were employed in flip chip 25 assembly. Overall electrical mea~ulcme~ typically averaged a~plv~illlately 300-700 mQ per joint in laboratory tests.
Electrical mea~lllents were also made on chip-on-board, chip-on-glass, chip-on-flex, flex-on-board, flex-on-glass and flex-on-flex assemblies demo~ "i..g colll~dble joint re~i~t~n~es I~XAMP~,~ 24 Multiple layer anisotropically conductive adhesive films were prepared, - either on flexible or rigid substrates, and on either passive (from an electrical conducting point of view) or device forming substrates according to methods outlined in previous s examples (3~xamples 13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20 and 22). Thus an array of particles was established on said substrates by way of forming a tack array and transferring the array via pressing or heat and pressing array into the substrates. A bilayer structure was established through the thickness of the film by irra(li~ting the film with UV radiation, partially curing a b~cl~filling matrix such as that described in Example 15. Over the top 0 of the particle array, which was partially covered with the adhesive composition was added a second covering of adhesive formulation of a dirr~relll type to the first. Said second covering could be applied in either liquid or dry form, either on a flexible ~u~ dle or on a rigid ,ul"Ldl~ such as a part. In the second liquid coat option, the liquid may be solidified in a bilayer tape format or else may be solidified by curing on the part.
15 The bilayer structure is advantageous in that it allows the formulator to tune the adhesiveness of each side of the applied film in accordance with substrate type. F~Al~PLE 25 Multiple component anisotropically conductive films were prepared by establishing a particle array by the means described in previous examples and b~r~filling 20 said array with form~ finns such those described in Example 15. In this example, however, stripe or stripes of B-stageable formlll~til)ns which did not contain particles, were formed in juxtaposition to the array loaded m~teri~l.
Similar ~ hnents, which ~cst~.nfi~lly create areas of different adhesives side-by-side, were performed in more sophisticated patterns using m~king techniques.
2s Thus, for example, the photocurable, B-staging composition in Example 15 was used to surround a square pattern of particles established by transferring the tack array either by pressing alone or by a combination of heating and pressing. The square area was subsequently bacl~filled with a di~.,~ l matrix. These methods were also used to create structures in which the particle arrays were not bac~filled, but walls of fully cured 30 materials were established around said uncovered arrays.

E~MPI,E 26 Particle array sarnples were prepared on various substrates according to the methods described in F~r~mples 13, 14 and 1~. A solvent casting fnrmnls~tion similar to that described in Example 14 was prepared, it differed in that no latent B-stage epoxy 5 catalyst was included. Transfer tape embodiments of said the depleted formulation were ~le~led and used in a l~min~tion operation as described in Example 17. Before l~min~tin~ with a tacked array (with or without the use of heat) a latent epoxy catalyst such as DICY was sprinkled liberally atop the samples. Film inspection using polarized light optical microscopy after l~min~ting with the previously prepared transfer tape IQ illll~tr~te-1 that the (birefringent) latent catalyst had L dll~r ll~d across into the body of the film along with the particles. This technique facilitates thermal management of flms during proc~sing ~X~MPT ~, 27 Samples were prepared according to the methods described in Fxzlmples 15 13 and 14 but were placed on a platform which could be driven at various speeds through the central bore of a 0.6 T Halbach cylinder. The particles in the ferroadhesiveform~ ti~ns were randomly disposed before ent~ring the leading edge of the magnet but were uniformly distributed throughout the sample after leaving the m~gn~t In addition to uniform particle separation according to the general principles of m~gnetic hole 20 alignmçnt, an additional ordering ~limen~ion ~axial ordering) was achieved through the dynamics of the sample movement in the static field which tended to cause further ordering of the separated particles in lines parallel to the direction of movement of the sample. The ordering was more evident the faster the sample was traversed through the field. Axial ordering in the direction of movement of the sample for example was2s observed at a speed of ~I~Jyl~x i 11 ,zltçly 4 m/min, for Type I, forrn~ tif n 4 from Example 13. High degrees of ordering were captured by photocuring in situ in the m~pn~tic field, i.e, by passage of the ordered sample across a beam of light.
While the invention has been illustratively described herein with ~ CllCG
to various preferred features, aspects and embodiments, it will be appreciated that the 30 invention is not thus limited, and may be widely varied in respect of ~l~rn~tive CA 02233721 lsss-04-ol WO 98/06007 PCT/USg7/13677 variations, modifications, and other embodiments, and therefore the invention is to be broadly construed as including such ~ltern~tive variations, modifications, and other - embo-l;ment~, within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Claims (52)

Claims

1. A method of forming a monolayer of substantive particles, said methodcomprising the steps of:
(a) applying to a substrate a curable composition having substantive particles contained therein, said substantive particles having a particle size on at least one dimension thereof of at least 1 micrometer;
(b) exposing the substantive particle-containing curable composition to a source of energy suitable for effecting polymerization of the curable composition for a sufficient time to effect polymerization of a layer of the curable composition having a thickness of no more than 50% of the height of the largest substantive particles; and (c) optionally, removing the uncured curable composition.

2. A method of forming a monolayer of substantive particles according toclaim 1 further comprising the steps of (d) applying an adhesive film over the surface of the substantive particles, remote from the layer of cured composition, said film having an adhesiveness with respect to the substantive particles greater than that of the cured composition;
(e) pressing the adhesive film onto the substantive particles; and (f) separating the adhesive film with the substantive particles adhering thereto away from the layer of cured composition.

3. A method of forming a film having a monolayer of particles contained therein, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) applying to a substrate a curable composition having particles contained therein, said particles having a particle size on at least one dimension thereof of at least 1 micrometer;
(b) exposing the particle-containing curable composition to a source of energy suitable for effecting polymerization of the curable composition for a sufficient time to effect polymerization of a layer of the curable composition having a thickness of no more than 50% of the height of the largest particles; and either (I) (c) removing the uncured curable composition;
(d) applying a film-forming material to fill the interstitial spaces between theparticles and optionally to cover areas of the substrate flanking the particles to a film thickness similar to that in the particle-containing area;
(e) optionally, at least partially solidifying the film-forming material; and (f) optionally, removing the so-formed film from the substrate;
or (II) (c) optionally, removing the uncured curable composition, (d) applying an adhesive film over the surface of the particles, remote from the layer of cured composition, said film having an adhesiveness with respect tothe particles greater than that of the cured composition;
(e) pressing the adhesive film onto the particles, (f) separating the adhesive film with the particles adhering thereto away from the layer of cured composition, (g) optionally, removing any substantial amount of uncured or cured curable composition remaining on the adhesive film or on the particles adhered thereto;
(h) applying a film-forming material to fill the interstitial spaces between theparticles and, optionally, to cover areas of the adhesive film flanking the particles to a film thickness similar to that in the particle-containing area;
(i) optionally, at least partially solidifying the film-forming material; and (j) optionally, removing the so-formed film from the substrate.

4. A method of forming a monolayer non-random array of substantive particles, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) applying to a substrate a curable ferrofluid composition, the composition a colloidal suspension of ferromagnetic particles in a non-magnetic carrier liquid, the composition having substantive particles contained therein, said substantive particles having a particle size on at least one dimension thereof of at least 1 micrometer, the curable ferrofluid composition applied so as to form a monolayer of substantive particles on the substrate;
(b) exposing the substantive particle containing ferrofluid composition to a source of energy suitable for effecting polymerization of the curable ferrofluid composition for a sufficient time to effect polymerization of a layer of the curable ferrofluid composition having a thickness of no more than 50% of the height of the largest substantive particles, while the substantive particles are arrayed in a non-random pattern as a result of application of a magnetic field; and (c) optionally, removing the uncured curable ferrofluid composition.

5. A method of forming a monolayer non-random array of substantive particles according to claim 4, said method further comprising the steps of:
(d) applying an adhesive film over the surface of the arrayed substantive particles, opposite to the layer of cured composition;
(e) optionally heating the adhesive film;
(f) pressing the substantive particles into the adhesive film, and (g) separating the adhesive film with the arrayed substantive particles adhered thereto away from the layer of cured ferrofluid composition; and h) optionally removing any residual cured or uncured ferrofluid composition from the adhesive film or on the substantive particles.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising the steps of:
(i) optionally, removing any substantial amount of uncured or cured curable ferrofluid composition remaining on the adhesive film or on the substantive particles adhered thereto;
(j) applying a film-forming material to fill the interstitial spaces in the array of substantive particles and, optionally, to cover areas of the adhesive film flanking the substantive particles to a film thickness similar to that in the substantive particle-containing area, and (k) optionally, at least partially solidifying the film-forming material.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein the adhesive film has an adhesiveness with respect to the substantive particles greater than that of the cured composition.8. The method of claim 4 wherein the substrate has release properties.

71

9. The method of claim 5 wherein the adhesive film is on a release coatedsubstrate.

10. The method of claim 5 wherein the adhesive film is transparent or translucent.

11. A method of forming a film having a monolayer non-random array of substantive particles therein, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) applying to a substrate a curable ferrofluid composition, the composition a colloidal suspension of ferromagnetic particles in a non-magnetic carrier liquid, the composition having substantive particles contained therein, said substantive particles having a particle size on at least one dimension thereof of at least 1 micrometer, the curable ferrofluid composition applied so as to form a monolayer of substantive particles;
(b) exposing the substantive particle containing ferrofluid composition to a source of energy suitable for effecting polymerization of the curable ferrofluid composition for a sufficient time to effect polymerization of a layer of the curable ferrofluid composition having a thickness of no more than 50% of the height of the largest substantive particles, while the substantive particles are arrayed in a non-random pattern as a result of application of a magnetic field; and either (I) (c) removing the uncured curable ferrofluid composition;
(d) applying a film-forming material to fill the interstitial spaces between theso-formed array of substantive particles and optionally to cover areas of the substrate flanking the substantive particles to a film thickness similar to that in the substantive particle containing area;
(e) optionally, at least partially solidifying the film-forming material; and (f) optionally, removing the so-formed film from the substrate; or (II) (c) optionally, removing the uncured curable ferrofluid composition;
(d) applying an adhesive film over the surface of the arrayed substantive particles, opposite to the layer of cured composition, said film having an adhesiveness with respect to the substantive particles greater than that of the cured composition;(e) pressing the adhesive film onto the substantive particles;
(f) separating the adhesive film with the arrayed substantive particles adhered thereto away from the layer of cured ferrofluid composition;
(g) optionally, removing any substantial amount of uncured or cured curable ferrofluid composition remaining on the adhesive film or on the substantive particles adhered thereto;
(h) applying a film-forming material to fill the interstitial spaces in the array of substantive particles and, optionally, to cover areas of the adhesive film flanking the substantive particles to a film thickness similar to that in the substantiveparticle-containing area; and (i) optionally, at least partially solidifying the film-forming material.

12. A method according to any of claims 1 to 11 wherein the curable composition or curable ferrofluid composition is applied to the substrate in a pattern.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the curable composition is applied by screen or stencil printing.

14. A method according to any of claims 2, 4-6 and 11 wherein the substantive particles are selected from the group consisting of electrically conductive particles, thermally conductive particles and optically transmissive particles.

15. A method according to any of claims 4 to 6 and 11 wherein the curableferrofluid composition comprises either:
(a) a colloidal dispersion of ferromagnetic particles in a curable liquid composition; or (b) a mixture of a curable liquid composition and a colloidal dispersion of ferromagnetic particles in a liquid carrier.

16. The method of any of claims 3, 6 and 11 wherein the film-forming material is selected from thermosets, thermoplastics or both of the foregoing.

17. The method of any of claims 2, 5 and 6 wherein the adhesive film is athermodeformable coating selected from thermosets, thermoplastics or both of theforegoing.

18. A method according to any of claims 3 and 11, a surface of the film formed by solidification of the film-forming material with the substantive particles therein having been exposed by removal of the film from the layer of polymerized curable composition, further comprising the step of applying a layer of adhesive material over the so-exposed surface of the film.

19. A method of forming a monolayer non-random array of substantive particles, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) applying a composition comprising a ferrofluid composition, the ferrofluid composition comprising ferromagnetic particles and a non-magnetic carrier liquid, and substantive particles, said substantive particles having a particle size on at least one dimension thereof of at least 1 micrometer, to a substrate having a surface of adhesive material, the ferrofluid composition applied so as to form a monolayer of substantive particles;
(b) subjecting the composition to a magnetic field for a sufficient time to array the substantive particles in a non-random manner in the composition;
(c) pressing the substantive particles onto the adhesive surface of the substrate, and (d) removing the ferrofluid composition.

20. A method of forming a monolayer non-random array of substantive particles, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) applying a composition comprising a ferrofluid composition, the composition comprising ferromagnetic particles and a non-magnetic carrier liquid, and substantive particles, said substantive particles having a particle size on at least one dimension thereof of at least 1 micrometer to a substrate which has a surface of latent adhesive material, the ferrofluid composition applied so as to form a monolayer of substantive particles;
(b) subjecting the composition to a magnetic field for a sufficient time to order the substantive particles in a non-random manner in the composition;
(c) adhesively binding the substantive particles arrayed in a non-random manner to the substrate by pressing said substantive particles onto the adhesive surface of the substrate and activating the latent adhesive, and (d) removing the ferrofluid composition.

21. A method of forming a film having a monolayer non-random array of substantive particles therein, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) applying a composition comprising a ferrofluid composition and substantive particles, said substantive particles having a particle size on at least one dimension thereof of at least 1 micrometer to a substrate, the ferrofluid composition applied so as to form a monolayer of substantive particles;
b) subjecting the composition to a magnetic field for a sufficient time to array the substantive particles in a non-random manner;
(c) pressing the substantive particles onto the adhesive surface of the substrate;
(d) removing the ferrofluid composition;
(e) applying a film-forming material to fill the interstitial spaces between thesubstantive particles and optionally to cover areas of the adhesive material flanking the substantive particles to a film-thickness similar to that of the substantive particle-containing areas;
(f) optionally, at least partially solidifying the film-forming material; and (g) optionally, removing the so-formed film from the adhesive material.

22. A method of forming a film having a monolayer non-random array of substantive particles therein, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) applying a composition comprising a ferrofluid composition and substantive particles, said substantive particles having a particle size on at least one dimension thereof of at least 1 micrometer, to a substrate which has a surface of latent adhesive material, the ferrofluid composition applied so as to form a monolayer of substantive particles;
(b) subjecting the composition to a magnetic field for a sufficient time to array the substantive particles in a non-random manner in the composition, (c) adhesively binding the substantive particles arrayed in a non-random manner to the substrate by pressing said substantive particles onto the adhesive surface of the substrate and activating the latent adhesive;
(d) applying a film-forming material to fill the interstitial spaces between thesubstantive particles and optionally to cover areas of the adhesive surface flanking the substantive particles to a film-thickness similar to that of the substantive particle-containing areas;

(e) optionally, at least partially solidifying the film-forming material; and (f) optionally, removing the so-formed film from the adhesive surface.

23. A method of forming a stock wax film containing a monolayer non-random array of substantive particles, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) applying a composition comprising a ferrofluid wax composition, the ferrofluid wax composition comprising ferromagnetic particles, and substantive; particles, said substantive particles having a particle size on at least one dimension thereof of at least 1 micrometer to a first substrate;
(b) providing the ferrofluid wax composition at a temperature above its melting point;
(c) subjecting the composition to a magnetic field for a sufficient time to array the substantive particles in a non-random manner while maintaining the ferrofluid wax composition at a temperature above its melting point, (d) cooling the ferrofluid wax composition to a temperature below its melting point while the substantive particles are arrayed in said non-random pattern; and (e) optionally, removing the first substrate from the wax film.

24. A method of forming a monolayer non-random array of substantive particles, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) applying the wax film prepared in accordance with claim 23 to a second substrate having a surface of, optionally latent, adhesive material;
(b) adhesively binding the substantive particles to the second substrate by pressing said substantive particles onto the adhesive surface of the second substrate, activating the latent adhesive, if present, and elevating the temperature of the wax film and/or the second substrate to a temperature above the softening point of the wax film;
(c) removing the ferrofluid wax composition; and (d) optionally, removing the first substrate if it has not already been removed.25. A method of forming a monolayer non-random array of substantive particles according to claim 24 wherein the adhesive or latent adhesive is a film-forming adhesive and the substantive particles in step (b) are pressed into the adhesive or latent adhesive to a depth of at least 50% of the height of the largest substantive particles.

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26. A method of forming a film having a monolayer non-random array of substantive particles therein, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) applying the wax film prepared in accordance with claim 23 to a second substrate having a surface of optionally latent, adhesive material;
(b) adhesively binding the substantive particles to the second substrate by pressing said substantive particles onto the adhesive surface of the second substrate, activating the latent adhesive, if present, and elevating the temperature of the wax film and/or the second substrate to a temperature above the softening point of the wax film;
(c) removing the ferrofluid wax composition and the first substrate, if it has not already been removed;
d) applying a film-forming material to fill the interstitial spaces between the substantive particles and optionally to cover areas of the adhesive material flanking the substantive particles to a film-thickness similar to that of the substantive particle-containing areas;
(e) optionally, at least partially solidifying the film-forming material; and (f) optionally, removing the so-formed film from the adhesive material.

27. A film having a monolayer non-random array of substantive particles therein made according to the method of claim 11.

28. A monolayer non-random array of substantive particles formed according to the method of claim 5 wherein the substantive particles are electrically conducting.

29. An article comprising a support tape substrate , and an ordered monolayer array of transferable substantive particles of at least 1 micrometre to 500 micrometres temporarily bound thereto, the substrate contacting no more than 50% of the surface area of the transferable substantive particles and the adhesive strength of the adhesive being less than the cohesive strength of substantially all of the transferable particles and being greater to the support tape substrate than to the transferable substantive particles.

30. An article as in claim 29 wherein the support tape substrate comprises a release coated paper.

31. An article as in claim 29 further comprising an adhesive matrix wherein the adhesive matrix has more than one cure mechanism.

32. An article as in claim 29 further comprising a silicon wafer to which the array of transferable substantive particles is adhesively bound, the strength of the adhesive bond between the substantive particles and the wafer exceeding the strength of the adhesive bond between the substantive particles and the support tape.

33. An article as in claim 29, further comprising an indium tin oxide coated glass substrate to which the array of transferable substantive particles is adhesively bound, the strength of the adhesive bond between the substantive particles and the indium tin oxide coated glass substrate exceeding the strength of the adhesive bond between the substantive particles and the support tape.

34. An article as in claim 29, further comprising a substrate with a pattern-wise delineation of electrical conductors thereon, to which the array of transferablesubstantive particles is adhesively bound, the strength of the adhesive bond between the substantive particles and the electrical conductors exceeding the strength of the adhesive bond between the substantive particles and the support tape.

An article as in claim 29 wherein said substrate is free of ferromagnetic particles.

36. An article as in claim 29 wherein said substrate contains colloidal ferromagnetic particles.

37. An article as in claim 29 wherein said support tape substrate is at least partially UV transparent.

38. An article comprising sequential laminae of a first substrate, an adhesive matrix entraining an ordered monolayer array of substantially non-magnetic substantive particles of at least 1 micrometre to 500 micrometres and a second substrate joined to the first substrate by the adhesive matrix, wherein the adhesive matrix is substantially free of ferromagnetic particles smaller than about 1 micrometre.

39. An article as in claims 29 or 38 wherein said ordered monolayer array is induced by a pattern of magnetic flux lines acting on the substantive particles which are supported on a continuously moving substrate taken in a plane extending through a magnetic flux field.

40. An article as in claim 39 wherein the flux lines are vertical.

41. An article as in claim 39 wherein said plane extends normal to the flux lines in said flux field.

42. An article as in claim 38 wherein said adhesive matrix comprises at least two discrete layers of different adhesive compositions.

43. An article comprising sequential laminae of :
a first substrate;
an adhesive matrix substantially free of ferromagnetic particles smaller than about 1 micrometre entraining an ordered monolayer array of substantive particles of at least 1 micrometre to 500 micrometres, the adhesive matrix comprising at least two discrete layers of different adhesive compositions wherein one of said discrete adhesive layers is formed of a thermoplastic adhesive and at least one of said discrete adhesive layers is not thermoplastic; and a second substrate joined to the first substrate by the adhesive matrix.

44. An article as in claims 29 or 38 wherein said substantive particles are selected from the group consisting of electrically conductive particles, thermally conductive particles and optically transmissive particles.

45. An article comprising a support tape substrate, and an ordered monolayer array of transferable substantive particles of at least 1 micrometer to 500 micrometers bound thereto by an adhesive, the adhesive being substantially free of ferromagnetic particles and the adhesive strength of the adhesive being less than the cohesive strength of the particles and being greater to the support tape substrate than to the transferable particles.

46. A method of forming an anisotropic conducting bond between a first and a second set of conductors comprising the steps of a) forming an assembly by:
1) applying a first adhesive to a first set of conductors and further applying an article as claimed in claim 45 to the first set of conductors such that at least some of the ordered monolayer array of transferable substantive particles are in contact with the first set of conductors;
2) at least partially curing the first adhesive;
3) removing the support tape, the ordered monolayer array of transferable substantive particles adhering to the first set of conductors;
4) applying a second adhesive to the ordered monolayer array of transferable substantive particles, 5) applying a second set of conductors to the ordered monolayer array of transferable substantive particles;
b) optionally urging the assembly together by pressing on the first and second set of conductors together so that the second set of conductors is in contact with at least some of the substantive particles containing within the ordered monolayer array of transferable substantive particles whereby conductive pathways are provided from one set of conductors to the second set of conductors, each pathway comprising one or more of the substantive particles; and c) activating the second adhesive.

47. The method of claim 46 wherein the first and second adhesives are the same.

48. The method of claim 46 wherein the first adhesive is UV curable and the support tape is at least partially UV transparent.

49. An article formed according to claim 46 wherein the first set of conductors occurs on a substrate selected from the group consisting of an indium tin oxide coating on glass, metalization on a semiconductor and metalization on an insulator.

50. The method of claim 5 further comprising the step of applying a latent catalyst to the surface of the arrayed substantive particles, prior to the step of applying the adhesive film.

51. A method for forming an adhesive film having a regular array of recesses in the surface thereof, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) applying to a substrate a curable ferrofluid composition containing substantive particles having a particle size on at least one dimension thereof of at least 1 micrometre;
(b) subjecting the particle-containing curable ferrofluid composition to a magnetic field for a sufficient time to array the substantive particles in a non-random manner in the composition;
(c) exposing the composition having the particles arrayed therein to a source of energy suitable for effecting polymerization of the curable ferrofluid composition for a sufficient time to effect polymerization of a layer of the curable ferrofluid composition having a thickness of no more than about 50% of the height of the largest substantive particles;
(d) applying an adhesive film over the surface of the arrayed substantive particles, opposite to the layer of cured composition, said film having an adhesiveness with respect to the particles at least greater than that of the cured composition;
(e) pressing the adhesive film onto the particles;
(f) separating the adhesive film with the arrayed substantive particles adhered thereto away from the layer of cured ferrofluid composition;
(g) applying to the arrayed particles and adhesive film a second adhesive film having an adhesiveness with respect to the substantive particles greater than that of the first adhesive film; and (h) removing the second adhesive film whereby the first adhesive film has a regular array of recesses on the surface thereof.

52. An adhesive film having a regular array of recesses in the surface thereof made according to the method of claim 51.