-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- pcb007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueThe 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.
Getting to Know Your Designer
In this issue, we examine how fabs work with their design customers, educating them on the critical elements of fabrication needed to be successful, as well as the many tradeoffs involved. How well do you really know your customer? What makes for a closer, more synchronized working relationship?
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - pcb007 Magazine
Multilayer Press Technology Using Magnetism to Produce Lamination Heat
November 11, 2019 | Victor Lazaro Gallego, Chemplate MaterialsEstimated reading time: 3 minutes
A revolutionary concept in multilayer press technology has been developed that uses electromagnetic energy to heat the existing stainless-steel separator plates with a never-before dreamed-of accuracy and precision. The heating and cooling systems—embedded within a robust hydraulic press inside a vacuum chamber design—are controlled using a temperature feedback loop that guarantees perfect fidelity between the press recipe and the press result. This unique, electromagnetic induction technology helps make engineer's needs become a reality
The production of the first four-layer multilayer dates to 1960, which means the industry has manufactured multilayer PCBs for more than half of a century. Everyone involved with the PCB industry knows that the technical evolution of multilayer PCBs has been exponential from the first technical requirements to today’s. Current PCB requirements bring, collaterally, limits to the industrial-level manufacturing of state-of-the-art technologies.
The technical demands of modern PCBs have revolutionized almost all manufacturing processes from the multiple and complex chemical processes to mechanics, such as drilling, through the photoimaging of the circuit. However, if you look at the lamination process to cure today’s sophisticated resin composites, you can see that the evolution of the lamination presses has been slight in comparison. While today’s lamination presses are far better in many aspects than presses 59 years ago, press technology still uses the same method to produce the thermal energy (heat) and deliver the thermal energy that the resin composite needs to properly polymerize.
I want to introduce a new approach that uses a different way to generate thermal energy—and a new way to deliver it to the resins—that improves the lamination process for today’s materials requirements and new requirements in the future. While initially designed for multilayer PCB manufacturing, this technology can also greatly benefit laminate manufacturers, opening up new avenues of research into high-temperature composites and/or significantly shortened lamination cycles.
Technology Description
The InduBond lamination press utilizes a unique and novel way to produce the necessary heat to cure the laminates and multilayers—electromagnetic inductance. The standard and well-known press methods use one of the following technologies to generate the necessary thermal energy:
- Heating thermal oil and pumping it through a press platen
- Electrical heaters located right at the press platen
- A steam system through the press platens
All of these well-known systems heat the large thermal mass of the platens. The heat is then transferred to the panels being laminated via conductivity through the resin materials (i.e., the multilayer books to be laminated).
The novelty of this new technology, however, is that the thermal energy (heat) to cure the resin composites is produced directly at each of the stainless-steel separator plates that are between each multilayer panel in the press stacks. This thermal energy is transferred at the same time—with the same temperature magnitude and without any thermal conduction delays—to every panel of the lamination press stack. As the energy is induced very homogenously, the heat distribution has the highest uniformity possible in every position and direction of the press stack (X-, Y-, and Z-axes). Therefore, all of the layers of laminates inside the press reach the same temperature at the same time; there are no thermal transfer delays.
To make this possible, the laws of magnetism are used to induce high electrical currents that are transformed into thermal energy right at the material requiring polymerization. Because the heat is produced only at each stainless-steel separator plate of the stack, the technology can achieve extremely high temperatures and very rapid ramp-up rates with very high energy efficiency.
This article originally appeared in the October 2019 issue of PCB007 Magazine. Click here to continue reading or download the PDF to your library.
Suggested Items
Keynote Preview: Reshaping our Engagement With the World
03/28/2024 | Shawn DuBravac, IPCThe widespread integration of AI across various sectors is broadening its impact, from revolutionizing healthcare with Smart solutions to transforming homes into intuitive spaces, highlighting its crucial role in boosting efficiency and addressing complex challenges. In healthcare, we're witnessing a trend toward personalized care with AI-driven devices like intelligent pillows to mitigate snoring, sophisticated sleep monitors, and innovative patient monitoring systems.
Indium Corporation to Present, Exhibit at EPP InnovationsFORUM
03/28/2024 | Indium CorporationIndium Corporation is set to present and exhibit at EPP InnovationsFORUM, one of Europe’s premier single-day electronics manufacturing forums, on April 17 in Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Germany. Topic areas for 2024 will include AI, automation, sustainability, and quality.
Accenture Invests in Sanctuary AI to Bring AI-Powered, Humanoid Robotics to Work Alongside Humans
03/27/2024 | BUSINESS WIREAccenture has made a strategic investment, through Accenture Ventures, in Sanctuary AI, a developer of humanoid general-purpose robots that are powered by AI and can perform a wide variety of work tasks quickly, safely and effectively.
AT&S Well Prepared to Benefit from AI Boom
03/26/2024 | AT&SThe rapid progress in the development of artificial intelligence promises to revolutionize all areas of daily life in the coming years. In order to operate such AI systems, an enormous amount of computing power is required, which is provided by a vast network of data centres.
The IMAPS Show: A Conversation with John Andresakis
03/26/2024 | Marcy LaRont, PCB007 MagazineOn the last day of the IMAPS Device Packaging Conference, Marcy LaRont sat down with industry veteran John Andresakis of Quantic Ohmega, who attended the conference this week. Not his first time at this event, he talked about the conference, advanced technology, and trying to get the word out about the advanced packaging substrates solution Quantic is offering.