Technical Library | 2020-09-16 21:20:37.0
3D printing is disrupting the design and manufacture of electronic products. 3D printing electronics offers great potential to build complex object with multiple functionalities. Particularly, it has shown the unique ability to make embedded electronics, 3D structural electronics, conformal electronics, stretchable electronics, etc. 3D printing electronics has been considered as the next frontier in additive manufacturing and printed electronics. Over the past five years, a large number of studies and efforts regarding 3D printing electronics have been carried out by both academia and industries. In this paper, a comprehensive review of recent advances and significant achievements in 3D printing electronics is provided. Furthermore, the prospects, challenges and trends of 3D printing electronics are discussed. Finally, some promising solutions for producing electronics with 3D printing are presented.
Technical Library | 2021-05-06 13:41:55.0
Quality control is of vital importance during electronics production. As the methods of producing electronic circuits improve, there is an increasing chance of solder defects during assembling the printed circuit board (PCB). Many technologies have been incorporated for inspecting failed soldering, such as X-ray imaging, optical imaging, and thermal imaging. With some advanced algorithms, the new technologies are expected to control the production quality based on the digital images. However, current algorithms sometimes are not accurate enough to meet the quality control. Specialists are needed to do a follow-up checking. For automated X-ray inspection, joint of interest on the X-ray image is located by region of interest (ROI) and inspected by some algorithms. Some incorrect ROIs deteriorate the inspection algorithm.
Technical Library | 2021-09-21 20:20:22.0
The electronics industry has been using the epoxy puck for the processing of the vast majority of electronics microsections since the 1970s. Minimal advancements have been seen in the methods used for precision micro-sections of PCBs, PCBAs, and device packages. This paper will discuss different techniques and approaches in performing precision and analytical micro-sections, which fuse the techniques and materials common in preparation of silicon wafers and bulk materials. These techniques have not only been found to produce excellent optical results, but transfer effectively to SEM for high magnification inspection and further analysis with minimal post-lapping preparation needed. Additionally, processing time is reduced primarily due to a significant reduction of bulk material removal earlier in the preparation, therefore needing less removal at later lapping steps compared to traditional sectioning methods. Additional techniques are introduced that mitigate some classic challenges experienced by technicians over the decades.
Technical Library | 2021-12-02 01:44:00.0
With the advent of Industry 4.0, production processes have been endowed with intelligent cyber-physical systems generating massive amounts of streaming sensor data. Internet of Things technologies have enabled capturing, managing, and processing production data at a large scale in order to utilize this data as an asset for the optimization of production processes. In this work, we focus on the automatic detection of physical defects in the production of surfacemount devices. We show how to build a classification model based on random forests that efficiently detects defect products with a high degree of precision. In fact, the results of our preliminary experimental analysis indicate that our approach is able to correctly determine defects in a simulated production environment of surface-mount devices with a MCC score of 0.96. We investigate the feasibility of utilizing this approach in realistic settings. We believe that our approach will help to advance the production of surface-mount devices.
Technical Library | 2023-11-14 19:52:11.0
The continuous drive in the Electronics industry to build new and innovative products has caused competitive design companies to develop assemblies with consolidated PCB designs, decreased physical sizes, and increased performance characteristics. As a result of these new designs, manufacturers of electronics are forced to contend with many challenges. One of the most significant challenges being the processing of thru-hole components on high thermal mass PCBs having the potential to exceed 20 layers in thicknesses and have copper mass contents of over 40oz. High thermal mass PCBs, coupled with the use of mixed technologies, decreased component spacing, and the change from Tin Lead Solder to Lead Free Alloys has lead many manufacturing facilities to purchase advanced soldering equipment to process challenging assemblies with a high degree of repeatability.
Technical Library | 2024-01-15 20:45:42.0
Miniaturization continues to be a driving force in both integrated circuit packaging and printed circuit board laminate technology. In addition to decreasing component pitch (lead to lead spacing), utilization of the vertical space by stacking packages has found wide acceptance by both designers and manufactures of electronics alike. Lead free Package on Package (PoP) technology represents one of the latest advancements in vertical electronics packaging integration and has become the preferred technology for mobile hand held electronics applications. TT Electronics in Perry, Ohio has developed the capability to assemble and rework numerous "state of the art" packaging technologies. This paper will focus on the essential engineering development activities performed to demonstrate TT Electronics' ability to both assemble and rework PoP components.
Technical Library | 2024-01-16 22:29:59.0
Miniaturization continues to be a driving force in both integrated circuit packaging and printed circuit board laminate technology. In addition to decreasing component pitch (lead to lead spacing), utilization of the vertical space by stacking packages has found wide acceptance by both designers and manufactures of electronics alike. Lead free Package on Package (PoP) technology represents one of the latest advancements in vertical electronics packaging integration and has become the preferred technology for mobile hand held electronics applications. TT Electronics in Perry, Ohio has developed the capability to assemble and rework numerous "state of the art" packaging technologies. This paper will focus on the essential engineering development activities performed to demonstrate TT Electronics' ability to both assemble and rework PoP components.
Technical Library | 2012-12-27 14:35:29.0
Printed Electronics is generally defined as the patterning of electronic materials, in solution form, onto flexible substrates, omitting any use of the photolithography, etching, and plating steps commonly found within the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) industry. The origins of printed electronics go back to the 1960s, and close variants of several original applications and market segments remain active today. Through the 1980s and 1990s Printed Electronic applications based on Membrane Touch Switch and Electroluminescent lighting technologies became common, and the screen printed electronic materials used then have formed the building blocks for many of the current and emerging technologies and applications... First published in the 2012 IPC APEX EXPO technical conference proceedings.
Technical Library | 2015-04-29 03:29:56.0
Statistical Appearance Modelling technology enables an AOI system to “learn real world variation” based on operator interaction with inspection task results. This provides an accurate statistical description of normal variation in a product. With modelling technology, the user does not have to anticipate potential defects as the system will “flag” anything outside the “normal production range”. And, since the system is programmed with real production variation, it is sensitive to small subtle changes enabling reliable defect detection. Autonomous prediction of process variation enables an AOI system to be set up from a single PCB with production-ready performance. Setup time can be
Technical Library | 2017-04-13 16:14:27.0
The drive to reduced size and increased functionality is a constant in the world of electronic devices. In order to achieve these goals, the industry has responded with ever-smaller devices and the equipment capable of handling these devices. The evolution of BGA packages and leadless devices is pushing existing technologies to the limit of current assembly techniques and materials.As smaller components make their way into the mainstream PCB assembly market, PCB assemblers are reaching the limits of Type 3 solder paste, which is currently in use by most manufacturers.The goal of this study is to determine the impact on solder volume deposition between Type 3, Type 4 and Type 5 SAC305 alloy powder in combination with stainless steel laser cut, electroformed and the emerging laser cut nano-coated stencils. Leadless QFN and μBGA components will be the focus of the test utilizing optimized aperture designs.
