Dan’s Biz Bookshelf: ‘Elevate: Push Beyond Your Limits'
The Marketing Minute: The First Step to More Sales—Marketing
It’s Only Common Sense: Customer Service Is Sales in Disguise
ESI’s New Gemstone Changing the Rules for Laser
April 7, 2015 | Barry Matties, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
I sat down at CPCA 2015 with ESI’s Mike Jennings, who explained the company’s newest addition: Gemstone, an ESI-designed and manufactured laser system, with 10,000 guaranteed hours, which is poised to change the rules in flex and other printed circuit processing. Jennings also discusses ESI’s new relationship with WKK, and an increased presence in China.
Barry Matties: Mike, start by telling us the news about the new Gemstone laser system.
Mike Jennings: We've added a new member to our 5335 family of laser processing systems, and it's called Gemstone. We're starting to get away from numbers and instead use names for our systems. We had a meeting with a customer in Germany that has a laser drill that we manufactured in 1996, which is still in production today, almost 20 years later. The durability of that lends itself to a family of products we're going to use in our business unit going forward: Cornerstone, Gemstone, and Keystone.
Matties: Regarding Gemstone, is it mainly tuned for the China market and the flex market?
Jennings: It's tuned for all markets. Because of the proprietary ESI-designed and manufactured laser, it changes the rules in flex circuit processing and in other PCB processing, for three reasons: the repetition frequency is three to four times faster; the efficiency of the pulse is so much higher; and we're using a squared temporal pulse as opposed to a Gaussian temporal pulse.
Matties: Can you explain that?
Jennings: Gaussian can be used to describe both the spatial pulse, which is the form in three dimension that the pulse takes in space; but there's also a temporal side, and the temporal side is the shape of the pulse as a function of power and time, with power being in Y and time being in X. Traditionally, the industry has used the word Gaussian pulse as an all-inclusive of both functions, because that's how it has been.
For the first time, we're taking a Gaussian spatial pulse in three dimensions, and we're using a squared temporal pulse. Rather than taking half of the pulse to rise to full power, and half to drop from full power, we rise to full power in less than one nanosecond, maintain full power for almost the full pulse width, and then fall in less than one nanosecond. Above the ablation threshold, which is really what does the work on a laser, you find that we have much higher time and higher energy above the ablation threshold, combined with faster frequency, resulting in much better throughput—between 10–15%, if not more.
Matties: Aside from the throughput, what's the advantage of your laser over mechanical? Why would someone go this route?Page 1 of 2
Share on:
Suggested Items
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
07/18/2025 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007It may be the middle of the summer, but the news doesn’t quit, and there’s plenty to talk about this week, whether you’re talking technical or on a global scale. When I have to choose six items instead of my regular five, you know it’s good. I start by highlighting my interview with Martyn Gaudion on his latest book, share some concerning tariff news, follow that up with some promising (and not-so-promising) investments, and feature a paper from last January’s inaugural Pan-European Design Conference.
Elephantech Launches World’s Smallest-Class Copper Nanofiller
07/17/2025 | ElephantechJapanese deep-tech startup Elephantech has launched its cutting-edge 15 nm class copper nanofiller – the smallest class available globally. This breakthrough makes Elephantech one of the first companies in the world to provide such advanced material for commercial use.
Copper Price Surge Raises Alarms for Electronics
07/15/2025 | Global Electronics Association Advocacy and Government Relations TeamThe copper market is experiencing major turbulence in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of a 50% tariff on imported copper effective Aug. 1. Recent news reports, including from the New York Times, sent U.S. copper futures soaring to record highs, climbing nearly 13% in a single day as manufacturers braced for supply shocks and surging costs.
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
07/11/2025 | Andy Shaughnessy, Design007 MagazineThis week, we have quite a variety of news items and articles for you. News continues to stream out of Washington, D.C., with tariffs rearing their controversial head again. Because these tariffs are targeted at overseas copper manufacturers, this news has a direct effect on our industry.I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
Digital Twin Concept in Copper Electroplating Process Performance
07/11/2025 | Aga Franczak, Robrecht Belis, Elsyca N.V.PCB manufacturing involves transforming a design into a physical board while meeting specific requirements. Understanding these design specifications is crucial, as they directly impact the PCB's fabrication process, performance, and yield rate. One key design specification is copper thieving—the addition of “dummy” pads across the surface that are plated along with the features designed on the outer layers. The purpose of the process is to provide a uniform distribution of copper across the outer layers to make the plating current density and plating in the holes more uniform.