-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- pcb007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueThe Growing Industry
In this issue of PCB007 Magazine, we talk with leading economic experts, advocacy specialists in Washington, D.C., and PCB company leadership to get a well-rounded picture of what’s happening in the industry today. Don’t miss it.
The Sustainability Issue
Sustainability is one of the most widely used terms in business today, especially for electronics and manufacturing but what does it mean to you? We explore the environmental, business, and economic impacts.
The Fabricator’s Guide to IPC APEX EXPO
This issue previews many of the important events taking place at this year's show and highlights some changes and opportunities. So, buckle up. We are counting down to IPC APEX EXPO 2024.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - pcb007 Magazine
The Materials Connection
March 16, 2022 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Recently, Eddie Mok, product innovation development AVP at WUS, talked with us at length about the state of the materials market from the perspective of a fabricator. In this excerpt from the conversation, Eddie details some example interactions between what materials, design, and manufacturing bring to the ultimate goal of meeting your design specifications and manufacturing costs. It is clear from this conversation that materials and technology are increasingly interconnected.
Nolan Johnson: Eddie, what’s your background?
Eddie Mok: I’ve been with WUS for 16 years, and before that I was at Nelco for 15 years. I’m still working with materials, but I’m applying it now. While materials are changing, there’s room for more. And, because of emerging advanced technology, such as VeCS and others in development, that’s where we realize that we still need all the material manufacturers to offer our customers innovative PCB solutions, plus we need different versions of the material to support the new fabrication methods. And yet, material alone is not enough.
Johnson: VeCS is a great example of innovative developments in fab. Besides additive technologies, of course. Happy Holden has been saying, “This is the next thing. This is the thing that’s going to replace HDI. This gives a lot of capability to designers.”
Mok: I’ve been saying something similar to customers, “Imagine when HDI came along 25 years ago and people said, “What is that? It’s too expensive. It doesn’t work.” Over time and refinement, HDI established itself as a key technology. Now, hopefully, VeCS is another type of interconnect solution that causes the next paradigm shift. We seem to be getting a lot of traction.
There’s another approach called a 3DMD stackup risk analysis tool, which is also a good example. These are standard/routine solutions at WUS. Signal integrity, rougher or smoother copper, better material— that’s pretty routine, as you say, with respect to material selection—but what we want to offer is crosstalk mitigation, improved shielding, and so on by innovative interconnect solutions. The advanced capability, value engineering cost, material performance, and stackup risk—it’s all there and of interest to today’s designers and fabricators.
I get to talk a lot about material, but because of the advanced capabilities requirements, those conversations lead us in many different directions. For example, when you exhaust standard plated through-hole (PTH) back drill technology, you have to go to HDI build-up with multiple lamination designs, or change your design to more costly structures like buried or blind via structures.
Johnson: Eddie, this is a symbiotic situation, isn’t it? You have advanced techniques driving materials and materials driving advanced techniques.
Mok: Yes, so many things are happening. These are where most of our activities are. We’re constantly looking at different class 8 material (ultra-super low loss grade), for example.
Johnson: This is for your long-tail legacy work?
Mok: Yes. But that’s also where we can’t separate material with technology. You can’t buy a Ferrari and equip it with budget tires. Customers today will share that they plan to rely on the material to minimize insertion loss. But I make sure to ask them, “What about your shielding? What about your crosstalk? That can’t be done by material alone; the interconnect structure needs to help with this.”
To read this entire conversation, which appeared in the March 2022 issue of PCB007 Magazine, click here.
Suggested Items
The Chemical Connection: Reducing Etch System Water Usage, Part 2
05/02/2024 | Don Ball -- Column: The Chemical ConnectionIn my last column, I reviewed some relatively simple ways to reduce water usage in existing etch systems: cutting down cooling coil water flow, adding chillers to replace plant water for cooling, lowering flow rate nozzles for rinses, etc. This month, I’ll continue with more ways to control water usage in your etcher. Most of these are not easily retrofittable to existing equipment but should be given serious consideration when new equipment is contemplated. With the right combination of add-ons, it is possible to bring the amount of water used in an etch system to almost zero.
Designer’s Notebook: What Designers Need to Know About Manufacturing, Part 2
04/24/2024 | Vern Solberg -- Column: Designer's NotebookThe printed circuit board (PCB) is the primary base element for providing the interconnect platform for mounting and electrically joining electronic components. When assessing PCB design complexity, first consider the component area and board area ratio. If the surface area for the component interface is restricted, it may justify adopting multilayer or multilayer sequential buildup (SBU) PCB fabrication to enable a more efficient sub-surface circuit interconnect.
Insulectro’s 'Storekeepers' Extend Their Welcome to Technology Village at IPC APEX EXPO
04/03/2024 | InsulectroInsulectro, the largest distributor of materials for use in the manufacture of PCBs and printed electronics, welcomes attendees to its TECHNOLOGY VILLAGE during this year’s IPC APEX EXPO at the Anaheim Convention Center, April 9-11, 2024.
ENNOVI Introduces a New Flexible Circuit Production Process for Low Voltage Connectivity in EV Battery Cell Contacting Systems
04/03/2024 | PRNewswireENNOVI, a mobility electrification solutions partner, introduces a more advanced and sustainable way of producing flexible circuits for low voltage signals in electric vehicle (EV) battery cell contacting systems.
Heavy Copper PCBs: Bridging the Gap Between Design and Fabrication, Part 1
04/01/2024 | Yash Sutariya, Saturn Electronics ServicesThey call me Sparky. This is due to my talent for getting shocked by a variety of voltages and because I cannot seem to keep my hands out of power control cabinets. While I do not have the time to throw the knife switch to the off position, that doesn’t stop me from sticking screwdrivers into the fuse boxes. In all honesty, I’m lucky to be alive. Fortunately, I also have a talent for building high-voltage heavy copper circuit boards. Since this is where I spend most of my time, I can guide you through some potential design for manufacturability (DFM) hazards you may encounter with heavy copper design.