Electronics Manufacturing Technical Articles

Kyoritsu Chemical & Co., Ltd

High and Matched Refractive Index Liquid Adhesives for Optical Device Assembly

Sep 30, 2020 | Taro Kenmochi

There is an increase in the number of optical sensors and cameras being integrated into electronics devices. These go beyond cell phone cameras into automotive sensors, wearables, and other smart devices. The applications can be lens bonding, waveguide imprinting, or other applications where the adhesive is in the optical pathway. To support these various optical applications, new materials with tailorable optical properties are required. There is often a mismatched refractive index between plastic lenses such as PC (Poly Carbonate), COP (Cyclo Olefin Polymer), COC (Cyclo Olefin Copolymer), PMMA (Poly Methyl Methacrylate), and UV curable liquid adhesive. A UV curable liquid adhesive is needed where you can alter the refractive index from 1.470 to 1.730, and maintain high optical performance as yellowness index, haze, and transmittance. This wide range of refractive index possibilities provides optimized optical design. Using particular plastic lens must consider how chemical attack is occurring during the process. Another consideration is that before the UV curable liquid adhesive is cured, chemical raw component can attack the plastic lens which then cracks and delaminates. We will also show engineering and reliability data which defined root cause and provided how optical performance is maintained under different reliability conditions....

Publisher: Kyoritsu Chemical & Co., Ltd

Research, development, manufacturing and marketing of sophisticated chemical products developed by applying fine chemicals and nano-technologies in cutting-edge fields such as home information appliances, IT, semiconductors, batte

Tokyo, Japan

Optimising Solder Paste Volume for Low Temperature Reflow of BGA Packages

Sep 23, 2020 | Keith Sweatman

The need to minimise thermal damage to components and laminates, to reduce warpage-induced defects to BGA packages, and to save energy, is driving the electronics industry towards lower process temperatures. For soldering processes the only way that temperatures can be substantially reduced is by using solders with lower melting points. Because of constraints of toxicity, cost and performance, the number of alloys that can be used for electronics assembly is limited and the best prospects appear to be those based around the eutectic in the Bi-Sn system, which has a melting point of about 139°C. Experience so far indicates that such Bi-Sn alloys do not have the mechanical properties and microstructural stability necessary to deliver the reliability required for the mounting of BGA packages. Options for improving mechanical properties with alloying additions that do not also push the process temperature back over 200°C are limited. An alternative approach that maintains a low process temperature is to form a hybrid joint with a conventional solder ball reflowed with a Bi-Sn alloy paste. During reflow there is mixing of the ball and paste alloys but it has been found that to achieve the best reliability a proportion of the ball alloy has to be retained in the joint, particular in the part of the joint that is subjected to maximum shear stress in service, which is usually the area near the component side. The challenge is then to find a reproducible method for controlling the fraction of the joint thickness that remains as the original solder ball alloy. Empirical evidence indicates that for a particular combination of ball and paste alloys and reflow temperature the extent to which the ball alloy is consumed by mixing with the paste alloy is dependent on the volume of paste deposited on the pad. If this promising method of achieving lower process temperatures is to be implemented in mass production without compromising reliability it would be necessary to have a method of ensuring the optimum proportion of ball alloy left in the joint after reflow can be consistently maintained. In this paper the author explains how the volume of low melting point alloy paste that delivers the optimum proportion of retained ball alloy for a particular reflow temperature can be determined by reference to the phase diagrams of the ball and paste alloys. The example presented is based on the equilibrium phase diagram of the binary Bi-Sn system but the method could be applied to any combination of ball and paste alloys for which at least a partial phase diagram is available or could be easily determined....

Publisher: Nihon Superior Co. Ltd

Nihon Superior Co. Ltd

Production and distribution of metal jointing materials for electronics (solder, flux, brazing alloys, etc) Sales of nonferrous metal Export-import business

Osaka, Japan

Flextronics International

Low Temperature SMT Solder Evaluation

Sep 23, 2020 | Howard "Rusty" Osgood, David Geiger, Robert Pennings, Christian Biederman, Jie Jiang, Jon Bernal

The electronics industry could benefit greatly from using a reliable, manufacturable, reduced temperature, SMT solder material (alloy-composition) which is cost competitive with traditional Sn3Ag0.5Cu (SAC305) solder. The many possible advantages and some disadvantages / challenges are discussed. Until recently, the use of Sn/Bi based materials has been investigated with negative consequences for high strain rate (drop-shock) applications and thus, these alloys have been avoided. Recent advances in alloy "doping" have opened the door to revisit Sn/Bi alloys as a possible alternative to SAC-305 for many applications. We tested the manufacturability and reliability of three low-temperature and one SAC-305 (used as a control) solder paste materials. Two of these materials are doped Sn/Bi/Ag and one is just Sn/Bi/Ag1%. We will discuss the tests and related results. And lastly, we will discuss the prospects, applications and possible implications (based on this evaluation) of these materials together with future actions....

Publisher: Flextronics International

Flex Ltd. is an American Singaporean-domiciled multinational electronics contract manufacturer. It is the third-largest global electronics manufacturing services, original design manufacturer company by revenue, behind only ...

Milpitas, California, USA

Institute for Factory Automation and Production Systems (FAPS)

Approaches for additive manufacturing of 3D electronic applications

Sep 16, 2020 | Hoerber, J.; Glasschroeder, J.; Pfeffer, M.; Schilp, J.; Zaeh, M.; Franke, J.

Additive manufacturing processes typically used for mechanical parts can be combined with enhanced technologies for electronics production to enable a highly flexible manufacturing of personalized 3D electronic devices. To illustrate different approaches for implementing electrical and electronic functionality, conductive paths and electronic components were embedded in a powder bed printed substrate using an enhanced 3D printer. In addition, a modified Aerosol Jet printing process and assembly technologies adapted from the technology of Molded Interconnect Devices were applied to print circuit patterns and to electrically interconnect components on the surface of the 3D substrates....

Publisher: Institute for Factory Automation and Production Systems (FAPS)

At the Technical Faculty (TF) of the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) more than 20 engineering and computer science courses are offered. The TF has an excellent reputation in science and business.

Nuremberg, Germany

Additive manufacturing frontier: 3D printing electronics

Sep 16, 2020 | Bingheng Lu, Hongbo Lan and Hongzhong Liu

3D printing is disrupting the design and manufacture of electronic products. 3D printing electronics offers great potential to build complex object with multiple functionalities. Particularly, it has shown the unique ability to make embedded electronics, 3D structural electronics, conformal electronics, stretchable electronics, etc. 3D printing electronics has been considered as the next frontier in additive manufacturing and printed electronics. Over the past five years, a large number of studies and efforts regarding 3D printing electronics have been carried out by both academia and industries. In this paper, a comprehensive review of recent advances and significant achievements in 3D printing electronics is provided. Furthermore, the prospects, challenges and trends of 3D printing electronics are discussed. Finally, some promising solutions for producing electronics with 3D printing are presented....

Publisher: Xian Jiaotong University

Xian Jiaotong University

Xi'an Jiaotong University is a C9 League university with strengths in engineering, technology, management, and life sciences located in Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. It is a Chinese Ministry of Education Class A Double First Class Univ.

Xi'an, Shaanxi, China

University of Johannesburg

New development of atomic layer deposition: processes, methods and applications

Sep 08, 2020 | Peter Ozaveshe Oviroh, Rokhsareh Akbarzadeh, Dongqing Pan, Rigardt Alfred Maarten Coetzee and Tien-Chien Jen

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....

Publisher: University of Johannesburg

The Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment (FEBE) is one of the seven faculties in the University of Johannesburg. It offers both Engineering Technology and Engineering Science undergraduate and postgraduate programmes..

Johannesburg, South Africa

Semi-Additive Process (SAP) Utilizing Very Uniform Ultrathin Copper by A Novel Catalyst

Sep 02, 2020 | Steve Iketani, Mike Vinson

The demand for miniaturization and higher density electronic products has continued steadily for years, and this trend is expected to continue, according to various semiconductor technology and applications roadmaps. The printed circuit board (PCB) must support this trend as the central interconnection of the system. There are several options for fine line circuitry. A typical fine line circuit PCB product using copper foil technology, such as the modified semi-additive process (mSAP), uses a thin base copper layer made by pre-etching. The ultrathin copper foil process (SAP with ultrathin copper foil) is facing a technology limit for the miniaturization due to copper roughness and thickness control. The SAP process using sputtered copper is a solution, but the sputtering process is expensive and has issues with via plating. SAP using electroless copper deposition is another solution, but the process involved is challenged to achieve adequate adhesion and insulation between fine-pitch circuitries. A novel catalyst system--liquid metal ink (LMI)--has been developed that avoids these concerns and promotes a very controlled copper thickness over the substrate, targeting next generation high density interconnect (HDI) to wafer-level packaging substrates and enabling 5-micron level feature sizes. This novel catalyst has a unique feature, high density, and atomic-level deposition. Whereas conventional tin-palladium catalyst systems provide sporadic coverage over the substrate surface, the deposited catalyst covers the entire substrate surface. As a result, the catalyst enables improved uniformity of the copper deposition starting from the initial stage while providing higher adhesion and higher insulation resistance compared to the traditional catalysts used in SAP processes. This article discusses this new catalyst process, which both proposes a typical SAP process using the new catalyst and demonstrates the reliability improvements through a comparison between a new SAP PCB process and a conventional SAP PCB process....

Publisher: Averatek Corporation

Averatek Corporation

Averatek Corporation is a high tech company based in Santa Clara, CA that provides custom design services and patterned circuit board materials manufactured through the use of an innovative, proprietary process.

Santa Clara, California, USA

Developments in Electroless Copper Processes to Improve Performance in amSAP Mobile Applications

Sep 02, 2020 | Stefanie Bremmert, Laurence Gregoriades, Kay Wurdinger, Thomas Vágó, Tobias Bernhard, Frank Bruning, Roger Massey

With the adoption of Wafer Level Packages (WLP) in the latest generation mobile handsets, the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) industry has also seen the initial steps of High Density Interconnect (HDI) products migrating away from the current subtractive processes towards a more technically adept technique, based on an advanced modified Semi Additive Process (amSAP). This pattern plate process enables line and space features in the region of 20um to be produced, in combination with fully filled, laser formed microvias. However, in order to achieve these process demands, a step change in the performance of the chemical processes used for metallization of the microvia is essential. In the electroless Copper process, the critical activator step often risks cross contamination by the preceding chemistries. Such events can lead to uncontrolled buildup of Palladium rich residues on the panel surface, which can subsequently inhibit etching and lead to short circuits between the final traces. In addition, with more demands being placed on the microvia, the need for a high uniformity Copper layer has become paramount, unfortunately, as microvia shape is often far from ideal, the deposition or "throw" characteristics of the Copper bath itself are also of critical importance. This "high throwing power" is influential elsewhere in the amSAP technique, as it leads to a thinner surface Copper layer, which aids the etching process and enables the ultra-fine features being demanded by today's high end PCB applications. This paper discusses the performance of an electroless Copper plating process that has been developed to satisfy the needs of challenging amSAP applications. Through the use of a radical predip chemistry, the formation, build up and deposition of uncontrolled Pd residues arising from activator contamination has been virtually eradicated. With the adoption of a high throwing power Copper bath, sub 30um features are enabled and microvia coverage is shown to be greatly improved, even in complex via shapes which would otherwise suffer from uneven coverage and risk premature failure in service. Through a mixture of development and production data, this paper aims to highlight the benefits and robust performance of the new electroless Copper process for amSAP applications...

Publisher: Atotech

Atotech

One of the world's leading suppliers of integrated production systems, chemistry, equipment, know-how and service for electroplating, semiconductor and printed circuit board manufacturing.

Berlin, Germany

Reworking ALD Coatings

Sep 02, 2020 | ACI Technologies, Inc.

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a process of creating coatings on a molecular layer by layer basis. Using an iterated sequence of self-saturating deposition cycles that are self-terminating, a single layer can be deposited at a time, allowing for highly uniform films with complete conformality. The composition of the film typically used for coating printed wiring boards (PWBs) is a high alumina (Al2O3) sequential deposition of alumina and titania capped with a corrosion protective titanium aluminate layer, most notably ALD-Cap from Sundew Technologies, LLC. Rework is a process of restoring an electronics assembly to full functionality to prolong equipment life and reduce the amount of scrap. The process typically involves:...

Publisher: ACI Technologies, Inc.

Consultant / Service Provider, Standards Setting / Certification, Training Provider

ACI, an authorized IPC Training Center operating the National Electronics Manufacturing Center of Excellence providing analytical testing, manufacturing and repair services to the electronics industry.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Approaches to Overcome Nodules and Scratches on Wire Bondable Plating on PCBs

Aug 27, 2020 | Young K. Song and Vanja Bukva and Ryan Wong

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....

Publisher: Teledyne DALSA

Teledyne DALSA

Established in 1980 and acquired by Teledyne Technologies in 2011, Teledyne DALSA designs, develops, manufactures, and markets digital imaging products and solutions, in addition to providing semiconductor products and services.

Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

An Automatic Surface Defect Inspection System for Automobiles Using Machine Vision Methods

Aug 27, 2020 | Qinbang Zhou , Renwen Chen, Bin Huang, Chuan Liu, Jie Yu and Xiaoqing Yu

Automobile surface defects like scratches or dents occur during the process of manufacturing and cross-border transportation. This will affect consumers' first impression and the service life of the car itself. In most worldwide automobile industries, the inspection process is mainly performed by human vision, which is unstable and insufficient. The combination of artificial intelligence and the automobile industry shows promise nowadays. However, it is a challenge to inspect such defects in a computer system because of imbalanced illumination, specular highlight reflection, various reflection modes and limited defect features. This paper presents the design and implementation of a novel automatic inspection system (AIS) for automobile surface defects which are the located in or close to style lines, edges and handles. The system consists of image acquisition and image processing devices, operating in a closed environment and noncontact way with four LED light sources. Specifically, we use five plane-array Charge Coupled Device (CCD) cameras to collect images of the five sides of the automobile synchronously. Then the AIS extracts candidate defect regions from the vehicle body image by a multi-scale Hessian matrix fusion method. Finally, candidate defect regions are classified into pseudo-defects, dents and scratches by feature extraction (shape, size, statistics and divergence features) and a support vector machine algorithm. Experimental results demonstrate that automatic inspection system can effectively reduce false detection of pseudo-defects produced by image noise and achieve accuracies of 95.6% in dent defects and 97.1% in scratch defects, which is suitable for customs inspection of imported vehicles....

Publisher: Nanjing University

Nanjing University

Located in the ancient capital of Nanjing, Nanjing University and its predecessors have taken responsibility for the country and the nation during its development of over 100 years. Committed to the prosperity of the nation ...

Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

All-in-One, Wireless, Stretchable Hybrid Electronics for Smart, Connected, and Ambulatory Physiological Monitoring

Aug 19, 2020 | Yun-Soung Kim, Musa Mahmood, Yongkuk Lee, Nam Kyun Kim, Shinjae Kwon, Robert Herbert, Donghyun Kim, Hee Cheol Cho,* and Woon-Hong Yeo*

Commercially available health monitors rely on rigid electronic housing coupled with aggressive adhesives and conductive gels, causing discomfort and inducing skin damage. Also, research-level skin-wearable devices, while excelling in some aspects, fall short as concept-only presentations due to the fundamental challenges of active wireless communication and integration as a single device platform. Here, an all-in-one, wireless, stretchable hybrid electronics with key capabilities for real-time physiological monitoring, automatic detection of signal abnormality via deep-learning, and a long-range wireless connectivity (up to 15 m) is introduced. The strategic integration of thin-film electronic layers with hyperelastic elastomers allows the overall device to adhere and deform naturally with the human body while maintaining the functionalities of the on-board electronics. The stretchable electrodes with optimized structures for intimate skin contact are capable of generating clinical-grade electrocardiograms and accurate analysis of heart and respiratory rates while the motion sensor assesses physical activities. Implementation of convolutional neural networks for real-time physiological classifications demonstrates the feasibility of multifaceted analysis with a high clinical relevance. Finally, in vivo demonstrations with animals and human subjects in various scenarios reveal the versatility of the device as both a health monitor and a viable research tool....

Center for Board Assembly Research CBAR- advanced research on board assembly processes and systems

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

An Engineer's Guide to Testing and Evaluating The Performance of Desiccant Bags for the Protection of Critical Moisture Sensitive Devices

Aug 16, 2020 | Dan Jenkins

Not all desiccant bags are created or perform equally. Performance measures include: a) How long does desiccant last? b) How much are can be desiccated in a given area? c) How much moisture is retained, and or released back into the atmosphere? This article walks engineers through various test they can perform to determine efficacy. Additionally, the article highlight between adsorption vs adsorption....

Publisher: Steel Camel

Steel Camel

Super powerful expanding desiccant to keep boards & microelectronics moisture free.... Much different than Silica Sand Beads. Also supplier of corrosion prevention treatments that are alternatives to Conformal coatings.

Tampa, Florida, USA

DfR Solutions (acquired by ANSYS Inc)

Best Practices in Selecting Coatings and Pottings for Solar Panel Systems; Junction Boxes and Inverters

Aug 13, 2020 | Greg Caswell [DfR], Matt Perry [H.B. Fuller], Haichuan Zhao [H.B. Fuller], Ralph Velazquez [H.B. Fuller]

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....

Publisher: DfR Solutions (acquired by ANSYS Inc)

DfR Solutions has world-renowned expertise in applying the science of Reliability Physics to electrical and electronics technologies, and is a leading provider of quality, reliability, and durability (QRD) research and consulting

College Park,

Consultant / Service Provider

Additive Manufacturing for Next Generation Microwave Electronics and Antennas

Aug 13, 2020 | Xuanke He, Bijan K. Tehrani, Ryan A. Bahr, Manos Tentzeris

The paper will discuss the integration of 3D printing and inkjet printing fabrication technologies for microwave and millimeter-wave applications. With the recent advancements in 3D and inkjet printing technology, achieving resolution down to 50 um, it is feasible to fabricate electronic components and antennas operating in the millimeter-wave regime. The nature of additive manufacturing allows designers to create custom components and devices for specialized applications and provides an excellent and inexpensive way of prototyping electronic designs. The combination of multiple printable materials enables the vertical integration of conductive, dielectric, and semi-conductive materials which are the fundamental components of passive and active circuit elements such as inductors, capacitors, diodes, and transistors. Also, the on-demand manner of printing can eliminate the use of subtractive fabrication processes, which are necessary for conventional microfabrication processes such as photolithography, and drastically reduce the cost and material waste of fabrication....

Center for Board Assembly Research CBAR- advanced research on board assembly processes and systems

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

RELIABLE NICKEL-FREE SURFACE FINISH SOLUTION FOR HIGHFREQUENCY-HDI PCB APPLICATIONS

Aug 05, 2020 | 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. An innovation over traditional ENIG is a nickel-less approach involving a special nano-engineered barrier designed to coat copper contacts, finished with an outermost gold layer. In this paper, assemblies involving this nickel-less novel surface finish have been subjected to extended thermal exposure, then intermetallics analyses, contact/sheet resistance comparison after every reflow cycle (up to 6 reflow cycles) to assess the prevention of copper atoms diffusion into gold layer, solder ball pull and shear tests to evaluate the aging and long-term reliability of solder joints, and insertion loss testing to gauge whether this surface finish can be used for high-frequency, high density interconnect (HDI) applications....

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

Selection of PCB Materials for 5G

Aug 05, 2020 | John Coonrod

With the first 5G NR standard recently approved by the 3GPP at the end of 2017, many companies are racing to design 5G radio products that will demand wider bandwidths, higher frequencies, enhanced carrier aggregation and support of massive MIMO. AT&T and Samsung plan to launch 5G mobile services and Verizon plans to launch 5G Fixed Wireless Access in the US this year while South Korea will be demonstrating 5G at the upcoming Winter Olympics....

Publisher: Rogers Corporation

Rogers Corporation

Rogers' high performance laminates and bondplies are engineered to meet stringent customer requirements for 5G wireless communication, wired infrastructure, automotive radar sensors, aerospace, satellites and more.

Chandler, Arizona, USA

ALD of Alumina Ceramic Films for Hermetic Protection

Aug 05, 2020 | ACI Technologies, Inc.

A primary issue in electronics reliability for military applications is the ability to ensure long term operability in harsh, extreme environments. This requires more rigid standards, such as the MIL-STD-883 (Department of Defense Test Method Standard for Microcircuits), which commercial grade electronics typically do not satisfy. A solution commonly employed is to package the critical electronic components in hermetically sealed metal or ceramic enclosures which are costly and labor intensive. Not only are the components more expensive, but the assembly process is more difficult to automate, resulting in a substantial cost premium for military grade electronics....

Publisher: ACI Technologies, Inc.

Consultant / Service Provider, Standards Setting / Certification, Training Provider

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Aluminum Soldering - Product Guide

Jul 29, 2020 | Superior Flux and Mfg. Co.

Aluminum is a metal that it is hard to solder due to the high surface tension difference between it and molten solder alloy. This occurs because aluminum rapidly forms a tenacious oxide layer whenever it is exposed to oxygen in the air. The oxide layer is responsible for the high surface tension difference between the aluminum and the solder and impedes the solder from spreading evenly on an aluminum surface. There are hundreds of aluminum alloys available in the marketplace; it is important to identify the form of aluminum that is being soldered. Once this is done, an appropriate soldering technique can be chosen for soldering the specific aluminum alloy under consideration. Direct aluminum soldering eliminates using expensive plating techniques to prepare the aluminum surface for soldering....

Publisher: Superior Flux & Mfg. Co.

Superior Flux & Mfg. Co.

Manufactures environmentally friendly fluxes.

Cleveland, OH,

Surface Treatment Enabling Low Temperature Soldering to Aluminum

Jul 29, 2020 | Divyakant Kadiwala

The majority of flexible circuits are made by patterning copper metal that is laminated to a flexible substrate, which is usually polyimide film of varying thickness. An increasingly popular method to meet the need for lower cost circuitry is the use of aluminum on Polyester (Al-PET) substrates. This material is gaining popularity and has found wide use in RFID tags, low cost LED lighting and other single-layer circuits. However, both aluminum and PET have their own constraints and require special processing to make finished circuits. Aluminum is not easy to solder components to at low temperatures and PET cannot withstand high temperatures. Soldering to these materials requires either an additional surface treatment or the use of conductive epoxy to attach components. Surface treatment of aluminum includes the likes of Electroless Nickel Immersion Gold plating (ENIG), which is extensive wet-chemistry and cost-prohibitive for mass adoption. Conductive adhesives, including Anisotropic Conductive Paste (ACP), are another alternate to soldering components. These result in component substrate interfaces that are inferior to conventional solders in terms of performance and reliability. An advanced surface treatment technology will be presented that addresses all these constraints. Once applied on Aluminum surfaces using conventional printing techniques such as screen, stencil, etc., it is cured thermally in a convection oven at low temperatures. This surface treatment is non-conductive. To attach a component, a solder bump on the component or solder printed on the treated pad is needed before placing the component. The Aluminum circuit will pass through a reflow oven, as is commonly done in PCB manufacturing. This allows for the formation of a true metal to metal bond between the solder and the aluminum on the pads. This process paves the way for large scale, low cost manufacturing of Al-PET circuits. We will also discuss details of the process used to make functional aluminum circuits, study the resultant solder-aluminum bond, shear results and SEM/ EDS analysis....

Publisher: Averatek Corporation

Averatek Corporation

Santa Clara, California, USA

Consultant / Service Provider, Manufacturer

Impact of Assembly Cycles on Copper Wrap Plating

Jul 22, 2020 | Hardeep Heer, Ryan Wong, et al

The PWB industry needs to complete reliability testing in order to define the minimum copper wrap plating thickness requirement for confirming the reliability of PTH structures. Predicting reliability must ensure that the failure mechanism is demonstrated as a wear-out failure mode because a plating wrap failure is unpredictable. The purpose of this study was to quantify the effects of various copper wrap plating thicknesses through IST testing followed by micro sectioning to determine the failure mechanism and identify the minimum copper wrap thickness required for a reliable PWB. Minimum copper wrap plating thickness has become an even a bigger concern since designers started designing HDI products with buried vias, microvias and through filled vias all in one design. PWBs go through multiple plating cycles requiring planarization after each plating cycle to keep the surface copper to a manageable thickness for etching. The companies started a project to study the relationship between Copper wrap plating thickness and via reliability. The project had two phases. This paper will present findings from both Phase 1 and Phase 2....

Publisher: Firan Technology Group

Firan Technology Group

FTG is a leading North American manufacturer of high technology printed circuit boards and precision illuminated display systems.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Soft, Wireless Periocular Wearable Electronics For Real-Time Detection Of Eye Vergence In A Virtual Reality Toward Mobile Eye Therapies

Jul 22, 2020 | Saswat Mishra et al

Recent advancements in electronic packaging and image processing techniques have opened the possibility for optics-based portable eye tracking approaches, but technical and safety hurdles limit safe implementation toward wearable applications. Here, we introduce a fully wearable, wireless soft electronic system that offers a portable, highly sensitive tracking of eye movements (vergence) via the combination of skin-conformal sensors and a virtual reality system. Advancement of material processing and printing technologies based on aerosol jet printing enables reliable manufacturing of skin-like sensors, while the flexible hybrid circuit based on elastomer and chip integration allows comfortable integration with a user's head. Analytical and computational study of a data classification algorithm provides a highly accurate tool for real-time detection and classification of ocular motions. In vivo demonstration with 14 human subjects captures the potential of the wearable electronics as a portable therapy system, whose minimized form factor facilitates seamless interplay with traditional wearable hardware....

Center for Board Assembly Research CBAR- advanced research on board assembly processes and systems

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Würth Elektronik GmbH & Co. KG

Via Filling Applications in Practice

Jul 15, 2020 | Stefan Keller

Via Filling • Through Hole Vias - IPC-4761 – Plugging – Filling – Filled & Capped • MicroviaFilling and Stacked Vias...

Publisher: Würth Elektronik GmbH & Co. KG

We produce circuit boards from your specifications in various designs.

Niedernhall, Germany

Consultant / Service Provider, Manufacturer

Via In Pad - Conductive Fill or Non-Conductive Fill?

Jul 15, 2020 | Tech Talk for Techies

In the early 2000s the first fine-pitch ball grid array devices became popular with designers looking to pack as much horsepower into as small a space as possible. "Smaller is better" became the rule and with that the mechanical drilling world became severely impacted by available drill bit sizes, aspect ratios, and plating methodologies. First of all, the diameter of the drill needed to be in the 0.006" or smaller range due to the reduction of pad size and spacing pitch. Secondly, the aspect ratio (depth to diameter) became limited by drill flute length, positional accuracy, rigidity of the tools (to prevent breakage), and the throwing power of acid copper plating systems. And lastly, the plating needed to close up the hole as much as possible, which led to problems with voiding, incomplete fill, and gas/solution entrapment....

Publisher: Advanced Circuits

Advanced Circuits

One-Stop Solution for PCB & Prototype Assembly Expanded PCB manufacturing capabilities to support advanced designs with demanding requirements including laser-drilled microvias, cavity boards, heavy copper up to 20 oz., via-in-pad

Aurora, Colorado, USA

Consultant / Service Provider, Manufacturer, Training Provider

Creating Reusable Manufacturing Tests for High-Speed I/O with Synthetic Instruments

Jul 08, 2020 | Louis Y. Ungar, Neil G. Jacobson, T.M. Mak

There is a compelling need for functional testing of high-speed input/output signals on circuit boards ranging from 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) to several hundred Gbps. While manufacturing tests such as Automatic Optical Inspection (AOI) and In-Circuit Test (ICT) are useful in identifying catastrophic defects, most high-speed signals require more scrutiny for failure modes that arise due to high-speed conditions, such as jitter. Functional ATE is seldom fast enough to measure high-speed signals and interpret results automatically. Additionally, to measure these adverse effects it is necessary to have the tester connections very close to the unit under test (UUT) as lead wires connecting the instruments can distort the signal. The solution we describe here involves the use of a field programmable gate array (FPGA) to implement the test instrument called a synthetic instrument (SI). SIs can be designed using VHDL or Verilog descriptions and "synthesized" into an FPGA. A variety of general-purpose instruments, such as signal generators, voltmeters, waveform analyzers can thus be synthesized, but the FPGA approach need not be limited to instruments with traditional instrument equivalents. Rather, more complex and peculiar test functions that pertain to high-speed I/O applications, such as bit error rate tests, SerDes tests, even USB 3.0 (running at 5 Gbps) protocol tests can be programmed and synthesized within an FPGA. By using specific-purpose test mechanisms for high-speed I/O the test engineer can reduce test development time. The synthetic instruments as well as the tests themselves can find applications in several UUTs. In some cases, the same test can be reused without any alteration. For example, a USB 3.0 bus is ubiquitous, and a test aimed at fault detection and diagnoses can be used as part of the test of any UUT that uses this bus. Additionally, parts of the test set may be reused for testing another high-speed I/O. It is reasonable to utilize some of the test routines used in a USB 3.0 test, in the development of a USB 3.1 (running at 10 Gbps), even if the latter has substantial differences in protocol. Many of the SI developed for one protocol can be reused as is, while other SIs may need to undergo modifications before reuse. The modifications will likely take less time and effort than starting from scratch. This paper illustrates an example of high-speed I/O testing, generalizes failure modes that are likely to occur in high-speed I/O, and offers a strategy for testing them with SIs within FPGAs. This strategy offers several advantages besides reusability, including tester proximity to the UUT, test modularization, standardization approaching an ATE-agnostic test development process, overcoming physical limitations of general-purpose test instruments, and utilization of specific-purpose test instruments. Additionally, test instrument obsolescence can be overcome by upgrading to ever-faster and larger FPGAs without losing any previously developed design effort. With SIs and tests scalable and upward compatible, the test engineer need not start test development for high-speed I/O from scratch, which will substantially reduce time and effort....

Publisher: A.T.E. Solutions, Inc.

A.T.E. Solutions, Inc.

The leading Test, ATE and Testability consulting and educational firm, offering various test related courses. Maintains the BestTest Directory, a test community knowledge base. Publishes The BestTest eNewsletter.

Los Angeles, California, USA

Using Rheology Measurement As A Potentially Predictive Tool For Solder Paste Transfer Efficiency And Print Volume Consistency

Jul 02, 2020 | Mitch Holtzer, Karen Tellefsen and Westin Bent

Industry standards such as J-STD-005 and JIS Z 3284-1994 call for the use of viscosity measurement(s) as a quality assurance test method for solder paste. Almost all solder paste produced and sold use a viscosity range at a single shear rate as part of the pass-fail criteria for shipment and customer acceptance respectively. As had been reported many times, an estimated 80% of the defects associated with the surface mount technology process involve defects created during the printing process. Viscosity at a single shear rate could predict a fatal flaw in the printability of a solder paste sample. However, false positive single shear rate viscosity readings are not unknown....

Publisher: Alpha Assembly Solutions

Alpha Assembly Solutions

Alpha Assembly Solutions is a world leader in the development, manufacturing, and sales of innovative materials used in the assembly electronics, industrial joining and Photo Voltaic market places.

South Plainfield, New Jersey, USA

Holland Shielding Systems BV

101 EMI Shielding Tips and Tricks

Jul 02, 2020 | Holland Shielding Systems BV

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)...

Publisher: Holland Shielding Systems BV

Worldwide leading manufacturer of EMC (electromagnetic compatibility), EMI (electromagnetic interference), RFI (radio frequency interference), & EMP (electromagnetic pulse) shielding solutions. Our EMC experts will work ...

Dordrecht, Netherlands

A PROCEDURE TO DETERMINE HEAD-IN-PILLOW DEFECT AND ANALYSIS OF CONTRIBUTING FACTORS

Jul 02, 2020 | Ranjit Pandher, Rahul Raut, Michael Liberatore, Navendra Jodhan, and Karen Tellefsen

Head-in-Pillow (HIP) defects are a growing concern in the electronics industry. These defects are usually believed to be the result of several factors, individually or in combination. Some of the major contributing factors include: surface quality of the BGA spheres, activity of the paste flux, improper placement / misalignment of the components, a non-optimal reflow profile, and warpage of the components. To understand the role of each of these factors in producing head-in-pillow defects and to find ways to mitigate them, we have developed two in-house tests....

Publisher: Cookson Electronics

Cookson Electronics

Leading materials science company that provides high performance materials, chemistry and technology solutions to the electronics and surface finishing industries worldwide.

Lakeville, Minnesota, USA

Lead-Free Risk Mitigation -- A Case Study

Jul 01, 2020 | ACI Technologies, Inc.

A company approached ACI Technologies (ACI) for assistance with a new product that was about to undergo its initial proof-of-concept prototype build. This product was an item that was being furnished to the Department of Defense for a program designed to increase the technical capabilities of computer equipment issued to the war fighter. The requirements for this item specified the use of tin-lead solder during assembly of production units. One of the main responsibilities for ACI during this project was to assist the client in mitigating the risk introduced using commercial off-the-shelf materials that may be lead-free....

Publisher: ACI Technologies, Inc.

Consultant / Service Provider, Standards Setting / Certification, Training Provider

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Using Metal Core Printed Circuit Board (MCPCB) as a Solution for Thermal Management

Jun 19, 2020 | Winco K.C. Yung, PhD

The designs of electronic devices and systems are being continuously improved by becoming smaller in size and faster in communication speed. The potential risk associated with these specific design improvements will be an increase in power density and, consequently, a greater risk of thermal problems and failures. At the same time, the prevailing use of circuit boards integrated with power devices such as motor controllers and drivers, light-emitting diode (LED) lighting modules, power supplies, and amplifiers, and regulators for TV, etc., drive to the use of a proper thermal management system while designing these kinds of printed circuit board (PCB)....

Publisher: Hong Kong Polytechnic University [The]

Hong Kong Polytechnic University [The]

With 80 years of proud tradition, PolyU is a world-class research university, ranking among the world's top 100 institutions. Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is a home for educating thinkers, communicators, and discovers.

Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Consultant / Service Provider

COVID-19 - Managing Supply Chain Risk and Disruption

Jun 12, 2020 | Jim Kilpatrick and Lee Barter

Responding to the immediate challenge While COVID-19 may be the catalyst for companies to revisit their global supply chain strategy and accelerate the adoption of Digital Supply Network models and capabilities, short-term actions need to be made to respond to the immediate challenge....

Publisher: Deloitte

Deloitte

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, commonly referred to as Deloitte, is a multinational professional services network. Deloitte is one of the "Big Four" accounting organizations and the largest professional services network in the

New York, New York, USA

Smart and Connected Bioelectronics for Seamless Health Monitoring and Persistent Human-Machine Interfaces

Jun 10, 2020 | Yun-Soung Kim and Woon-Hong Yeo

Recent advancement of flexible wearable electronics allows significant enhancement of portable, continuous health monitoring and persistent human-machine interfaces. Enabled by flexible electronic systems, smart and connected bioelectronics are accelerating the integration of innovative information science and engineering strategies, ultimately driving the rapid transformation of healthcare and medicine. Recent progress in the development and engineering of soft materials has provided various opportunities to design different types of mechanically deformable systems towards smart and connected bioelectronics....

Center for Board Assembly Research CBAR- advanced research on board assembly processes and systems

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Lead-Free Control Plan

Jun 02, 2020 | ACI Technologies, Inc.

A commercial systems manufacturer working on a major defense program contacted the Helpline for urgent assistance with an issue of failed parts during reliability testing. They were attempting to incorporate commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) computer-related hardware into a battlefield system and were experiencing reliability issues. It was noted that the parts were labeled by the vendor as "compliant to military (or MIL) standards" but not clearly identified as tin-lead or lead-free. ACI Technologies has supported a number of customers with lead-free issues and we assisted the customer in developing a short term and long-term solution to their problem....

Publisher: ACI Technologies, Inc.

Consultant / Service Provider, Standards Setting / Certification, Training Provider

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

7 Benefits of Choosing Professional PCB Manufacturers and Assemblers

May 28, 2020 | Allen

Properly functioning printed circuit boards are essential for both manufacturers of electronic devices and also the developers if the overall intent is for the electronic device to function at high capacity. From designing the schematics of the printed circuit boards to testing the products, there is no process of PCB manufacturing and/or assembly that can be taken for granted. While it's true that you can attempt this process on your own, especially if you are in possession of a large scale manufacturing facility, here are a few reasons why it would be a better option to opt for a professional company for PCB manufacturing and assembly. 1. Variety A professional printed circuit boards manufacturing company will be able to offer you a huge variety. You will be able to choose from rigid, flexible, or rigid-flex. What's more, the PCBs will be customized as per the need of the application. 2. Quality Professional and good printed circuit board manufacturing and assembling companies might cost you just a little bit extra but they also guarantee to produce the best results and offer very high quality products. In the end, it is quality that will make the difference between mediocre and a high functioning PCB. 3. Cost Efficiency Since you don't have to waste time or resources on buying equipment to produce the best PCBs or hiring staff to oversee the process, you can actually end up saving money. You can even save on PCB assembly cost by hiring this job out. All you have to do is to negotiate the quote and sit back, relax, and wait for the PCBs to be delivered to you. 4. Eliminate Design Flaws Design engineers hired by PCB manufacturing and assembling companies use the best graphic software to develop and test the schematics of PCBs. This increases the chances of eliminating flaws in the printed circuit boards during the initial design phase. 5. Multilayer PCB Manufacturing and Assembly The process of manufacturing and assembling multilayer PCBs is as intricate as it sounds. All processes of manufacturing and assembling multilayer PCBs require the best machines and trained technicians to pass the quality and functionality tests. Manufacturing and assembling multilayer printed circuit boards yourself is going to cost you a lot. Even the smallest of mistakes during the manufacturing and assembling process might render the entire PCB entirely useless. 6. Save Time PCBs are just a single part of the electronic device. To complete the device, many more pieces would be needed. The manufacturers of the electronic device can hire out the job of manufacturing or assembling the PCBs, which will mean they will have one less chore to do. This, in turn, will save you a lot of time which could be spent on elevating the quality of the product. 7. Experience Experience makes all the difference. It is what makes the name of any company reliable in the market. Long experience of manufacturing and assembling printed circuit boards makes the company well versed in the process and it also makes it an expert to identify design, manufacturing, assembling, and testing needs of certain applications We, at Asia Pacific Circuits, offer these benefits and so much more. For quick turn PCB assembly, PCB manufacturing and PCB designing, you can contact us anytime....

Publisher: Asia Pacific Circuits Co., Ltd

Asia Pacific Circuits Co., Ltd

Asia Pacific Circuits is one of Asia's leading Electronic Manufacturing Services companies, committed to providing high quality PCB and PCBA Contract Electronics Manufacturing Services.

Shenzhen, China

Head-on-Pillow Defect Detection – X-ray Inspection Limitations

May 26, 2020 | Lars Bruno and Benny Gustafson

Both the number and the variants of Ball Grid Array packages (BGAs) are tending to increase on network Printed Board Assemblies (PBAs)with sizes ranging from a few mm die size Wafer Level Packages (WLPs) with low ball count up to large multi-die System-in-Package (SiP) BGAs with 60-70 mm side lengths and thousands of I/Os....

Publisher: Ericsson AB

Ericsson AB

Ericsson AB manufactures and markets radio and television communication equipment. The company was formerly known as Ericsson Radio Systems AB. Ericsson AB (Sweden) operates as a subsidiary of Ericsson.

Stockholm, Sweden

1CLICKSMT Conformal Coating System -- Solution for photoelectric devices assembly

May 21, 2020 | 1clicksmt

1CLICKSMT has recently installed a conformal coating line for a photoelectric devices manufacturer in Thailand....

Manufacturer of selective soldering machine, soldering robot, reflow oven, wave solder machine, pcb handling machine. Distributing for Turnkey line include SMT line, conformal coating lines, through hole line.

Dongguan City, China

Pad Cratering

May 08, 2020 | ACI Technologies, Inc.

A customer contacted the Helpline to perform analysis on a lead-free assembly which exhibited intermittent functionality. The lead-free assembly exhibiting intermittent functionality when pressure was applied to the ball grid array (BGA) packages. Industrial adaptation of a Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) compliant solder standard has created a new host of failure modes observed in lead-free assemblies. Pad cratering occurs when fractures propagate along the epoxy resin layer on the underside of the BGA connecting pads. While originating from process, design, and end use conditions, it is the combination of a rigid lead-free solder with inflexible printed circuit board (PCB) laminates that has advanced the prevalence of this condition. Pad cratering is simply the result of mechanical stress exceeding material limitations....

Publisher: ACI Technologies, Inc.

Consultant / Service Provider, Standards Setting / Certification, Training Provider

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Solutions for Selective Soldering of High Thermal Mass and Fine-Pitch Components

May 07, 2020 | Bob Klenke, Technical Consultant, Nordson SELECT

The selective soldering process 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 optimum quality control is maintained. Several high thermal mass components can place demands on the selective soldering process, while the use of specialized solder fixtures and/or pallets often places an 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 due to their beryllium copper termination pins....

Publisher: SELECT Products | Nordson Electronics Solutions

SELECT Products | Nordson Electronics Solutions

Selective Soldering Equipment and Solutions for Printed Circuit Board Assembly

Carlsbad, California, USA

1CLICKSMT Odd form Component inserting System -- Solution for security products assembly

Apr 29, 2020 | 1Clicksmt

1CLICKSMT has recently installed a odd form component inserting and wave soldering line for a security products manufacturer....

Dongguan City, China

University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

Flexible Bioelectronics For Physiological Signals Sensing And Disease Treatment

Apr 22, 2020 | Guang Yao, Chenhui Yin, Qian Wang, Tianyao Zhang, Sihong Chen, Chang Lu, Taisong Pan, Min Gao, Yuan Lin

Flexible bioelectronics, including wearable and implantable electronics, have revolutionized the way of human-machine interaction due to the fact that they can provide natural and seamless interactions with humans and keep stable and durable at strained states. As sensor elements or biomimetic actuators, flexible bioelectronics can dynamically sense and monitor physiological signals, reveal real-time physical health information and provide timely precise stimulations or treatments. Thus, the flexible bioelectronics are playing increasingly important roles in human-health monitoring and disease treatment, which will significantly change the future of healthcare as well as our relationships with electronics. This review summarizes recent major progress in the development of flexible substrates or encapsulation materials, sensors, circuits and energy-autonomous powers toward digital healthcare monitoring, emphasizing its role in biomedical applications in vivo and problems in practical applications. A future perspective into the challenges and opportunities in emerging flexible bioelectronics designs for the next-generation healthcare monitoring systems is also presented....

Publisher: University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

UESTC is a national key multidisciplinary university specialized in electronic engineering and information science and technology with a harmonious integration of science, engineering, management and liberal arts.

Chengdu, China

NEWS! Independent dual Z-axis selective soldering machine

Apr 16, 2020 | 1clicksmt

Based on the dual pot, we developed an independent dual z-axis control dual pot for FLEX-i2! There are 5 operation modes available with the independent dual Z axis: only solder pot1, only solder pot2, first solder pot 1 then solder pot2, first solder pot2 then solder pot1, solder pot1 and solder pot2 together. In specific applications, solder pot1 can be selected with large nozzle soldering heat-absorbing large parts, solder pot2 use small nozzle soldering heat-absorbing small parts, so as to achieve both soldering effect and productivity. Also can use same nozzle, dual axis simultaneously solder two same plate to increase productivity. To get the maximum flexibility and productivity! FLEX-i2 is a compact in line selective soldering machine, equipped with high precision servo control system, jet valve, live-on camera, upper preheating etc, which can provide a high flexibility and efficiency soldering process. The maximum soldering size can reach 420mm*490mm!...

Dongguan City, China

Reliable Selective Soldering For High Volume Assemblies

Apr 14, 2020 | Gerjan Diepstraten

The number of through hole connections on a circuit assembly are decreasing with the drive toward miniaturization. When these assemblies are manufactured in high volumes the most convenient method is selective soldering. Although selective soldering is very well introduced in automotive and industrial applications it can also be a very efficient method to solder high volume consumer products....

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

Stencil Printing 008004/0201 Aperture Components

Apr 14, 2020 | Edward C. Nauss, Michael Butler

This paper will focus on the application requirements of solder printing small aperture designs, concentrating on 008004 (inch) / 0201 (metric) size components, and the results of a design of experiment printing these challenging apertures. As Moore's law continues to be applied to component miniaturization, the next installment of reduced packaging has arrived in the form of the 008004/0201 for resistors and capacitors. Component size roughly the size of a grain of sand presents specific challenges to the solder printing process. To address these challenges, each aspect of the printing process will need be examined. This includes essential machine requirements, including correct squeegee blades, tooling support, and calibrations, to meet the demanding specifications. The correct match and design of materials will be addressed, focusing on the stencil and substrate design along with solder paste and cleaning solvent requirements. A design of experiment will be reviewed that applies the machine and materials discussed, including the printer and Solder Paste Inspection (SPI) setup and the specific machine parameters used. The results of these DOE's will then be closely examined....

Publisher: ITW EAE

ITW EAE

Lakeville, Minnesota, USA

Selective Solder Fine Pitch Components On High Thermal Mass Assembly

Apr 14, 2020 | Gerjan Diepstraten

The number of through-hole components on printed circuit boards (PCB) has declined significantly over the last decade. Miniaturization in electronics has resulted in less THT (through-hole technology) and leads with a finer pitch. For this reason, the soldering of these components has also changed from wave soldering to Point-to-point selective soldering. Soldering these small, fine-pitch components is a challenge when surface mount components (SMD) are positioned very close to THT components on the PCB layout. This study, done in cooperation with a large automotive EMS customer, defines the process windows for through-hole technology for fine-pitch components. It determines what is feasible to solder and defines layout design parameter that make soldering possible with SMD areas and other components on the assembly....

Publisher: ITW EAE

ITW EAE

Lakeville, Minnesota, USA

Washington State Magazine

Soft Material-Enabled, Flexible Hybrid Electronics for Medicine, Healthcare, and Human-Machine Interfaces

Apr 08, 2020 | Robert Herbert, Jong-Hoon Kim, Yun Soung Kim, HyeMoon Lee,Woon-Hong Yeo

Flexible hybrid electronics (FHE), designed in wearable and implantable configurations, have enormous applications in advanced healthcare, rapid disease diagnostics, and persistent human-machine interfaces. Soft, contoured geometries and time-dynamic deformation of the targeted tissues require high flexibility and stretchability of the integrated bioelectronics. Recent progress in developing and engineering soft materials has provided a unique opportunity to design various types of mechanically compliant and deformable systems. Here, we summarize the required properties of soft materials and their characteristics for configuring sensing and substrate components in wearable and implantable devices and systems. Details of functionality and sensitivity of the recently developed FHE are discussed with the application areas in medicine, healthcare, and machine interactions. This review concludes with a discussion on limitations of current materials, key requirements for next generation materials, and new application areas....

Publisher: Washington State Magazine

WSM is published by the Board of Regents of Washington State University.

Pullman, Washington, USA

Low Temperature Soldering Using SN-BI Alloys

Apr 01, 2020 | Morgana Ribas, Ph.D., Anil Kumar, Divya Kosuri, Raghu R. Rangaraju, Pritha Choudhury, Ph.D., Suresh Telu, Ph.D., Siuli Sarkar, Ph.D.

Low temperature solder alloys are preferred for the assembly of temperature-sensitive components and substrates. The alloys in this category are required to reflow between 170 and 200oC soldering temperatures. Lower soldering temperatures result in lower thermal stresses and defects, such as warping during assembly, and permit use of lower cost substrates. Sn-Bi alloys have lower melting temperatures, but some of its performance drawbacks can be seen as deterrent for its use in electronics devices.Here we show that non-eutectic Sn-Bi alloys can be used to improve these properties and further align them with the electronics industry specific needs. The physical properties and drop shock performance of various alloys are evaluated, and their results are analysed in terms of the alloy composition, including Bi content and alloying additions....

Publisher: Alpha Assembly Solutions

Alpha Assembly Solutions

Alpha Assembly Solutions is a world leader in the development, manufacturing, and sales of innovative materials used in the assembly electronics, industrial joining and Photo Voltaic market places.

South Plainfield, New Jersey, USA

Product Design and Early Manufacturing Involvement

Apr 01, 2020 | ACI Technologies, Inc.

It happens much too often; manufacturing engineers are brought into a NEW product design phase at the very end of a design and are asked to provide input that should have been provided much earlier. One needs to understand how the circuit board design and quality of the manufacturing process not only effects assembly yield and product reliability, but how it could also affect the results of any testing that is done to circuit packs during prototyping. It is important that any circuit pack (including prototypes) that will be used in reliability, performance and functional testing be designed with the proper features and assembled with a manufacturing process that has been developed to produce a high-quality assembly. If not, the results of any testing might not represent the actual characteristics of the design and provide miss-guidance to future changes....

Publisher: ACI Technologies, Inc.

Consultant / Service Provider, Standards Setting / Certification, Training Provider

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1Click SMT Made Successful Installation and Training For Thai Customer!

Apr 01, 2020 | 1Clicksmt

Recently, our engineer Peter went to Thailand to provide after-sales support for our customer. In these days, we had installed a SC-900 selective coating line . Moreover, Peter gave patience and meticulous training to their staff, make sure they master the machine usage .Customer and agent are satisfied with our support and give their affirmation to us. SC-900 is a high Performance 4 axis Selective Coating Machine ,which is equipped with high precision servo control system , various valves , CCD system ,material tank weight detecting system etc, which can provide a high efficiency conformal coating process .The maximum coating size can reach 400mm*450mm with SC-900. So far, we've installed several dozen conformal coating line all over the world. It have excellent stability and performance. Check below link to get more info!...

Dongguan City, China

New High-Speed 3D Surface Imaging Technology in Electronics Manufacturing Applications

Mar 26, 2020 | Juha Saily

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....

Publisher: FocalSpec, Inc.

FocalSpec, Inc.

Offers bare sensors for system integration, offline benchtop tools and online scanners for metrology and inspection applications.

Santa Clara, California, USA