Advancing Photonic Soldering

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Stan Farnsworth, director of customer satisfaction at PulseForge, discusses the advancements in photonic soldering that highlight its energy efficiency and versatility. Over the past two years, the company has refined its applications for flexible substrates and energy reduction, finding that photonic soldering allows the processing of materials that typically aren’t thermally compatible and offers significant energy savings compared to traditional methods.

Nolan Johnson: Stan, how are you incorporating photonic soldering with your customers?

Stan Farnsworth: Over the past two years, we have gained a better understanding of what we think the application cases might be and what the markets and customers are interested in. We've done a lot of work with customers with very specific use cases in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. They've been very open, and that has helped us understand how we fit with what they're looking for. We have strong engagements in Italy, Germany, Belgium, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and certainly in the United States. Globally, we see some interesting dynamics, but what continues to be the most interesting to customers is the ability to process and solder materials that normally ought not go together.

Our demo actually hasn't changed over that time; it’s still that polymer leaf with the LEDs soldered onto it. It represents a number of capabilities that can go in different directions. One of those directions is flexible substrates.

Photonic applications are a big topic in European industrial applications right now because they represent the ability to reduce energy use. The processing time and energy required is very short. We have customers that are keyed in on the reduction in consumed energy. Customers are building and/or expanding their roll-to-roll soldering production capabilities, and that’s also a fit for us. So, even though that sample dates to about 2021 or 2022, it still holds water today.

Johnson: Can you use photonic soldering for, say, normal surface mount components on FR-4?

Farnsworth: Yes, although we don’t generally emphasize that as the lead-in engagement piece. This is a hybrid technology, and companies may acquire our equipment for a couple of very specific use cases. What is the best processing solution for their project? Is it to continue with their reflow oven, or to plug our machine in alongside reflow? Having the option for both resources allows their clients—the product designers—to be more creative in how they do board layout and component selection and, ultimately, improve the cost and form of the products they make. For example, maybe they solder the battery directly into the device now instead of using terminals and connections. There are design options to having both capabilities on hand.

To continue reading this interview, which originally published in the December 2024 SMT007 Magazine, click here.