Global Electronics Association Knowledge Hub

The market for optical communication equipment and components has grown significantly since the early 1980s with growth rates exceeding 50% annually in the late 1990s. Although demand has dropp .. read more

Because of environmental concerns,elimination of lead from electronic components has been recently encouraged,and as a result,lead-free solders are frequently adopted for solder mounting. The O .. read more

A new versatile laser technology is available that is capable of working with both rigid and flexible boards using only one laser source. This system is based on a THG-UV laser (355 nm) and vec .. read more

Processing thin core capacitor materials can be challenging,particularly those with non-reinforced dielectric less than 0.001” thick. Several processing steps require special attention to ensur .. read more

In many areas conductive polymers have already gained full acceptance as a reliable and qualitatively outstanding metallization process and as a true competitor for electroless Cu. In the paper .. read more

Solid Solder Deposit (SSD) technology was developed in the early and mid-1990's to improve first pass yields in the manufacture of electronic devices. As the trend towards finer pitch surface m .. read more

Inventory has been a hotly debated topic in many organizations. Since inventory is directly visible in company financials,there is a high degree of sensitivity to excessive inventory levels in .. read more

Automation,change and complexity have become the normal working environment in the PCB market. With this change has come the realization that high tech manufacturing,technological innovation an .. read more

A uniform transmission line is described electrically by a characteristic impedance and a time delay. From the length of the line and the time delay,the effective dielectric constant can be ext .. read more

Reliability assessment of Printed Wiring Boards and Assemblies using High Humidity at elevated temperatures has been done for a number of years. Many companies,including the IPC have published .. read more

Several of the major OEMs are introducing a variety of thermal reliability requirements for printed wiring boards as a result of increasing demands during assembly. These increasing demands man .. read more

If in designing your next product you are interested in cost reduction,reliability improvement,and increased electrical performance,then you should be considering using laser-drilled vias. Not .. read more

It is not often understood that when electrical signals travel along a wire or trace --- they reflect. Always! We intuitively understand that when we send audio waves across a room,a field or a .. read more

This paper presents a method both to enhance the yield of embedded resistor processes and to print embedded resistors using drop-on-demand ink-jet device capable of dispensing a precise volume .. read more

Copper plating in the printed circuit board industry has traditionally used soluble copper anodes in a vertical configuration. Newer,high speed,horizontal plating lines utilize insoluble anodes .. read more

Among the many advantages of Periodical Pulse Reverse (PPR) technology,improvement in throwing power and plating thickness uniformity are the most obvious. Traditionally,the biggest drawback of .. read more

Using conventional PWB copper electroplating techniques (DC bath chemistry with air agitation),non-uniform deposition inside blind via features may arise when the vias have diameters less than .. read more

Permittivity and dissipation factor (Dk and Df) are effects of polarization of different components of the dielectric substrate material when subjected to an electrical field. Reliable design o .. read more

New vertical continuous plating equipment has been developed while taking into consideration production and environmental requirements. The vertical continuous plating equipment conveys printed .. read more

As imaging requirements continue to move towards finer resolution,accurate layer-to-layer alignment becomes an increasingly important factor that influences product yield. One of the major cont .. read more

The latest types of components launched by the leading component manufacturers have increased the need for process control in rework. These packages are referred to by the generic name Land Gri .. read more

Automated Optical Inspection (AOI) equipment has become an option for electronics manufacturers who are considering how to improve performance on the production line. During the last few years .. read more

Flip Chip on Board (FCOB) is one of the most quickly growing segments in advanced electronic packaging. In many cases,assembly processes are not capable of providing the high throughputs needed .. read more

Wafer-applied underfills are key to the widespread acceptance of flip chip technology. This NIST-ATP funded consortium is developing the materials and processes for achieving a wafer-applied un .. read more

This paper will discuss the implementation of real-time automated SPC for the Reflow Process. Topics covered will include: a new statistical method for quantifying the thermal process performan .. read more

Eutectic Bi-42Sn solder is a low melting point alternative to lead-based solders,particularly for low cost,consumer electronics. In earlier work,the mechanical properties of this solder have be .. read more

Like many other phrases carelessly thrown around by economists and business consultants,Return on Investment has become the overused acronym ROI,and has gained popularity so quickly that engine .. read more

As 0402 has become a common package for printed circuit board (PCB) assembly,research and development on mounting 0201 components is emerging as an important topic in the field of surface mount .. read more

The control of moisture-sensitive devices (MSDs) prior to SMT reflow is a critical assembly issue that has a direct impact on final product reliability and customer satisfaction as well as manu .. read more

Many papers and articles are claiming that a majority of the defects detected after reflow are coming from the solder paste application process. However,very little real data seems to be availa .. read more

Application of solder paste by using stencil-printing process is a commonly used method for high volume electronics circuits manufacturing. This process has proved to be the fastest and most co .. read more

The purpose of this study is to understand the capability of both AOI and AXI machines and where the two could be combined to increase the inspection coverage,reduce the overall cycle time of t .. read more

Three epoxy systems were evaluated for physical and optical properties. The three systems chosen for the study were selected on the basis of their optical clarity,color and chemistry. Three dis .. read more

Automated X-ray inspection (AXI) is more often a part of an effective test strategy for today's PCBAs1 because of the benefits it provides manufacturers in meeting challenges resulting from2: • .. read more

The use of Chip Scale Packaging (CSP) is rapidly expanding,particularly in portable electronic products. Many CSP designs will meet the thermal cycle or thermal shock requirements for these app .. read more

In-line inspection equipment has become common place in the PCB assembly industry. This equipment is intended to both eliminate defects at an early stage of production and to be used as a proce .. read more

Lead-free wave soldering was studied in this work using Sn/Ag/Cu alloy. A process DOE was developed,with three variables (solder bath temperature,conveyor speed,and soldering atmosphere),using .. read more

Manufacturers of consumer electronic products are continuously striving to confer greater functionality to smaller,lighter,and less expensive packages,and flip chip is an important enabling tec .. read more

Vapor phase soldering is in discussion of the recent past. Some of the topics of our own work are presented in this paper,like the combination of vapor phase reflow soldering with wave solderin .. read more

Surface Insulation Resistance (SIR) Testing,has been used traditionally to characterise process materials, particularly solder fluxes. Existing Surface Insulation resistance (SIR) test methods .. read more

Group technology (GT) concepts can be applied in printed circuit board (PCB) assembly when determining a setup strategy for a single machine. In the group setup strategy,PCBs,which have similar .. read more

Residue left behind from no-clean assembly is a visually obvious artifact of the manufacturing process that can cause concern to those with RF circuit assemblies. This paper describes a test ve .. read more

The formation of underfill voids is an area of concern in the low cost,high throughput,or “no-flow” flip chip assembly process. This assembly process involves placement of a flip chip device di .. read more

Conductive anodic filament (CAF) formation is a failure mode associated with electronic circuits which operate at high voltage gradients and which are stored under high humidity conditions. Cer .. read more

Lead-free soldering technology is still in its infancy with technical and cost issues posing major challenges for the industry. It is expected that soldering in a nitrogen atmosphere might over .. read more

Two new electrolytically plated lead-free surface finishes,satin bright tin on nickel and palladium-cobalt on nickel followed by gold flash coating,are evaluated for their wettability,bond stre .. read more

Optical connectors are used to connect optical devices to other optical devices or systems. The presence of these optical connectors makes it possible to switch conveniently from one device or .. read more

To successfully navigate the transition from an entrenched Pb-based electronics manufacturing model to a fully integrated Pb-free manufacturing operation will require significant and coordinate .. read more