Technical Library | 2020-08-27 01:22:45.0
Initially adopted internal specifications for acceptance of printed circuit boards (PCBs) used for wire bonding was that there were no nodules or scratches allowed on the wirebond pads when inspected under 20X magnification. The nodules and scratches were not defined by measurable dimensions and were considered to be unacceptable if there was any sign of a visual blemish on wire-bondable features. Analysis of the yield at a PCB manufacturer monitored monthly for over two years indicated that the target yield could not be achieved, and the main reasons for yield loss were due to nodules and scratches on the wirebonding pads. The PCB manufacturer attempted to eliminate nodules and scratches. First, a light-scrubbing step was added after electroless copper plating to remove any co-deposited fine particles that acted as a seed for nodules at the time of copper plating. Then, the electrolytic copper plating tank was emptied, fully cleaned, and filtered to eliminate the possibility of co-deposited particles in the electroplating process. Both actions greatly reduced the density of the nodules but did not fully eliminate them. Even though there was only one nodule on any wire-bonding pad, the board was still considered a reject. To reduce scratches on wirebonding pads, the PCB manufacturer utilized foam trays after routing the boards so that they did not make direct contact with other boards. This action significantly reduced the scratches on wire-bonding pads, even though some isolated scratches still appeared from time to time, which caused the boards to be rejected. Even with these significant improvements, the target yield remained unachievable. Another approach was then taken to consider if wire bonding could be successfully performed over nodules and scratches and if there was a dimensional threshold where wire bonding could be successful. A gold ball bonding process called either stand-off-stitch bonding (SSB) or ball-stitch-on-ball bonding (BSOB) was used to determine the effects of nodules and scratches on wire bonds. The dimension of nodules, including height, and the size of scratches, including width, were measured before wire bonding. Wire bonding was then performed directly on various sizes of nodules and scratches on the bonding pad, and the evaluation of wire bonds was conducted using wire pull tests before and after reliability testing. Based on the results of the wire-bonding evaluation, the internal specification for nodules and scratches for wirebondable PCBs was modified to allow nodules and scratches with a certain height and a width limitation compared to initially adopted internal specifications of no nodules and no scratches. Such an approach resulted in improved yield at the PCB manufacturer.
Technical Library | 2021-08-11 01:00:37.0
Conformal coatings and potting materials continue to create issues for the electronics industry. This webinar will dig deeper into the failure modes of these materials, specifically issues with Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE), delamination, cracking, de-wetting, pinholes/bubbles and orange peel issues with conformal coatings and what mitigation techniques are available. Similarly, this webinar will look at the failure modes of potting materials, (e.g Glass Transition Temperature (Tg), PCB warpage, the effects of improper curing and potential methods for correcting these situations.
Technical Library | 2010-10-21 00:43:34.0
Electronic systems are often stored for long periods prior to deployment in the intended environment. Aging has been previously shown to effect the reliability and constitutive behavior of second-level leadfree interconnects.
Technical Library | 2018-03-05 11:22:48.0
Growing demands for smaller electronic assemblies has resulted in reduced sizes of passive components, requiring the introduction of newer components, such as the 01005 devices. Component miniaturization presents significant challenges to the traditional surface mount assembly process. A successful assembly solution for these 01005 devices should be repeatable and reproducible, and should include guidelines for (i) the selection of solder paste and (ii) appropriate stencil and substrate pad design, and should ensure strict process control standards.
Technical Library | 2020-08-13 01:12:57.0
The solar industry has driven solutions that result in electronics systems that are required to perform in outside environments for over 25 years. This industry expectation has resulted in solutions to protect the electronics from failure that can result from interaction with moisture, and various chemicals leading to corrosion and shorting of the systems. Potting and encapsulation compounds can impart the very high level of protection from environmental, thermal, chemical, mechanical, and electrical conditions that the solar applications demand.
Technical Library | 2021-05-06 13:48:05.0
In this paper most commonly occurring Bare PCB defects such as Track Cut, Track short and Pad Damages are detected by Image processing techniques. Reference PCB without having any defects is compared with test PCB having defects to identify the defects and x-y coordinates of the center of the defects along with radii are obtained using Difference of Gaussian method and location of the individual type of defects are marked either by similar color or different colors. Result Analysis includes time taken for the inspection of a single defect, multiple similar defects, and multiple different defects. Time taken is ranging from 1.674 to 1.714 seconds if the individual type of defects are marked by different colors and 0.670 to 0.709 seconds if all the identified defects are marked by the same colors.
Technical Library | 2017-05-04 17:35:01.0
Most of today's printed circuit board base materials are anisotropic and it is not possible to use a simple method to measure thermal conductivity along the different axis, especially when a good accuracy is expected. Few base material suppliers' datasheet show X, Y and Z thermal conductivities. In most cases, a single value is given, moreover determined with a generic methodology, and not necessarily adapted to the reality of glass-reinforced composites with a strong anisotropy.After reminding of the fundamentals in thermal science, this paper gives an overview of the state-of the art in terms of thermal conductivity measurement on PCB base materials, and some typical values. It finally proposes an innovative method called transient fin method, and associated test sample, to perform reliable and consistent in plane thermal conductivity measurement on anisotropic PCB base materials.
Technical Library | 2017-09-07 13:56:11.0
As a surface finish for PCBs, Electroless Nickel/Electroless Palladium/Immersion Gold (ENEPIG) was selected over Electroless Nickel/Immersion Gold (ENIG) for CMOS image sensor applications with both surface mount technology (SMT) and gold ball bonding processes in mind based on the research available on-line. Challenges in the wire bonding process on ENEPIG with regards to bondability and other plating related issues are summarized.
Technical Library | 2016-10-24 14:59:03.0
Temperature measurement is one of the most important physical parameters when determining quality, accuracy and reliability of processes not only in industrial use, but also in almost all human activities. Temperature sensors are produced with different technologies to fit specific application requirements. IST AG has concentrated one part of the development and manufacturing on high-end thin-film temperature sensors. This know-how is partially derived from the semiconductor industry and allows us to manufacture sensors with high accuracy, excellent long-term stability, high reliability and repeatability within a wide temperature range from -200 °C up to 1000 °C. Because of very small dimensions and low thermal mass, the thin-film temperature sensors exhibit a very short response time.
Technical Library | 2022-08-08 15:06:06.0
Selective soldering has evolved to become a standard production process within the electronics assembly industry, and now accommodates a wide variety of through-hole component formats in numerous applications. Most through-hole components can be easily soldered with the selective soldering process without difficulty however some types of challenging components require additional attention to ensure that optimum quality is maintained. Several high thermal mass components can place demands on the selective soldering process, while the use of specialized solder fixtures, or solder pallets, often places additional thermal demand on the preheating process. Fine-pitch through-hole components and connectors place a different set of demands on the selective soldering process and typically require special attention to lead projection and traverse speed to minimize bridging between adjacent pins. Dual in-line memory module (DIMM) connectors, compact peripheral component interface (cPCI) connectors, coax connectors and other high thermal mass components as well as fine-pitch microconnectors, can present challenges when soldered into backplanes or multilayer printed circuit board assemblies. Adding to this challenge, compact peripheral component interface connectors can present additional solderability issues because of their beryllium copper base metal pins. Key Terms: Selective soldering, drop-jet fluxing, sustained preheating, flux migration, adjacent clearance, lead-to-hole aspect ratio, lead projection, thermal reliefs, gold embrittlement, solderability testing.
.png)
