Ucamco Launches 3 Wavelength Series of Ledia Direct Imaging Systems

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Ucamco is delighted to announce the new 3 Wavelength series of Ledia Direct Imaging (DI) systems for the accurate, high-speed exposure of the industry's most demanding soldermask, inner-layer and outer-layer resists.

When it comes to the direct imaging of PCB materials, Dai Nippon Screen's Ledia multi-wavelength UV LED DI platform has always led the field. First, with its 2 Wavelength Ledia imaging systems, Screen delivered unprecedented DI throughputs on even the most demanding inner- and outer-layer resists, and it gave PCB manufacturers the very first DI technology with which to process standard soldermask resists accurately and at production speeds.

Now, building on that success, Ucamco is launching Screen's 3 Wavelength series. These 5 and 6 exposure head systems combine optimised 365, 385 and 405nm wavelength LED emissions into the industry's most powerful DI system to date. With it, even the most difficult soldermasks can be imaged accurately and reliably, at up to twice previous speeds, with excellent solder dam edge quality, and no undercut. Even when processing inner- and outer-layers, Ledia's new systems deliver more: ultrafine 15µm lines and spaces with well-defined edges, and significant improvements in throughput.

Direct Imaging makes a whole lot of sense at a time when PCBs are getting smaller and increasingly densely packed with tiny components and features. Conventional exposure methods just can't keep up – phototool films move with changes in temperature and humidity, and as the boards get smaller and the work becomes finer, getting it right becomes increasingly time-consuming, if not impossible, making registration the biggest bottleneck for many PCB manufacturers, and the source of some very expensive scrap.

Ledia eliminates the problems by handling each board on its own merits, independent of feature size, board size or production volumes, says Ucamco's Imaging Group Director Michel Van den Heuvel: “We see Ledia as a registration machine – with its inbuilt real-time positioning system and Screen's proprietary alignment algorithms, it automatically registers each board to within a few microns, cutting valuable seconds, and even in some rare cases, many minutes, off the exposure time for each board or panel”.

Ledia's soldermask capabilities put it in a class of its own, and accordingly, sales are growing fast, as Van den Heuvel explains: “At first, manufacturers could not believe that standard soldermask could be processed with DI technology with the speeds and quality that are essential to our industry. This is because it is less photosensitive than dry film resists, and coating thickness can be variable, making it difficult to expose uniformly from the top to the bottom of the resist. But as we started to place our multiwavelength systems with pioneering PCB makers, news travelled, and sales have taken off”. Indeed, the ultimate drop-in technology, Ledia improves quality, yields and leadtimes. And yet it is more economical to run, and its light sources last longer and are less expensive than those used by other exposure processes.

In short, it's light years ahead of other PCB imaging systems – and thanks to the new 3 Wavelength series, it looks set to stay there, delivering significant improvements in terms of quality, productivity and yields – all of which directly impact the bottom line. Which is why Europe's most successful PCB manufacturers are turning to Ledia.

Why not join them? Contact Ucamco today and find out how Ledia can boost your business.

About Ucamco

Ucamco (formerly Barco ETS) is a market leader in PCB CAM software, photoplotting and direct imaging systems, with a global network of sales and support centers. Headquartered in Ghent, Belgium, Ucamco has over 25 years of ongoing experience in developing and supporting leading-edge photoplotters and front-end tooling solutions for the global PCB industry. Key to this success is the company's uncompromising pursuit of engineering excellence in all its products.