Technical Library | 2015-09-17 17:36:56.0
RoHS legislated restrictions on the materials used in electronics manufacture have imparted significant challenges on the electronics industry since their introduction in 2006. The greatest impacts have been felt by the mandated elimination of lead from electronic solder followed by the demand for the elimination of haloids from flame retardants used in traditional PCB laminates. In the years which have followed the electronics industry has been beset with a host of new challenges in its effort to comply. Failure mechanisms, both new and old, have surfaced which demand solution and the industry suppliers and manufacturing technologists have worked diligently to remedy those vexing faults through the development of a wide range of new materials and equipment for both board manufacture and assembly, along with modifications to the processes used in the manufacture and assembly of printed circuit boards.
Technical Library | 2021-07-06 21:24:59.0
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.
Technical Library | 2022-09-25 20:18:33.0
Printed circuit board (PCB) bending and/or flexing is an unavoidable phenomenon that is known to exist and is easily encountered during electronic board assembly processes. PCB bending and/or flexing is the fundamental source of tensile stress induced on the electronic components on the board assembly. For more brittle components, like ceramic-based electronic components, micro-cracks can be induced, which can eventually lead to a fatal failure of the components. For this reason, many standards organizations throughout the world specify the methods under which electronic board assemblies must be tested to ensure their robustness, sometimes as a pre-condition to more rigorous environmental tests such as thermal cycling or thermal shock.
Technical Library | 2021-11-03 17:05:39.0
Additively printed circuits provide advantages in reduced waste, rapid prototyping, and versatile flexible substrate choices relative to conventional circuit printing. Copper (Cu) based inks along with intense pulsed light (IPL) sintering can be used in additive circuit printing. However, IPL sintered Cu typically suffer from poor solderability due to high roughness and porosity. To address this, hybrid Cu ink which consists of Cu precursor/nanoparticle was formulated to seed Cu species and fill voids in the sintered structure. Nickel (Ni) electroplating was utilized to further improve surface solderability. Simulations were performed at various electroplating conditions and Cu cathode surface roughness using the multi-physics finite element method. By utilizing a mask during IPL sintering, conductivity was induced in exposed regions; this was utilized to achieve selective Ni-electroplating. Surface morphology and cross section analysis of the electrodes were observed through scanning electron microscopy and a 3D optical profilometer. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis was conducted to investigate changes in surface compositions. ASTM D3359 adhesion testing was performed to examine the adhesion between the electrode and substrate. Solder-electrode shear tests were investigated with a tensile tester to observe the shear strength between solder and electrodes. By utilizing Cu precursors and novel multifaceted approach of IPL sintering, a robust and solderable Ni electroplated conductive Cu printed electrode was achieved.
Technical Library | 2023-03-16 18:51:43.0
Conductive anodic filament (CAF) formation was first reported in 1976.1 This electrochemical failure mode of electronic substrates involves the growth of a copper containing filament subsurface along the epoxy-glass interface, from anode to cathode. Despite the projected lifetime reduction due to CAF, field failures were not identified in the 1980s. Recently, however, field failures of critical equipment have been reported.2 A thorough understanding of the nature of CAF is needed in order to prevent this catastrophic failure from affecting electronic assemblies in the future. Such an understanding requires a comprehensive evaluation of the factors that enhance CAF formation. These factors can be grouped into two types: (1) internal variables and (2) external influences. Internal variables include the composition of the circuit board material, and the conductor metallization and configuration (i.e. via to via, via to surface conductor or surface conductors to surface conductors). External influences can be due to (1) production and (2) storage and use. During production, the flux or hot air solder leveling (HASL) fluid choice, number and severity of temperature cycles, and the method of cleaning may influence CAF resistance. During storage and use, the principal concern is moisture uptake resulting from the ambient humidity. This paper will report on the relationship between these various factors and the formation of CAF. Specifically, we will explore the influences of printed wiring board (PWB) substrate choice as well as the influence of the soldering flux and HASL fluid choices. Due to the ever-increasing circuit density of electronic assemblies, CAF field failures are expected to increase unless careful attention is focused on material and processing choices.
Technical Library | 2018-10-18 15:41:45.0
One specific market space of interest to emerging printed electronics is In Mold Label (IML) technology. IML is used in many consumer products and white good applications. When combined with electronics, the In Mold Electronics (IME) adds compelling new product functionality. Many of these products have multi-dimensional features and therefore require thermoforming processes in order to prepare the labels before they are in-molded. While thermoforming is not a novel technique for IML, the addition of printed electronic functional traces is not well documented. There is little or no published work on printed circuit performance and design interactions in the thermoforming process that could inform improved IME product designs. A general full factorial Design of Experiments (DOE) was used to analyze the electrical performance of the conductive silver ink trace/polycarbonate substrate system. Variables of interest include trace width, height of draw, and radii of both top and bottom curvatures in the draw area. Thermoforming tooling inserts were fabricated for eight treatment combinations of these variables. Each sample has one control and two formed strips. Electrical measurements were taken of the printed traces on the polymer sheets pre- and post- forming with a custom fixture to evaluate the effect on resistance. The design parameters found to be significant were draw height and bottom radius, with increased draw and smaller bottom curvature radii both contributing to the circuits’ resistance degradation. Over the ranges evaluated, the top curvature radii had no effect on circuit resistance. Interactions were present, demonstrating that circuit and thermoforming design parameters need to be studied as a system. While significant insight impacting product development was captured further work will be executed to evaluate different ink and substrate material sets, process variables, and their role in IME.
Technical Library | 2016-06-16 15:29:31.0
Embedding components within the PC board structure is not a new concept. Until recently, however, most embedded component PC board applications adapted only passive elements. The early component forming processes relied on resistive inks and films to enable embedding of resistor and capacitors elements. Although these forming methods remain viable, many companies are choosing to place very thin discrete passive components and semiconductor die elements within the PC board layering structure. In addition to improving the products performance, companies have found that by reducing the component population on the PC board's surface, board level assembly is less complex and the PC board can be made smaller, The smaller substrate, even when more complex, often results in lower cost. Although size and cost reductions are significant attributes, the closer coupling of key elements can also contribute to improving functional performance.This paper focuses on six basic embedded component structure designs described in IPC-7092.
Technical Library | 2013-01-24 19:16:35.0
The electronics industry has mainly adopted the higher melting point Sn3Ag0.5Cu solder alloys for lead-free reflow soldering applications. For applications where temperature sensitive components and boards are used this has created a need to develop low melting point lead-free alloy solder pastes. Tin-bismuth and tin-bismuth-silver containing alloys were used to address the temperature issue with development done on Sn58Bi, Sn57.6Bi0.4Ag, Sn57Bi1Ag lead-free solder alloy pastes. Investigations included paste printing studies, reflow and wetting analysis on different substrates and board surface finishes and head-in-pillow paste performance in addition to paste-in-hole reflow tests. Voiding was also investigated on tin-bismuth and tin-bismuth-silver versus Sn3Ag0.5Cu soldered QFN/MLF/BTC components. Mechanical bond strength testing was also done comparing Sn58Bi, Sn37Pb and Sn3Ag0.5Cu soldered components. The results of the work are reported.
Technical Library | 2013-02-28 17:14:36.0
While it has long been known that the Cu6Sn5 intermetallic that plays a critical role in the reliability of solder joints made with tin-containing alloys on copper substrates exists in two different crystal forms over the temperature range to which electronics circuitry is exposed during assembly and service, it has only recently been recognized that the change from one form to the other has implications for solder joint reliability. (..) In this paper the authors report a study of the effect of cooling rates on Cu6Sn5 crystals. Cooling rates from 200°C ranged from 10°C/minute to 100°C/minute and the effect of isothermal ageing at intermediate temperatures was also studied. The extent of the phase transformation after each regime was determined using synchrotron X-ray diffraction. The findings have important implications for the manufacture of solder joints and their in-service performance... First published in the 2012 IPC APEX EXPO technical conference proceedings....
Technical Library | 2016-03-24 17:37:09.0
Today's Electronic Industry is changing at a high pace. The root causes are manifold. So world population is growing up to eight billions and gives new challenges in terms of urbanization, mobility and connectivity. Consequently, there will raise up a lot of new business models for the electronic industry. Connectivity will take a large influence on our lives. Concepts like Industry 4.0, internet of things, M2M communication, smart homes or communication in or to cars are growing up. All these applications are based on the same demanding requirement – a high amount of data and increased data transfer rate. These arguments bring up large challenges to the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) design and manufacturing.This paper investigates the impact of different PCB manufacturing technologies and their relation to their high frequency behavior. In the course of the paper a brief overview of PCB manufacturing capabilities is be presented. Moreover, signal losses in terms of frequency, design, manufacturing processes, and substrate materials are investigated. The aim of this paper is, to develop a concept to use materials in combination with optimized PCB manufacturing processes, which allows a significant reduction of losses and increased signal quality.
