Technical Library | 2019-10-18 10:37:25.0
It usually does not make any logic to invest in costly fabrication equipment in case you just desire to spin some prototypes and rather outsource your Printed Circuit Board assembly as well as prototype fabrication to a trustworthy vendor. I would provide a few tips as to what to consider when seeking a contract manufacturer. The two most common procedures associated with Printed Circuit Board Assembly are through-hole technology and surface mount technology. Talking about the difference between through-hole technology and surface mount technology. Through-hole elements have metal leads, & these metal leads are supplied through-plated holes inside the circuit board. On the other hand, SMT elements might or might not have leads, nevertheless most significantly, they are developed to be soldered onto the surface of the circuit boards straight on the same side as the element body. A lot of contract manufacturers would provide a quick quote mechanism over their site for the fabrication of circuit boards as well as assembly of prototypes. This would bank your time when comparing various vendors. Ensure that the quote system facilitates you to fill your details, for instance, board material, thickness, copper thickness, milling, etc. in order that you can avail of a precise quote devoid of any surprises afterward. And this is quite necessary. Typically the cost per board would decline as quality upgrades. This is owing to the fairly high setup price of circuit board fabrication over and above component assembly. A few vendors would employ a system where they unite boards from various consumers. This manner the setup price would be circulated among numerous clients. When you fabricate an item, you clearly don’t desire to have to fabricate a big quantity of boards straight away whilst you improve your design. One restriction with small quantity prototypes though is that the option of materials & material thicknesses would be constrained. In case you are employing a particular material then opportunities are there will not be any other clients employing the same material. Additionally, lead time plays a major role in indecisive prices. A longer lead time facilitates the fabricator more liberty in slotting your fabrication. This is basically reflected in cheaper prices that would view in the quote section. Clearly, if you are in a hurry and desire to be moved to the summit of the pile you would require splurging more dollars. Ensure that your contract fabricator would support the file sort for producing which you offer. The most general format for printed circuit board fabrication is the Gerber format nonetheless a few vendors would moreover embrace board files from general printed circuit board software products. A few suppliers also provide in house printed circuit design. Even in case, you create your board yourself, choosing a vendor with design services might prove resourceful in case there is an issue with your files. In this scenario, your vendor could make swift changes that would neglect pricey delays. If you are looking for an Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS Assembly) provider, then the web is the best to search.
Technical Library | 2018-04-11 22:18:05.0
Millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequency applications are becoming more common. There are applications utilizing PCB technology at 60 GHz, 77 GHz and many other mmWave frequencies. When designing a PCB for mmWave frequency, the properties of the circuit materials need to be considered since they can be critical to the success of the application. Understanding the properties of circuit materials at these frequencies is very important.This paper will give an overview of which circuit material properties are important to mmWave frequency applications using PCBs. There will be data supplied which demonstrates why these properties are essential to the circuit material selection for mmWave applications. Some properties discussed will be dielectric constant (Dk) control, dissipation factor, moisture absorption, thickness control and TCDk (Temperature Coefficient of Dk). Measured comparisons will be shown for insertion loss and Dk versus frequency for different types of circuit materials up to 110 GHz. As part of the test data, the impact on circuit performance due to TCDk and moisture absorption will be shown at mmWave frequencies.
Technical Library | 2018-10-24 18:04:12.0
Polymer Thick Film (PTF)-based printed electronics (aka Printed Electronics) has improved in durability over the last few decades and is now a proven alternative to copper circuitry in many applications once thought beyond the capability of PTF circuitry. This paper describes peak performance and areas for future improvement.State-of-the-art PTF circuitry performance includes the ability to withstand sharp crease tests, 85C/85%RH damp heat 5VDC bias aging (silver migration), auto seat durability cycling, SMT mandrel flexing, and others. The IPC/SGIA subcommittee for Standards Tests development has adopted several ASTM test methods for PTF circuitry and is actively developing needed improvements or additions. These standards are described herein. Advantages of PTF circuitry over copper include: varied conductive material compositions, lower cost and lower environmental impact. Necessary improvements include: robust integration of chip and power, higher conductivity, and fine line multi-layer patterning.
Technical Library | 2019-04-10 22:08:31.0
The stimulating impact of the automotive industry has sharpened focus on immersion tin (i-Sn) more than ever before. Immersion tin with its associated attributes, is well placed to fulfill the requirements of such a demanding application. In an environment dominated by reliability, the automotive market not only has very stringent specifications but also demands thorough qualification protocols. Qualification is ultimately a costly exercise. The good news is that i-Sn is already qualified by many tier one OSATs. The focus of this paper is to generate awareness of the key factors attributed to soldering i-Sn. Immersion tin is not suitable for wire bonding but ultimately suited for multiple soldering applications. The dominant topics of this paper will be IMC formations in relation to reflow cycles and the associated solderability performance. Under contamination free conditions, i-Sn can provide a solderable finish even after multiple reflow cycles. The reflow conditions employed in this paper are typical for lead free soldering environments and the i-Sn thicknesses are approximately 1 μm.
Technical Library | 2020-07-02 13:16:32.0
Principle of shielding 1 The principle of shielding is creating a conductive layer completely surrounding the object you want to shield. This was invented by Michael Faraday and this system is known as a Faraday Cage. 2 Ideally, the shielding layer will be made up of conductive sheets or layers of metal that are connected by means of welding or soldering, without any interruptions. The shielding is perfect when there is no difference in conductivity between the used materials. When dealing with frequencies below 30 MHz, the metal thickness affects shielding effectiveness. We also offer a range of shielding methods for plastic enclosures. A complete absence of interruptions is not a realistic goal since the Faraday cage will have to be opened from time to time so electronics, equipment or people can be moved in or out. Openings are also needed for displays, ventilation, cooling, power supply, signals etc. 3 Shielding works in both directions, items inside the shielded room are shielded from outside influences. (Fig. 3.1)
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 | 2020-03-26 14:55:29.0
This paper introduces line confocal technology that was recently developed to characterize 3D features of various surface and material types at sub-micron resolution. It enables automatic microtopographic 3D imaging of challenging objects that are difficult or impossible to scan with traditional methods, such as machine vision or laser triangulation.Examples of well-suited applications for line confocal technology include glossy, mirror-like, transparent and multi-layered surfaces made of metals (connector pins, conductor traces, solder bumps etc.), polymers (adhesives, enclosures, coatings, etc.), ceramics (components, substrates, etc.) and glass (display panels, etc.). Line confocal sensors operate at high speed and can be used to scan fast-moving surfaces in real-time as well as stationary product samples in the laboratory. The operational principle of the line confocal method and its strengths and limitations are discussed.Three metrology applications for the technology in electronics product manufacturing are examined: 1. 3D imaging of etched PCBs for micro-etched copper surface roughness and cross-sectional profile and width of etched traces/pads. 2. Thickness, width and surface roughness measurement of conductive ink features and substrates in printed electronics applications. 3. 3D imaging of adhesive dots and lines for shape, dimensions and volume in PCB and product assembly applications.
Technical Library | 2020-09-08 16:43:32.0
Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is an ultra-thin film deposition technique that has found many applications owing to its distinct abilities. They include uniform deposition of conformal films with controllable thickness, even on complex three-dimensional surfaces, and can improve the efficiency of electronic devices. This technology has attracted significant interest both for fundamental understanding how the new functional materials can be synthesized by ALD and for numerous practical applications, particularly in advanced nanopatterning for microelectronics, energy storage systems, desalinations, catalysis and medical fields. This review introduces the progress made in ALD, both for computational and experimental methodologies, and provides an outlook of this emerging technology in comparison with other film deposition methods. It discusses experimental approaches and factors that affect the deposition and presents simulation methods, such as molecular dynamics and computational fluid dynamics, which help determine and predict effective ways to optimize ALD processes, hence enabling the reduction in cost, energy waste and adverse environmental impacts. Specific examples are chosen to illustrate the progress in ALD processes and applications that showed a considerable impact on other technologies.
Technical Library | 2021-04-08 00:30:49.0
As the electronic industry moves to lead-free assembly and finer-pitch circuits, widely used printed wiring board (PWB) finish, SnPb HASL, has been replaced with lead-free and coplanar PWB finishes such as OSP, ImAg, ENIG, and ImSn. While SnPb HASL offers excellent corrosion protection of the underlying copper due to its thick coating and inherent corrosion resistance, the lead-free board finishes provide reduced corrosion protection to the underlying copper due to their very thin coating. For ImAg, the coating material itself can also corrode in more aggressive environments. This is an issue for products deployed in environments with high levels of sulfur containing pollutants encountered in the current global market. In those corrosive environments, creep corrosion has been observed and led to product failures in very short service life (1-5 years). Creep corrosion failures within one year of product deployment have also been reported. This has prompted an industry-wide effort to understand creep corrosion
Technical Library | 2021-05-13 16:03:25.0
Sn-based lead-free solders such as Sn-Ag-Cu, Sn-Cu, and Sn-Bi have been used extensively for a long time in the electronic packaging field. Recently, low-temperature Sn-Bi solder alloys attract much attention from industries for flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) applications. Low melting temperatures of Sn-Bi solders avoid warpage wherein printed circuit board and electronic parts deform or deviate from the initial state due to their thermal mismatch during soldering. However, the addition of alloying elements and nanoparticles Sn-Bi solders improves the melting temperature, wettability, microstructure, and mechanical properties. Improving the brittleness of the eutecticSn-58wt%Bi solder alloy by grain refinement of the Bi-phase becomes a hot topic. In this paper, literature studies about melting temperature, microstructure, inter-metallic thickness, and mechanical properties of Sn-Bi solder alloys upon alloying and nanoparticle addition are reviewed
