Institute of Circuit Technology Spring Seminar 2026: A Bright Future in Europe

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Through the leafy lanes and spring flowers of Warwickshire and back to Meridan, the traditional centre of England, and now officially part of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the county of the West Midlands, I attended the Annual General Meeting and Spring Seminar of the Institute of Circuit Technology (ICT) on April 14.

Out of the AGM came notable changes in leadership at the top of the Institute: the retirement of Mat Beadel as chair and Emma Hudson as technical director. Effective May 1, Steve Driver is the new chair, and Alun Morgan is the new technical director.

Rico Schlüter, EIPC President

Prior to the commencement of the seminar programme, Beadel welcomed a special guest, Rico Schlüter, president of the EIPC, to share his experiences and to join a discussion on the future of the PCB industry in Europe.  

Schlüter said that “2026 will be crucial for the European PCB industry. Money is flowing, but it’s about skills.”

He mentioned several investment proposals, some in Europe, some as far away as Turkey, India, South Africa, and Australia, although he wanted to keep his focus on Europe. Recent experience has taught him that even with the best of investment in equipment and infrastructure, without real in-depth skills in PCB fabrication, scrap levels can be high even on a low-technology product. On the other hand, and he mentioned specific European examples, companies without the benefit of state-of-the-art facilities but with a skilled and experienced workforce can make high-end product in good yield.

For many years, Schlüter has campaigned for European government to recognise the significance of the domestic PCB industry and its vulnerability. A current area of concern, over and above tariffs and the rapidly increasing prices of copper and tungsten carbide, is the proposed restriction of PFAS, one of the most significant regulatory developments in EU chemicals law in recent years. Although a deferment has been proposed for the PCB industry, the timescale is unrealistic given that PFAS is a major constituent of circuit boards used in high-frequency telecommunications applications. 

“We survived lead-free, we survived solvent-to-aqueous, shall we survive PFAS?” Schlüter asked.

He has been in conversation with several industry associations elsewhere in Europe with the objective of “strength-in-numbers” collaborative representation of the interests of the PCB industry for campaigning with government. His appeal for cooperation from ICT brought enthusiastic support and sparked an animated open-forum discussion.

Enno Henze, Plasma Innovations

Because of a strike at Lufthansa, Enno Henze, chief sales officer at Plasma Innovations in Austria, couldn’t join in person; however, the impressive IT skills of Hudson soon established a video link that enabled him to deliver his presentation remotely.

Based on Schlüter’s comments about volatility in the copper supply chain, Henze offered aluminum as an alternative conductor material for PCBs as it’s in abundant supply and substantially cheaper.

Copper has been the primary conductor in PCBs since their invention in the early 1940s by Austrian-born engineer Paul Eisler. One of its principal advantages, besides its electrical conductivity, has been its easy solderability.

Although aluminum has the benefits of lower weight and significantly lower cost, it exhibits extremely limited solderability because of the rapid formation of a surface oxide layer, and could normally be soldered only with the aid of an aggressive flux, not suited to electronics applications.

Plasma Innovations has developed a surface metallization process based on atmospheric plasma technology, creating a strong intermetallic bond between aluminum, nickel, and tin and resulting in an easily-soldered surface.

Indeed, PCBs with aluminum conductor patterns are already in manufacture by Plasma Innovations’ partner company in China, using a process sequence and equipment basically similar to those used for traditional copper circuits. Apart from the inclusion of a proprietary plasma surface metallisation facility, the only significant difference is an appropriate etching chemistry. Otherwise, aluminum-clad substrates could effectively be “drop-in” replacements for their copper-clad counterparts. Solder mask is applied over bare aluminum, and the remaining exposed areas are treated with a Plasma Innovations’ “Flexxal” nickel or copper layer to facilitate solderability.

Henze described two technologies. The original Flexxal finish is a nickel-based layer 0.5–5 microns thick, typically 1 micron, that provides adequate corrosion resistance without additional surface protection and works with most solder pastes, provided they contain sufficient flux to remove a thin layer of nickel oxide. One benefit of this technique is its ability to produce totally copper-free assemblies as required for certain lighting applications. A significant disadvantage of the nickel-only approach is its brittleness, which prevents its use in vias. Therefore, a more ductile copper equivalent has been developed with similar thickness. This finish requires OSP corrosion protection.

Henze showed a cross-section of a soldered board illustrating perfect aluminum-nickel and nickel-solder intermetallic bonds.

He discussed plated-through connections between aluminum foils bonded to flexible substrates. His example had 80-micron foils on either side of a polyimide base, with 20 microns of copper plated over and through the via holes. Polyester base film was a cost-effective alternative to polyimide.

How did aluminum compare with copper as a conductor? Henze commented that achieving the same electrical conductivity as tracks in 35-micron copper would require an equivalent aluminum thickness of 55 microns, with the benefits of a 50% weight saving and a material cost saving approaching 90%. The cost of a PCB could be reduced by up to 25%. 

Plasma Innovations’ Flexxal concept generated increasing interest from the international market and Henze’s presentation initiated a lively Q&A session with his Meriden audience.

Rick Nichols, GreenSource Engineering

“Invention is still alive in the European PCB industry,” said Rick Nichols of GreenSource Engineering. “Expect process improvement and environmental benefits.” He introduced the company and described innovations in acid etching, copper recovery, and electrolytic copper plating.

With its primary location in Poland, GreenSource Engineering is a provider of consulting, design, software development, manufacturing, and service of equipment for the PCB fabrication industry.

Nichols described two specific examples of innovation in wet-processing equipment, one horizontal and one vertical.

His horizontal example was a cupric chloride acid etching system with soft-touch flexible panel transport, based on the principle of bottom-side etching only. His argument was that, for ultra high-definition etching, it is not possible to achieve precise control of top-side etching because of puddling effects. Therefore, the etching machine is split into two zones with a panel-flipper in between, each zone having an array of almost 500 upward-facing flat-fan spray nozzles set at 45°, each with a flow-rate of 1.6 liters per minute at 2.0 bar pressure. Full rollers on the top-side act as splashguards. Nichols claimed that minimal process engineering is required in setting-up the system and that repeatable results can be achieved provided basic maintenance is carried out. He showed real examples demonstrating the uniform etching of 40 microns of copper from a 3-ounce annealed RTF foil.

To complement the etching process as part of a holistic approach to equipment, Nichols explained the principles of the GreenSource minimum liquid discharge system for copper removal and control, which includes the use of a copper-phylic resin and an electro-winning cell.

From horizontal innovation to vertical, in this case, the optimisation of fluid dynamics in high-throwing-power copper electroplating: Nichols described a system whereby the panel was held vertically in a “knife-agitation” configuration between high-density, high flow-rate fluid nozzles. Anode-cathode separation is only 70 mm and current densities as high as 6 amps/dm² are possible, using mixed-metal-oxide inert anodes. A copper-oxide dissolution unit is used for metal replenishment. The system offers extremely good throwing power and uniformity of copper distribution. Nichols showed several examples of statistical test results, together with microsections of microvias and high-aspect-ratio through-holes.

Nichols stressed the beta-site advantages of the close working relationship between GreenSource Engineering and its associated GreenSource Fabrication, serving as a first-feedback facility for testing and refining next-generation equipment, backed by in-house chemical process engineering experts.

Another successful Institute of Circuit Technology event concluded with a buffet supper and a networking session in the bar. Sincere thanks to Emma Hudson for making it all happen, and thanks to Alun Morgan for sharing his photographs.