Laminate type materials for flexible circuits or similar-type assemblies and methods relating thereto

1. A laminate composition comprising:

(a) a conductive substrate layer;

(b) optionally, an adhesive layer;

(c) a thin, tenterable polyimide layer created at least in part by reaction of at least the following components:

(1) a tetracarboxylic acid component selected from the group consisting of a tetracarboxylic acid of the general structure

 a tetracarboxylic acid dianhydride having the general structure

 and combinations thereof;

(2) a dicarboxylic acid component selected from the group consisting of a dicarboxylic acid, a dicarboxylic acid monoanhydride and combinations thereof, said dicarboxylic acid component including at least one cross-linkable group; and

(3) a diamine component having the general structure

H 2 N—R 2 —NH 2

 wherein R 1 and R 2 are divalent organic groups which may be the same or different from each other, and which each of R 1 and R 2 have at least six carbon atoms; said dicarboxylic acid component (2) being present in an amount from about 0.1 to about 5.0 mole percent with respect to the tetracarboxylic acid component (1); and the ratio of the sum of the moles of the tetracarboxylic acid component (1) and the dicarboxylic acid component (2) to the moles of the diamine component (3) being from about 0.90 to about 1.10; and

 wherein said laminate exhibits a peel strength of at least 10 N/cm pursuant to Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) C-50516-1994.

2. A laminate according to claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the conductive layer is a metal, the thickness of the polyimide layer is in the range of from about 3 to 250 microns, the polyimide layer is oriented in at least one direction and is at least partially cross-linked, and wherein the peel strength is at least about 19N/cm.

3. A laminate according to claim 2 wherein components (2) and (3) of said polyimide layer are reacted before further reaction with component (1) and the conductive layer comprises, at least in part, copper or copper alloy.

4. A laminate according to claim 2 wherein the cross-linkable group of said polyimide layer includes an organic group selected from the group consisting of a carbon to carbon double bond and a carbon to carbon triple bond and the polyimide layer is oriented in both a machine direction (“MD”) and in a traverse direction (“TD”).

5. A laminate accordance with claim 1 wherein component (2) of said polyimide layer is selected from the group consisting of

wherein the polyimide layer has an MD orientation of greater than 1.1 and a TD orientation greater than 1.1.

6. A laminate accordance with claim 2 wherein R 1 and R 2 of said polyimide layer each include at least one aromatic group and the polyimide layer has an MD orientation that is greater than the polyimide layer TD orientation.

7. A laminate accordance with claim 5 wherein R 1 of said polyimide layer is selected from the group consisting of

and R 2 of said polyimide layer is selected from the group consisting of

8. A laminate accordance with claim 5 wherein up to 80 mole percent of said tetracarboxylic acid component (1) includes R 1 selected from the group consisting of

the remainder of said carboxylic acid component (1) includes R 1 selected from the group consisting of

and R 2 is selected from the group consisting of

9. A laminate in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the laminate is free of any observable stress cracks after bending 90 degrees for 30 seconds, even at a magnification of 100×.

10. A laminate according to claim 1 , wherein the polyimide layer is oriented in at least one direction and heat set at least in part by chemical cross-linking.

11. A laminate in accordance with claims 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , or 10 , wherein the polyimide layer is devoid of an adhesive layer, and the polyimide layer is bonded directly to the conductive layer.

12. A laminate in accordance with claims 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , or 10 , wherein the polyimide layer is bonded at least in part to the conductive layer by an adhesive layer.