Electronics Manufacturing Technical Articles

Industry 4.0 in USA: Risk

Apr 28, 2017 | Don Fitchett

A major drawback to Industry 4.0 that few write about is maintenance of an industry 4.0 plant. The maintenance aspect is a much greater and immediate drawback than even the commonly known major concern of security, and the lesser concern of system integration standards. Maintenance of 4.0 systems has, and will continue to result in related huge increases in process downtime. The barriers to overcoming the maintenance/downtime drawbacks of a 4.0 system are almost insurmountable. Has the Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition (SMLC) addressed the maintenance paradox? “... model also demands the ability to calculate and manage risk and uncertainty within very different operating structures. ..” Continue reading in pdf or for even more see and share http://bin95.com/Industry40inUSA.htm ...

Publisher: Business Industrial Network

Material Effects of Laser Energy When Processing Circuit Board Substrates during Depaneling

Apr 27, 2017 | Ahne Oosterhof, Eastwood Consulting

Using modern laser systems for the depanelization of circuit boards can create some challenges for the production engineer when it is compared to traditional mechanical singulation methods. Understanding the effects of the laser energy to the substrate material properly is essential in order to take advantage of the technology without creating unintended side effects.

This paper presents an in-depth analysis of the various laser system operating parameters that were performed to determine the resulting substrate material temperature changes. A theoretical model was developed and compared to actual measurements. The investigation includes how the temperature increase resulting from laser energy during depaneling affects the properties of the PCB substrate, which varies from no measurable change to a lowering of the surface resistance of the cut wall depending on the cutting parameters....

Publisher: LPKF Laser & Electronics

A Guide to Successful Printed Circuit Board Documentation

Apr 24, 2017 | Tuan Tran

The process of taking a design from schematic to actual working prototype is a complex one, however, and proper documentation is the best way to simplify it....

Publisher: Power Design Services

IST AG - Focus on Flow Sensors

Apr 20, 2017 | Innovative Sensor Technology

IST AG thin film mass flow sensors offer solutions for a wide variety of flow applications. The thin film and membrane technologies incorporate highly accurate temperature sensors and heaters as core elements of the sensors. IST AGs flow sensors are applicable in gas (liquids upon request), have an operating temperature range of -30 °C to +450 °C, and can measure low rate and direction from 0.0001 m/s (microflowSens) to 100 m/s (respectively from 1 mL/min to 10 L/min). In addition to measuring flow rates, our sensors can detect the presence of a liquid, biofilm or bubbles as well as indicate liquid level. Development channels guarantee the best possible adaptation of our sensors, whether in terms of dynamic range, response time, directional detection or ambient conditions. ...

Publisher: Innovative Sensor Technology, USA Division

High Throw Electroless Copper - Enabling new Opportunities for IC Substrates and HDI Manufacturing

Apr 20, 2017 | Tobias Sponholz, Lars-Eric Pribyl, Frank Brüning, Robin Taylor

The one constant in electronics manufacturing is change. Moore's Law, which successfully predicted a rate of change at which transistor counts doubled on Integrated Circuits (ICs) at lower cost for decades, is ceding to be an appropriate prediction tool. Increasing technical and economic requirements, deriving from the semiconductor environment, are cascaded down to the printed circuit and in particular to the IC substrate manufacturers. This is both a challenge and an opportunity for IC Substrate manufacturers, when dealing with the demands of the packaging market. (...)

This paper introduces two new electroless copper baths developed for IC substrates manufacturing based on Semi Additive Process (SAP) technology (hereafter referred to as E'less Copper IC) and HDI production (hereafter referred to as E'less Copper HDI) and optimized for high throw into BMVs. An introduction to reliable throwing power measurement methods based on scanning electron microscope (SEM) is given, followed by a compilation and discussion of key performance criteria for each application, namely throwing power, copper adhesion on the substrate, dry film adhesion and reliability....

Publisher: Atotech

Six Reasons to Invest in Product Prototypes Early and Often

Apr 15, 2017 | Tuan Tran

Few things are more exciting to manufacturers than new product ideas. New designs, engineering challenges and the ability to deliver a new user experience are all rewarding hallmarks of innovation. However, the road that separates conceptualization and commercialization is riddled with tight turns and obstacles. Fast, efficient prototyping is one of the best ways to prepare yourself for the journey....

Publisher: Power Design Services

WHERE RFID TAGS ARE USED

Apr 14, 2017 | catherine

RFID tags and labels have been used around in our life with rising trend, no matter where you go, RFID may used there. But someone still have such questions, where RFID tags are used? what are RFID tags used for? why use RFID tags? And where can I buy RFID tags? If you have such questions, congratulation! You come to the right place!...

A Study to Determine the Impact of Solder Powder Mesh Size and Stencil Technology Advancement on Deposition Volume when Printing Solder Paste

Apr 13, 2017 | Karl Seelig, Tim O'Neill

The drive to reduced size and increased functionality is a constant in the world of electronic devices. In order to achieve these goals, the industry has responded with ever-smaller devices and the equipment capable of handling these devices. The evolution of BGA packages and leadless devices is pushing existing technologies to the limit of current assembly techniques and materials.

As smaller components make their way into the mainstream PCB assembly market, PCB assemblers are reaching the limits of Type 3 solder paste, which is currently in use by most manufacturers.

The goal of this study is to determine the impact on solder volume deposition between Type 3, Type 4 and Type 5 SAC305 alloy powder in combination with stainless steel laser cut, electroformed and the emerging laser cut nano-coated stencils. Leadless QFN and μBGA components will be the focus of the test utilizing optimized aperture designs....

Publisher: AIM Solder

Kaphesion VSI Parylenes solution to Polyimide Adhesion

Apr 13, 2017 | Soraya Terrab

Parylene has been used for decades as a barrier layer to protect critical devices and components. The parylene deposition process typically requires an adhesion promotion step to make sure the parylene adheres well to the base substrate. Typical adhesion methods don't work well on Kapton and Polyamide, until VSI Parylene came up with a solution....

Publisher: VSI Parylene

Luceda Photonics Delivers a Silicon Photonics IC Solution in Tanner L-Edit.

Apr 06, 2017 | Wim Bogaerts, Pieter Dumon, Martin Fiers; Luceda Photonics, Jeff Miller; Mentor Graphics

Silicon photonics is an IC technology where data is transferred using light that is routed on the chip using optical waveguides (Figure 1). Silicon photonics is best known as a method to solve problems with high input/output bandwidth applications. For example, because of ever-growing bandwidth requirements in datacenters, the optical transmit and receive heads are being placed closer and closer to the board and the IC. But, designers also apply this technology to biosensors, medical diagnostics, and environmental monitoring. Regardless of the application, photonic ICs always need integration to electronic circuits and this results in unique challenges....

Publisher: Mentor Graphics