Various Archived Columns

February 16, 2010

Slash Sheet Chaos: Is What You See, What You Get?

Don't be a victim of slash sheet confusion. Ask for and expect your suppliers to provide clean and real differentiations between their products. Make sure that when you buy a lower cost "alternative" that it is really the same thing you've been using.

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January 19, 2010

Moisture in Materials: Avoiding Process Gremlins

Anyone who's been in the lamination business for a long time, whether it is laminating full sheets of copper clad material, or fabricating multilayer PWBs, has encountered the "moisture gremlin" at some stage of the process.

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April 27, 2010

Material Witness: Beat the Heat--A Non-Math Intro to Thermal Properties

Lead-free solder technology has resulted in stresses on PTHs due to higher temperature excursions and cracks in solders that are more brittle than their tin-lead ancestors. Since most devices exhibit a mean time to failure that is cut in half with every 10 degrees C temperature increase, managing temperature is critical to product life expectancy.

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May 18, 2010

Material Witness: Considerations in Using TC Materials for PWBs

It's one thing to know you have to reduce the temperature at active devices mounted on a PWB, but it's another altogether to do so while maintaining a "normal" manufacturing and assembly process for circuit boards. In my last column we discussed material properties; this week we will cover the practical issues involved.

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January 12, 2011

Material Witness: Are Your Materials Up to the Challenge?

Apples, cell phones and 12-year-old girls all fall governed by the same gravitational force and, unless something acts to retard their fall, hit the ground at about the same speed. It's not the falling that breaks bones, bruises apples and damages cell phones--it's the stopping.

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November 09, 2010

Material Witness: Thermal Oxidation of Materials, Part I

After working to determine the way oxidation affects PWB polymers, Chet Guiles offers a look at data that gives "interesting" observations. Guiles says, "I make no claim to having developed the Universal Theory of PWB Oxidation, but what we have found is both interesting and, I think, instructive."

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November 19, 2010

Material Witness: Thermal Oxidation of Materials, Part II

After working to determine the way oxidation affects PWB polymers, Chet Guiles offers a look at data that gives "interesting" observations. In part two of his column, he looks at the preliminary work that addressed the way polymers are affected when aged in oxidative environments.

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June 06, 2011

Material Witness: R.I.P. Speedboard C

When W. L. Gore announced plans to discontinue their Speedboard C product, it created a bit of a stir in the marketplace. Its key properties in this writer's mind were the low dielectric constant and reasonable loss, combined with the fact that it was a high-Tg thermoset system that stuck well to a variety of materials. But products with similar properties do exist.

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September 10, 2014

Conversations with...Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc.

I-Connect007 editor Richard Ayes recently interviewed Rafael Nestor Mantaring, vice president for design and development at Philippines-based EMS firm Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc. (IMI), who discusses the benefits and impact of printed electronics for the electronics manufacturing industry and the current challenges the technology faces.

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May 14, 2014

Design for Manufacturing: Mythbusting - Semi-additive Process Makes Sub-3/3 a Reality

PCB designers used to have good reasons for avoiding trace widths and spaces smaller than 3 mils beyond very short spans. But the 3-mil limitation is now becoming a thing of the past, thanks to the use of semi-additive fabrication by some board manufacturers. The main reason designers steered clear of sub-3-mil lines and spaces for more than short distances is etch factor.

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November 06, 2013

Connecting the Dots: The CAD Library, Part 2

Before looking at libraries, Columnist Jack Olson says it's helpful to have a basic understanding of how circuit boards are fabricated. Part 1 of this series did just that. Now, Olson examines plated holes because they can also be stored as library parts.

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July 30, 2013

The Importance of Unmanned Vehicles to the U.S. Economy

The combination of greater flexibility, lower capital, and lower operating costs could allow unmanned vehicles to transform fields as diverse as urban infrastructure management, farming, and oil and gas exploration. The use of UAS in the future could be "a more responsible approach to certain airspace operations from an environmental, ecological, and human risk perspective."

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July 17, 2013

Connecting the Dots: Nothing's Perfect - Understanding Tolerance

It would be irresponsible of Jack Olson to withhold the bad news: Nothing is perfect. In his latest column, he explains the grim reality: Designs must account for some amount of real-world manufacturing tolerance.

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April 24, 2013

PCB Design Data: What Do Your Customers Expect?

What does a circuit board designer produce? Who are our customers, and what do they expect from us? Jack Olson provides a brief description of the types of data you will be providing during various stages of the electronics development process.

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April 09, 2013

What's Your PCB Assembly IQ? - Corrosion Happens by Marissa Oskarsen

Corrosion of printed circuit assemblies happens--and it's going to happen more and more as components get smaller and operating environments become more harsh. Do you know what causes, and prevents, PCBA corrosion? Take this 10-question quiz to determine your corrosion IQ.

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March 20, 2013

Connecting the Dots: What is a Circuit Board?

Before starting the design process, we need to have a clear goal in mind. What exactly does a circuit board designer create? Jack Olson provides a basic introduction to circuit boards from the very beginning, exploring the design process step-by-step and connecting the dots along the way.

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February 27, 2013

Connecting the Dots: Schematic Diagrams

Last month, the schematic was introduced as the method of recording and sharing electronic ideas. The schematic provides enough information to select appropriate components and connect them during the design phase. In this month's column, Jack Olson explains the guidelines and conventions that will make schematics easier to interpret.

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January 10, 2013

FabFile Online Report: FabFile Flashes

Columnist Harvey Miller is back with new insights for the fabrication industry. He writes: "I learn so much while updating the Fabfile Online database of global PCB fabricators. Some of it may be of interest to others, so I'll occasionally share it in bite-sized portions, under the name 'Fabfile Flashes.'"

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December 20, 2012

Evolutionary Solutions: Providing World-Class Service

Is your company striving to become a world-class provider? As you may have already learned, the bar is raised constantly higher for companies trying to reach such excellence. Karla Osorno offers tips and processes to make clearing that bar much easier.

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December 05, 2012

Oh, Really? The Tyranny of Sound Bites & the Sad Saga of Conflict Minerals

Tony Hilvers has been following the issue of conflict minerals for three years. When he first heard about conflict minerals he thought the industry could simply stop buying these products from the warlords who operate the mines in the DRC. Problem solved, right? Wrong.

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October 26, 2012

Oh, Really? - Why Did I Stay So Long?

SMT Magazine's newest columnist, Tony Hilvers, discusses his path to joining IPC, why he stayed as long as he did, and the nearly three decades he spent shaping the industry. The best part? He can now say whatever he wants.

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October 19, 2011

Maxed Out: Ancient and Modern Tablets

As fate would have it, I have two tablet devices sitting on my desk. One is an iPad 2 tablet computer that is pretty much state-of-the-art for today. The other is a clay tablet that was considered state-of-the-art 4,200 years ago.

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December 08, 2010

The Bleeding Edge: The Future of the PCB

The demise of the PCB will not be a sudden event, but more of a chipping away at the edges. There will still be companies whose products need a PCB; many OEMs simply won't have the millions of dollars needed to design and R&D a super MCM.

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October 26, 2010

Material Witness: Tg, CTEZ and the Implications of So-Called Standard Testing

Different methods of determining Tg (TMA, DSC, DMA) will give somewhat different numeric results and may serve to make a data sheet look a little better (or worse). But remember: The material is what it is because of its chemistry and composition, and while testing may be helpful in selecting materials, it does not ever tell the entire story.

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August 12, 2010

Material Witness: Rheology, Part II

"Everything flows," as Heraclitus opined. Last time we talked about a practical application of the theoretical formula for resin flow to establishing lamination pressure for various-sized panels of the same prepreg. But suppose you have a variety of different board designs and the prepreg just doesn't flow the way you want it. Then what?

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August 16, 2010

Material Witness: Rheology, Part I

What is "rheology" and why does "everything flow?" Chet Guiles examines the science of rheology and how understanding the rheology of the prepregs you use, during the time they melt and flow, can help a process engineer manage and control the lamination process.

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December 31, 1969

Comparing Apples to Apples

Recently, I went to a store to try on wedding dresses.

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August 01, 2003

Conclusion: The Outsourcing Option

In this column we will discuss examples of questions to assess supplier capabilities in manufacturing and quality.

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May 01, 2004

PCB Designers Notebook: SMT Land Patterns for Lead-free

Designers have expressed concern regarding the impact of the lead-free soldering process on the SMT land-pattern geometry furnished on existing and future circuit board designs.

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June 01, 2004

Part 1: PCB Designers Notebook: Microelectronics and SMT

Portable and wireless electronics represent the most aggressive growth area for high-density PCB technology.

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June 30, 2010

Jack Olson: Component Placement Tutorial, Part II

At this point, you should have mounting holes, tooling holes and fiducials placed, keepout areas defined and components with fixed locations placed and locked down. You've decided whether your design will be single-sided or double-sided. Now, let's get started placing components!

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January 26, 2011

Jack Olson: Preparing for Component Placement

Jack Olson is creating an introductory tutorial Web site for novice circuit board designers. The site is not yet complete, but we can't resist giving readers a sneak preview. His latest chapter outlines one approach to component placement. This week, we look at Olson's preparations for placement.

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February 25, 2009

Maxed Out: Max's Display-O-Meter Takes Shape

Max continues to work on his Display-O-Meter, a cool gadget inspired by a device shown in an e-mail illustrating the differences between men and women. (Yes, that e-mail.) This week, Max explores the finer points of LEDs, as well as the surprisingly large market for antique knobs and switches.

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June 18, 2008

Maxed Out: Using Transistors to Build Logic Functions - The Finale!

So, if NMOS is so much simpler than CMOS, why do electronics use so many CMOS implementations? Read on, tech fans!

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April 28, 2008

The Bleeding Edge: It's All about Pitch

Two years ago, we wrote an article about looking in the crystal ball regarding the printed circuit business--the article received both kudos and criticism. We will admit, here and now, that the prediction of major change in the printed circuit business was quite wrong.

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March 12, 2008

Maxed Out: DSP? No, I Always Walk This Way! by Clive Maxwell

So what exactly does DSP mean - digital signal processor or digital signal processing? Read on to find out.

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November 15, 2007

The Bleeding Edge: Designing Microelectronic Printed Circuits

The very fine lines that used to be unavailable to designers will now become mainstream, with the old absolute minimum line width of 75 microns (3 mils) giving way to 30 microns (1.2 mil ) or less.

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January 03, 2006

Proof of Design - Supplier Evaluation And Qualification Here and Off Shore - Part II

"Long story short, we had the same issues qualifying the offshore/Asian suppliers that you have mentioned in your lengthy and very informative article on pcb007.com

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June 10, 2012

IPC Forms a PAC

Editor Ray Rasmussen writes, "For me, a PAC has a negative connotation. It's buying votes instead of leveraging the grassroots power we have as an industry. It cheapens us. Now, instead of being an industry of small businesses (which we mostly are), we push that aside in the minds of our representatives and regulators and join the likes of IBM, Dell, Cisco, and Google (Motorola), the AEA and SIA.

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June 10, 2012

Electric Cars Are the Future

Rasmussen says, "Although I'm an environmentalist at heart, this article isn't driven by that bent. I don't have solar panels powering my house because it doesn't make financial sense, and I won't buy an electric car until it does, either. But the adoption of electric cars as the main source of personal transportation, worldwide, is a done deal and it's coming, fast."

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June 10, 2012

Bits and Pieces

Editor Ray Rasmussen writes, "Although I think [environmental sustainability] makes for an interesting article and it caught my attention, I'm not so sure this is an issue for our associations. Where are we falling short? Yes, we all use dangerous chemicals, but what does that have to do with sustainability? If we're doing our environmental bit, what are we doing that isn't sustainable?"

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June 10, 2012

Googlebotics

Editor Ray Rasmussen writes, "As I've mentioned before, robotics are going to have a profound effect on people, both positively and negatively. In fact, I believe the automated and robotic factory along with the evermore automated business will dramatically change our society--it has to."

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