Electronics Manufacturing Technical Articles

Electronics Manufacturing Technical Articles

Papers and articles related to SMT, PCB & EMS industry.


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1882 SMT / PCB Assembly Related Technical Articles

A Study on Effects of Copper Wrap Specifications on Printed Circuit Board Reliability

Jul 20, 2021 | Bhanu Sood, John Shue, Jesse Leitner, Kelly Daniluk, Lionel-Nobel Sindjui

During the manufacturing of printed circuit boards (PCBs) for a Flight Project, it was found that a European manufacturer was building its boards to a European standard that had no requirement for copper wrap on the vias. The amount of copper wrap that was measured on coupons from the panel containing the boards of interest was less than the amount specified in IPC-6012 Rev B, Class 3. To help determine the reliability and usability of the boards, three sets of tests and a simulation were run. The test results, along with results of simulation and destructive physical analysis, are presented in this paper. The first experiment involved subjecting coupons from the panels supplied by the European manufacturer to thermal cycling. After 17 000 cycles, the test was stopped with no failures. A second set of accelerated tests involved comparing the thermal fatigue life of test samples made from FR4 and polyimide with varying amounts of copper wrap. Again, the testing did not reveal any failures. The third test involved using interconnect stress test coupons with through-hole vias and blind vias that were subjected to elevated temperatures to accelerate fatigue failures. While there were failures, as expected, the failures were at barrel cracks. In addition to the experiments, this paper also discusses the results of finite-element analysis using simulation software that was used to model plated-through holes under thermal stress using a steady-state analysis, also showing the main failure mode was barrel cracking. The tests show that although copper wrap was sought as a better alternative to butt joints between barrel plating and copper foil layers, manufacturability remains challenging and attempts to meet the requirements often result in features that reduce the reliability of the boards. Experimental and simulation work discussed in this paper indicate that the standard requirements for copper wrap are not contributing to the overall board reliability, although it should be added that a design with a butt joint is going to be a higher risk than a reduced copper wrap design. The study further shows that procurement requirements for wrap plating thickness from Class 3 to Class 2 would pose little risk to reliability (minimum 5 μm/0.197 mil for all via types).Experimental results corroborated by modeling indicate that the stress maxima are internal to the barrels rather than at the wrap location. In fact, the existence of Cu wrap was determined to have no appreciable effect on reliability....

Publisher: NASA Office Of Safety And Mission Assurance

NASA Office Of Safety And Mission Assurance

The Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA) assures the safety and enhances the success of all NASA activities through the development, implementation and oversight of agencywide safety, reliability, maintainability and ...

Washington, District of Columbia, USA

Research Institute / Laboratory / School

Inkjet-Printing-Derived Lead-Zirconate-Titanate-Based Thick Films For Printed Electronics

Jul 13, 2021 | Danjela Kuscer, Silvo Drnovšek, Franck Levassort

We have investigated the processing of lead-zirconate-titanate-based thick films by inkjet printing Pb (Zr0.53Ti0.47)0.98Nb0.02O3 with a 6 mol% excess of PbO nanosized powder dispersed in water. Differentwaveforms were employed to determine the optimum size and shape of the drops. A uniform, defect-free pattern with dimensions of 4 mm × 4 mm can be printed using 20 V and a drop spacing of 20 μm. The inkjet-printed films were heated to 400 °C to remove the organics and subsequently sintered at 750 and 850 °C. The correlations between the density, grain size and electromechanical properties of the thick films and bulk ceramics are qualitatively discussed. A thickness coupling factor of 46% was obtained for a 15-μm-thick film sintered at low temperature of 850 °C, which is comparable to the value of the bulk ceramic with an identical nominal chemical composition. Our results are important for the economic and environmental-benign printing of piezoelectric materials applicable in variety of electronic devices, such as sensors, actuators, transformers, piezoelectric energy harvesters and transducers....

Publisher: Jožef Stefan Institute

Jožef Stefan Institute

The Jožef Stefan Institute is the largest research institute in Slovenia. The main research areas are physics, chemistry, molecular biology, biotechnology, information technologies, reactor physics, energy and environment. ...

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Research Institute / Laboratory / School

Silver in Printed & Flexible Electronics

Jul 13, 2021 | Matt Watson

This Market Trend Report for the Silver Institute examines silver's growing role in printed and flexible electronics. According to our research, 33.9% of the annual silver global supply in 2020 ended up in electronics. This is a total of 327 million troy ounces (Moz) that finds its way into various electronics markets every year. Given the projected growth of electrification, we are confident that this will continue to grow over time since silver is the world's most conductive material....

Publisher: Silver Institute

Silver Institute

The Silver Institute is a nonprofit international association that draws its membership from across the breadth of the silver industry. This includes leading silver mining houses, refiners, bullion suppliers, manufacturers of ...

Washington, District of Columbia, USA

Association / Non-Profit

Advanced Technologies for Industry – Product Watch Flexible and printed electronics

Jul 13, 2021 | Chiel Scholten, Kincsö Izsak and Maialen Perez

Flexible electronics refers to a class of lightweight, flexible and electronic sensing components and electronic devices built on stretchable substrates1 that are used (and can be used) for a broad set of products and applications such as displays and sensors. The most prominent characteristic is that they can bend in contrast to electronic systems built in rigid materials. They are manufactured on flexible plastic substrates, such as polyamide, PEEK2 or transparent conductive polyester films3, or other materials such as paper, textile, or thin glass. The term flexible also refers to the roll-to-roll manufacturing process....

Publisher: European Commission - Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME)

European Commission - Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME)

The Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME) has been set-up by the European Commission to manage on its behalf several EU programmes in the fields of SME support & innovation, environment, climate action, e

Belgique/Belgiën, Belgium

Association / Non-Profit

ICT+FCT Test Transformation Case

Jul 10, 2021 | pti

An effective solution to reduce labor costs and improve production efficiency...

Publisher: Shenzhen PTI Technology CO.,LTD

Shenzhen PTI Technology CO.,LTD

Our company was established in 2004, Main products: ICT on-line tester, ICT, functional testing machine 、FCT、 TSI、 automatic test and control system (ATE), test automation solutions, etc.

深圳, China

Manufacturer

Effects Of Surface Finish On High Frequency Signal Loss Using Various Substrate Materials

Jul 06, 2021 | Don Cullen, Bruce Kline, Gary Moderhock, Larry Gatewood

The amount of information transferred on wireless networks has increased dramatically with the tremendous growth of mobile phones, Internet access, and hand held devices. In order to build the infrastructure needed to handle ever increasing data transfer, manufacturers of electronic devices turn to high speed, high frequency electronic signals. The need to render these electronic devices portable is another technology driver. The merge of high-frequency signals with small geometry conductive traces means that the topic of signal loss has reached a critical point in existing device production....

Publisher: MacDermid, Inc.

MacDermid, Inc.

A global diversified specialty chemicals company focused on providing innovative solutions across several large and growing end-markets that enhance the products of everyday life.

Waterbury, Connecticut, USA

Manufacturer

Reliable Novel Nickel-Free Surface Finish Solution For High-Frequency Pcb Applications

Jul 06, 2021 | Ariel McFalls, Sam Rhodes, and Kunal Shah, Ph.D.

The evolution of internet-enabled mobile devices has driven innovation in the manufacturing and design of technology capable of high-frequency electronic signal transfer. Among the primary factors affecting the integrity of high-frequency signals is the surface finish applied on PCB copper pads – a need commonly met through the electroless nickel immersion gold process, ENIG. However, there are well-documented limitations of ENIG due to the presence of nickel, the properties of which result in an overall reduced performance in high-frequency data transfer rate for ENIG-applied electronics, compared to bare copper....

Publisher: LiloTree

LiloTree

LiloTree is an advanced materials technology company, providing next-generation technology solutions through chemistry and materials innovations. Based in Seattle, Washington, we're an NSF funded company, manufacturer & distrib...

Redmond, Washington, USA

Manufacturer

Introduction Of A New PCB Surface Finish For The Electronics Industry

Jul 06, 2021 | Frank Ferdinandi

A new PCB surface finish has been developed that offers outstanding performance and excellent environmental protection. This finish has the potential to replace more common finishes such as ENIG, ImAg, ImSn, ENEPIG, or OSP with a chemically resistant plasma deposited coating. The substitution of the wet processes with this dry plasma process offers significant advantages e.g. lower quantities of chemicals used, environmental benefits and improved operator safety....

Publisher: Semblant Technologies

Semblant Technologies

Semblant is a l leader in innovating and deploying nanomaterials in the electronics industry. The company's unique nanotechnology solutions, backed by a broad range of fundamental patents, have been designed specifically to ...

London, United Kingdom

Manufacturer

How Does Surface Finish Affect Solder Paste Performance?

Jul 06, 2021 | Tony Lentz

The surface finishes commonly used on printed circuit boards (PCBs) have an effect on solder paste performance in the surface mount process. Some surface finishes are non-planar like hot air solder level (HASL) which can lead to inconsistencies in solder paste printing. Other surface finishes are difficult to wet during reflow like organic solderability preservative (OSP). What is the overall effect of surface finish on solder paste performance? Which solder paste is best for each surface finish? It is the goal of this paper to answer these questions....

Publisher: FCT ASSEMBLY, INC.

FCT ASSEMBLY, INC.

With numerous facilities in the United States, we are one of the electronics industry's leading manufacturers of lead-free solder products, superior quality stencils, and precision cut parts.

Greeley, Colorado, USA

Manufacturer

Understanding the Cleaning Process for Automatic Stencil Printers

Jun 28, 2021 | Ed Nauss

The automatic stencil wiper –first line of defense 2 • The Printing process and why we need to focus on the wiping function • Frequency of wiping • Wiping options • Wiper profiles • Event driven wiping • Advanced options • Materials – Paper • Materials – Solvent • Preventive maintenance • Random stuff...

Publisher: ITW EAE

ITW EAE

ITW EAE is a manufacturer of equipment used in the electronic assembly and semiconductor industries. The group brings together world-class products from Camalot, Despatch, Electrovert, MPM, and Vitronics Soltec.

Lakeville, Minnesota, USA

Manufacturer

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