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The First 200 Tech Talks: A Reflection
January 7, 2013 | Karl Dietz ConsultingEstimated reading time: 4 minutes
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the December 2012 issue of The PCB Magazine.
In January 2004, Tech Talk Number 100 was published. I used the occasion to reflect on noteworthy industry changes during the course of the previous 100 months, and I reminisced about the beginnings of this column.
It was in the spring of 1995 when Ray Rasmussen visited DuPont’s Electronic Technology Center in Research Triangle Park, NC, to interview Steve Quindlen, Director of the Printed Circuit Materials (PCM) Business Unit at the time, on issues such as PCM’s strategy, business direction, and technology roadmap. One result of the meeting was a feature in CircuiTree Magazine on DuPont’s printed circuit material business. Another result was the fact that Steve volunteered me to share in a monthly column in CircuiTree the collective experience of our Applied Technology Group, which I led at the time. The column would be titled Tech Talk, probably a brainchild of Ray’s. The theme was going to be image transfer in PWB fabrication, in particular the challenges of producing “fine lines in high yield,” which then became the leitmotiv of Tech Talk. Steve, Ray, and I moved on to other endeavors, but the Tech Talk beat went on.
So in August of 1995, the first Tech Talk column was published in CircuiTree Magazine, with the title “Process Latitude.” The tag line of “fine lines in high yield” served us well as it was reasonably broad to encompass many processing and material issues. However, the continuously improving semi-additive processing (SAP) technology has been the answer to this theme, while other, equally important issues emerged. These include microvia formation and metallization, registration challenges, adhesion of chemically dissimilar, very smooth layers, lead-free processing, halogen-free base materials, digital imaging, coreless build-up structures, and many others, which had to be addressed in our column.
I should say a word about the Roman numerals we used to number the columns in CircuiTree. These Roman numerals have confused me and our readership for many years, but once started, I did not have the heart to change them.
In April 2011, Tech Talk column No. 183 appeared in CircuiTree Magazine’s last edition. Ray Rasmussen had moved on to start I-Connect007 and was about to broaden his services to the industry by adding several online publications, including The PCB Magazine. It was at the spring 2011 IPC meeting where I ran into Ray, who talked me into continuing the Tech Talk column in The PCB Magazine, and he persuaded several of the other usual suspects to contribute as well. Without missing a beat, Tech Talk (No. 184) then appeared in the May 2011 premiere issue of The PCB Magazine and has been a fixture ever since.
Recently, I went back to Tech Talk No. 100 to check up on earlier observations and trends that I had commented on. I found that I mentioned in that issue that the traditional demarcation lines between IC fabrication, and first- and second-level packaging, had blurred in recent years. Technologies used in IC packaging had penetrated PWB fabrication (e.g., the use of steppers in the circuitization of BGA substrates, which are small multilayer boards with microvias) and, conversely, elements of PWB fabrication had entered IC fabrication (e.g., copper and low Dk dielectrics).
This blurring of technology demarcation lines appears to have continued. We now see via filling by copper electroplating in packaging just as IC fabricators are practicing it in the dual-damascene process, and more recently in through-silicon-via (TSV) technology. Likewise, planarization steps, once unique to IC fabrication, can now be found in some first level packaging processes. Furthermore, the characteristic recessed or embedded circuitry of the dual-damascene process is actively being looked at for packaging as a way to form finer circuits, more reliable structures, and more planar structures for flip-chip assembly.
There are a number of other significant industry trends that mark recent years. The much talked about shift of PCB production to Asia forced suppliers to do the same, which is now attracting OEM design activities to Asia. Then there is the growth of flex and rigid-flex, driven by cell phones, digital cameras, camcorders, and medical applications. Much progress has been made in the handling and processing of very thin core materials. After several false starts, laser direct imaging (LDI) is now growing beyond niche applications in prototyping and quick-turn shops. Optical interconnects at the chip level, or in first and second level packaging are still elusive but will no doubt become viable at a larger scale.
I am looking forward to following these events in the coming years and sharing my perspectives with the readers of The PCB Magazine.
Karl Dietz is President of Karl Dietz Consulting LLC. He is offering consulting services and tutorials in the field of circuit board and substrate fabrication technology. He may be reached via e-mail at karldietz@earthlink.net or phone, at (001) 919 870 6230.