Technical Library | 2019-05-29 23:10:30.0
There are times when a PCB prototype needs to be built quickly to test out a design. In such cases where it is known early on that there will be multiple iterations or that a "one and done" assembly will be made that there will be some SMT assemblers who choose to hand print solder paste onto the board using a "frameless" stencil. In such cases where hand printing is used, the consistency of the printing technique has typically been in question. Furthermore, the effectiveness of both the nanocoatings as well as the higher end stainless steel materials, which have been heretofore studied in controlled printing environments, will be evaluated for their impact on the hand printing process.The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of select nanocoating materials as well as certain high end stainless steel stencil materials as they relate to the manual SMT printing process. A variety of nanocoatings were applied to SMT metal stencils and solder paste volume measurements were taken to compare the effectiveness.
Technical Library | 2015-08-25 13:51:27.0
The stencil printing process is one of the most critical processes in the electronic production. Due to the requirement: "faster and smaller" it is necessary to place components with different paste volume close together without regard to solder paste printing. In our days it is no longer possible to control the solder paste volume only by adjustment of the aperture dimensions. The requirements of solder paste volumes for specific components are realized by different thicknesses of metal sheets in one stencil with so called step stencils. The step-down stencil is required when it is desirable to print fine-pitch devices using a thinner stencil foil, but print other devices using a thicker stencil foil. The paper presents the innovative technology of step-up and step-down stencils in a laser cutting and laser welding process. The step-up/step-down stencil is a special development for the adjustment of solder paste quantity, fulfilling the needs of placement and soldering. This includes the laser cutting and laser welding process as well as the resulting stencil characteristics and the potential of the printing process.
Technical Library | 2023-07-25 16:25:56.0
This paper address two significant applications of stencils in advance packaging field: 1. Ultra-Thin stencils for miniature component (0201m) assembly; 2. Deep Cavity stencils for embedded (open cavity) packaging. As the world of electronics continues to evolve with focus on smaller, lighter, faster, and feature-enhanced high- performing electronic products, so are the requirement for complex stencils to assemble such components. These stencil thicknesses start from less than 25um with apertures as small as 60um (or less). Step stencils are used when varying stencil thicknesses are required to print into cavities or on elevated surfaces or to provide relief for certain features on a board. In the early days of SMT assembly, step stencils were used to reduce the stencil thickness for 25 mil pitch leaded device apertures. Thick metal stencils that have both relief-etch pockets and reservoir step pockets are very useful for paste reservoir printing. Electroform Step-Up Stencils for ceramic BGA's and RF Shields are a good solution to achieve additional solder paste height on the pads of these components as well as providing exceptional paste transfer for smaller components like uBGAs and 0201s. As the components are getting smaller, for example 0201m, or as the available real estate for component placement on a board is getting smaller – finer is the aperture size and the pitch on the stencils. Aggressive distances from step wall to aperture are also required. Ultra-thin stencils with thicknesses in the order of 15um-40um with steps of 15um are used to obtain desired print volumes. Stencils with thickness to this order can be potential tools even to print for RDLs in the package.
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