Knowledge Hub

Your Gateway to Technical Knowledge Exchange for the Global Electronics Community

Explore our database of industry knowledge that fuels innovation, learning, and professional growth. Knowledge Hub is a collection of conference technical papers, webinars, presentations, on-demand video and more. You can search by author, title, keyword and type of content. You can also search for keywords and topics in the Tag field. Access to Knowledge Hub is reserved for members.

Fine Powder Solder Paste Applications for Semiconductor Packaging

Fine solder powder paste applications continue to grow as a cost effective solution to many semiconductor packaging needs. Applications for solder paste continue to evolve from the standard SMT .. read more

To be or not to be (before reflow): That is the question (in AOI)

Rarely do PCB manufacturers have the resources for purchasing an inspection machine for every stage of the manufacturing process. Typically,therefore,they have to decide whether to deploy AOI p .. read more

Solder Paste Inspection Technologies: 2D-3D Correlation

It is understood that the solder paste printing process presents far more opportunities for defects than any of the other individual Surface Mount Technology (SMT) Manufacturing Processes. In a .. read more

Results from 2007 Industry Defect Level and Test Effectiveness Studies

To select an optimal test strategy,good knowledge of defect levels and test effectiveness are two very important factors to include. In 1999 an industry defect level study was completed and was .. read more

Prisma - A Novel PCB Engineering Software

Prisma is a PCB-Engineering software developed by DYCONEX AG,Switzerland (manufacturer of PCBs). Compared to existing solutions on the market it allows for broad standardization of the process .. read more

Standardized Traceability Ratings for Manufacturing

Traceability and process control are no longer requirements reserved for manufacturers in regulatory or specific market segments. Today,all manufacturers who aspire to achieve or to maintain a .. read more

Tools & Methods for Lean Production Management in EA

Lean manufacturing is far from a new concept,and many within the Electronics Assembly (EA) industry are already familiar with the principles and concepts behind it. However,in spite of widespre .. read more

Development of Micro Drill Bit for Drilling Environment-Friendly PCBs

Currently environment-friendly PCBs (including lead-free assembly compatible PCB and halogen-free PCB) become popular in PCB industry to meet the requirements of environmental protection. Corre .. read more

Processing High Density Interconnects: Selecting the Best Option for Via Fill Applications

With the increased use of High Density Interconnects in printed wiring boards (PWB) there is a critical need for reliable methods to completely fill through hole and blind vias. Complete fillin .. read more

Uniformity of Nickel Plating Thickness in High Aspect Ratio Plated Through Holes

Nickel plating is often used on PWBs to increase wear resistance and to prevent diffusion between copper and other plated metals. The nickel plating is often present in through holes as well as .. read more

Design Environment ROI: How Design Teams On a Budget Can Build a Best in Class Design Environment

Design workflow is the core to your design team?s competitive advantage; it?s the conduit by which you turn your team?s expertise and ideas into manufacturable products. And yet,all engineering .. read more

Calculating Total Cost of Ownership in Electronics Manufacturing

Total cost of ownership is a financial estimate designed to help consumers and enterprise managers assess direct and indirect costs commonly related to software or hardware. It is a form of ful .. read more

Lean Kitting: A Case Study

Kitting is the first step in printed circuit board assembly. It is initiated well in advance of actual production start to be able to prepare and deliver the kit on time. Kitting involves gathe .. read more

Broadband Printing – A Paradigm

The SMT industry is going through a challenging phase of assembling miniature components,such as micro BGA,0.3mm CSP and 01005 passives onto Printed Circuit Boards (PCB). This effort is primari .. read more

A Study of 0201’s and Tombstoning in Lead-Free Systems,Phase II Comparison of Final Finishes and Solder Paste Formulations

Tombstoning,the phenomena where a chip component stands up on one end during the reflow cycle,is well-documented and understood in tin-lead systems. It is reported to occur more frequently in l .. read more

Base Material Consideration for High Speed Printed Circuit Boards

Over the years,the EU RoHS restriction and lead-free capability is the hottest environmental protection subject. In technology trends,signal integrity performance gets more critical based upon .. read more

BGA and QFN Repair Process

Repairing a PCB with a defective BGA,uBGA,or QFN is often a difficult and tedious task. The conventional method is to remove the defective device from the PCB; clean the pads on the PCB,then pr .. read more

Reducing Defects in Hand Soldering Operations

Wire soldering operations are still widely accepted in the electronics assembly industry. When a product or the parts within cannot withstand the heat of oven reflow,the localized heat provided .. read more

INEMI Rework Machine Temperature Tolerance and Repeatability Study

Currently little data exists on temperature repeatability of BGA/CSP rework machine equipment. This is an issue especially for lead-free rework as the temperatures during lead-free BGA/CSP rewo .. read more

Understanding EuP and REACH

There has been a global trend towards legislation meant to encourage sustainable manufacturing and minimize the environmental impact of product manufacturing. In the global economy,with its dis .. read more

EU RoHS VS. CHINA RoHS

Companies not only need to understand the reliability issues with environmental compliance,but also how to comply with the various regulations from the business end. China is the second jurisdi .. read more

Understanding the IPC 175X Data Model

More and more political bodies (countries,states,and unions) are enacting legislation designed to protect the environment from the impact of manufacturing. One category of restrictive legislati .. read more

High Uniformity PCB Processing with Vacuum Gas Plasma

Emerging technologies in the printed circuit board industry including smaller holes,higher aspect ratios,three-dimensional features,fine pitch,blind via holes,and new lead free materials contin .. read more

Recovery of Copper Metal in the Continuous Regeneration of Cupric Chloride Etchant

An electrochemical device has been developed that deposits non adherent copper metal powder at the cathode,and generates chlorine gas at the anode. The chlorine is contained within the system,a .. read more

Cupric Chloride-Hydrochloric Acid Microetch Roughening Process and its Applications

We have developed a cupric chloride-hydrochloric acid based microetchant process. This process provides a unique roughened copper surface,which yields excellent adhesion for both solder mask an .. read more