Technical Library | 2018-10-18 15:41:45.0
One specific market space of interest to emerging printed electronics is In Mold Label (IML) technology. IML is used in many consumer products and white good applications. When combined with electronics, the In Mold Electronics (IME) adds compelling new product functionality. Many of these products have multi-dimensional features and therefore require thermoforming processes in order to prepare the labels before they are in-molded. While thermoforming is not a novel technique for IML, the addition of printed electronic functional traces is not well documented. There is little or no published work on printed circuit performance and design interactions in the thermoforming process that could inform improved IME product designs. A general full factorial Design of Experiments (DOE) was used to analyze the electrical performance of the conductive silver ink trace/polycarbonate substrate system. Variables of interest include trace width, height of draw, and radii of both top and bottom curvatures in the draw area. Thermoforming tooling inserts were fabricated for eight treatment combinations of these variables. Each sample has one control and two formed strips. Electrical measurements were taken of the printed traces on the polymer sheets pre- and post- forming with a custom fixture to evaluate the effect on resistance. The design parameters found to be significant were draw height and bottom radius, with increased draw and smaller bottom curvature radii both contributing to the circuits’ resistance degradation. Over the ranges evaluated, the top curvature radii had no effect on circuit resistance. Interactions were present, demonstrating that circuit and thermoforming design parameters need to be studied as a system. While significant insight impacting product development was captured further work will be executed to evaluate different ink and substrate material sets, process variables, and their role in IME.
Technical Library | 2017-03-22 20:58:08.0
Water soluble lead-free solder paste is widely used in today’s SMT processes, but the industry is slowly moving away from water soluble solder pastes in favor of no-clean solder pastes. This shift in usage of solder paste is driven by an effort to eliminate the water wash process. Some components cannot tolerate water wash and elimination of water washing streamlines the SMT process. Despite this shift, certain applications lend themselves to the use of water soluble solder paste.This paper details the research and development of a new water soluble lead-free solder paste which improves on the performance characteristics of existing technologies.
Technical Library | 2015-08-17 09:07:11.0
Since a high percentage of product failures can be traced to poor electrical connections, crimp quality is of paramount importance. There are many factors that come into play that affect crimp quality and knowing the relevant factors, and to what extent each factor affects the end result, will help to guide the process engineer towards achieving the best possible results.
Technical Library | 2013-09-22 02:52:56.0
The PCB-assembly industry in constantly changing. Smaller footprints, new types of components and larger and more complex designs are accompanied by constant competitive pressures. As a result, electronics manufacturers need to continuously adapt their processes and make sure they exploit every opportunity for efficiency gains. This is the only way to improve quality and time to market and to increase profitability.
Technical Library | 2007-08-23 14:30:03.0
The complexity and programmability of modern embedded boards means that knowledge built up during debugging and testing must be regarded as Intellectual Property (IP) and therefore preserved. But many of the processes and tools used today do not provide a means to preserve or pass on this IP, and thereby forego valuable opportunities to save time and improve quality during subsequent stages of product development.
Technical Library | 2013-01-30 14:02:44.0
Many OEM’s require that individual wires and cables used in their products be clearly identified with a mark or label. For some, such as in the military and aerospace markets, wire and cable identification (or “wire ID”) is mandatory and the process is governed by stringent specifications, such as SAE AS50881 (formerly MIL5088L). For others, the decision to use wire ID is a voluntary one. This article will describe what type of information is typically identified on wire and cables, concepts for improved productivity, what types of systems are available and the pros and cons of each.
Technical Library | 2016-11-10 08:56:54.0
It goes without saying that every manufacturer wants to ensure they are producing a quality product. Standards and specifications from various organizations provide a guideline from which manufacturers can measure different areas of quality, while also providing the end user with the reassurance that they are purchasing a trustworthy, long-lasting product. Within the wire processing industry there are many standards that manufacturers may choose or be required to adhere to. These standards and specifications are constantly evolving and increasing in detail, especially as monitoring technology improves.
Technical Library | 2018-04-05 10:40:43.0
The miniaturization of microchips is always driving force for revolution and innovation in the electronic industry. When the pitch of bumps is getting smaller and smaller the ball size has to be gradually reduced. However, the reliability of smaller ball size is getting weaker and weaker, so some traditional methods such as capillary underfilling, corner bonding and edge bonding process have been being implemented in board level assembly process to enhance drop and thermal cycling performance. These traditional processes have been increasingly considered to be bottleneck for further miniaturization because the completion of these processes demands more space. So the interest of eliminating these processes has been increased. To meet this demand, YINCAE has developed solder joint encapsulant adhesives for ball bumping applications to enhance solder joint strength resulting in improving drop and thermal cycling performance to eliminate underfilling, edge bonding or corner bonding process in the board level assembly process. In this paper we will discuss the ball bumping process, the reliability such as strength of solder joints, drop test performance and thermal cycling performance.
Technical Library | 2017-09-28 16:36:33.0
These nano-coatings also refine the solder paste brick shape giving improved print definition. These two benefits combine to help the solder paste printing process produce an adequate amount of solder paste in the correct position on the circuit board pads. Today, stencil aperture area ratios from 0.66 down to 0.40 are commonly used and make paste printing a challenge. This paper presents data on small area ratio printing for component designs including 01005 Imperial (0402 metric) and smaller 03015 metric and 0201 metric chip components and 0.3 mm and 0.4 mm pitch micro BGAs.
Technical Library | 2016-06-16 15:29:31.0
Embedding components within the PC board structure is not a new concept. Until recently, however, most embedded component PC board applications adapted only passive elements. The early component forming processes relied on resistive inks and films to enable embedding of resistor and capacitors elements. Although these forming methods remain viable, many companies are choosing to place very thin discrete passive components and semiconductor die elements within the PC board layering structure. In addition to improving the products performance, companies have found that by reducing the component population on the PC board's surface, board level assembly is less complex and the PC board can be made smaller, The smaller substrate, even when more complex, often results in lower cost. Although size and cost reductions are significant attributes, the closer coupling of key elements can also contribute to improving functional performance.This paper focuses on six basic embedded component structure designs described in IPC-7092.
