PCB Talk

June 23, 2022

PCB Talk: Is DWM Just Another Buzzword?

Designing with manufacturing, rather than for manufacturing is much more than a buzz word. New materials and processes, and new and developing design rules make collaborating with your PCB fabricator a necessity more than ever before. I sat down with Meredith LaBeau, CTO of Calumet, to learn her thoughts about bringing a new technology to commercialization and the importance of PCB designers working closely with their preferred fabricators to be most successful when implementing designs with feature sizes previously not available.

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April 21, 2022

PCB Talk: Burning Questions About Designing for SAP

Do you have a smartphone? Most do. Did you know that most smartphones contain PCBs fabricated with mSAP (modified semi-additive process) technology? The ability for a fabricator to produce 35-micron feature sizes has long been taken advantage of by this consumer market segment. A handful of very high-volume fabricators specialize in this technology and serve the industry. But outside this high-volume market, SAP processes have not been widely available for other lower to medium volume PCB applications.

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February 25, 2022

PCB Talk: SAP—Changing the Way You Look at PCB Design

Which side of these competing aphorisms do you most resonant with: “The only thing constant is change” or “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” I can build a case behind both when looking at these through the lens of someone working in the printed circuit board industry. Electronics are rapidly evolving and challenging printed circuit board designers to add more functionality in smaller and smaller spaces.

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January 26, 2022

PCB Talk: SAP Evaluating From Design Perspective

Semi-Additive PCB fabrication processes add a new tool to the PCB designer’s toolbox. As with any new tool, there is a learning curve. To help shorten that curve and expand the growing body of knowledge, Tara Dunn speaks with Randy Chase, CID. He is the senior manager of PCB and Module Design at pSemi, a Murata Company.

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December 29, 2021

PCB Talk: Creative Minds Pushing Boundaries

Do you consider yourself to be a creative person? Do you use creativity in your day-to-day work activities? In the early days of my career in the PCB industry, I prided myself on my analytical skills. The ability to reason, analyze, problem solve, plan and organize was something I was proud of. I still am. I also have a creative side and in my spare time, I used to put that creativity to use creating home décor. In those days of frilly bows, ribbons and plastic flower arrangements, I could yield a glue gun with the best of them.

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October 29, 2021

PCB Talk: Additive Electronics—Are You One of the Curious?

The term “additive electronics” is a broad term in our industry. To many this suggests 3D printing and the processes used to form circuit patterns with these additive methods. To others, this term conjures the image of newer PCB fabrication techniques that use semi-additive PCB fabrication processes to realize line width and space below the traditional 75-micron (3 mil) capabilities that are typically seen with subtractive etch processing.

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September 30, 2021

PCB Talk: Collaboration To Shorten the Learning Curve

For those of you following my column or have attended one of my sessions on flex and rigid flex, you know that the number one message I try to drive home is to work with your fabricator early in the design process, especially when you are new to designing with flexible materials. I can tell countless stories about flexible circuit mis-steps...

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June 21, 2021

PCB Talk: A Review of Additive Electronics

Additive electronics, particularly as it pertains to PCB fabrication processes is garnering a lot of attention. Columnist Tara Dunn speaks with Tomas Chester of Chester Electronic Design, to shed light on the experience of early adopters.

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May 18, 2021

PCB Talk: Pin-Out Challenge—Re-think the Solution

This column is kicking off a series of interviews with veteran PCB designers: getting their thoughts, opinions and questions as they navigate this new frontier. Tara Dunn interviews Cherie Litson, MIT CID/CID+, president of Litson1 Consulting, and an instructor at Everett Community College, to understand her perspective on this new fabrication capability.

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April 22, 2021

PCB Talk: Additive Electronics—Next Generation PCB Capabilities

Exciting news! This column marks the launch of a series of columns diving into semi-additive PCB (SAP) manufacturing processes. We will explore topics ranging from SWaP benefits, signal integrity benefits, materials characterization, reliability testing and even the search to find a calculator that is compatible with straight conductor sidewalls and line width and space at 1 mil and below.

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March 18, 2021

Flex Talk: Simplified Assembly of Aluminum Flexible Circuits

Tara Dunn sits down to discuss Mina™ with Divyakant Kadiwala, vice president of manufacturing for Averatek. He has been instrumental in the development of this assembly process.

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January 26, 2021

Flex Talk: Demystify Flexible Stack-ups

The sheer number of flexible laminate materials and constructions can be a bit daunting for those new to flex and rigid flex design. Tara Dunn sits down with Jeff Martin from Omni PCB to hear his insight into flexible laminates and his advice when working on a flex stack up.

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December 17, 2020

Flex Talk: Communicating Outside the Box Is Key to Flex DFM

What do you do when you are designing a flexible circuit and need to go “way outside the box” to get the desired end-result? Tara Dunn looks at a few success stories, including gold conductors and complex rigid-flex, and emphasizes the power of communication.

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September 30, 2020

Flex Talk: Communication Goes Both Ways

Technology, whether new to you or new to the industry, both require communication between the end-user and the fabricators. Tara Dunn explains how a collaborative approach benefits not only the end-user seeking the information but also the fabricator that will be providing the technology.

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August 25, 2020

Flex Talk: The Black Magic in the Business

When you work with flex or rigid-flex, the communication between designer and fabricator needs to be impeccable, and the primary method of transferring information is through the fabrication notes. Tara Dunn gives a recommendation that, although not strictly required by the fabricator to build the product, will certainly benefit the end-user.

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July 27, 2020

Flex Talk: Additive and Subtractive—When Opposites Attract

Market dynamics in the electronics industry are quickly changing. Some solutions add considerable cost to the PCB and often introduce reliability and yield concerns. Tara Dunn explains an alternative that has been installed in three U.S.-based PCB fabrication facilities: the A-SAP™ process, which is Averatek’s semi-additive process.

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April 15, 2020

Flex Talk: Mina—Enabling Soldering to Aluminum

Averatek recently launched Mina™, a chemistry that offers exciting benefits over traditional methods of soldering to aluminum. Tara Dunn had the opportunity to speak with Divyakant Kadiwala, director of manufacturing at Averatek, to learn more.

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May 15, 2020

Flex Talk: It’s the Little Things

Let me share a personal moment. Shortly after we started staying home and socially distancing, I came down the stairs from my home office and noticed something colorful on the sidewalk. Keep in mind that I live in Minnesota, and anything colorful is extremely eye-catching while in stark contrast to the winter grass and leafless trees. Looking closer, someone had colored big, beautiful hearts all along my sidewalk and driveway, leaving a fun message at the end of all those colorful hearts. That simple act of kindness made me smile for days, anytime I looked outside and saw the chalk drawings and messages. It also reminded me that in the midst of uncertainty and life being unsettled, one small thing could make a significant impact.

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April 16, 2020

Flex Talk: Unintentionally Adding Cost?

When designing a PCB, rigid or flex, there is a continuing series of choices and trade-offs, some with greater cost impact than others. Tara Dunn discusses a few things that can easily be overlooked when putting together the puzzle pieces of a design and that may have an unintended impact on the overall cost.

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February 18, 2020

Flex Talk: Additive PCB Technology for Next-generation Electronics

Semi-additive PCB processes help to enable very fine features, with trace and space down to 25 microns and below, significantly reducing space and weight for next-generation electronics. Tara Dunn speaks with Todd Brassard and Meredith LaBeau from Calumet Electronics about how the company is the first domestic PCB manufacturer to license Averatek’s A-SAP™ process and will be presenting information on the industrialization of this process at this year’s IPC APEX EXPO.

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January 20, 2020

Flex Talk: The Challenge of Change

I recently kicked off a presentation on flex and rigid-flex by asking for a show of hands of those who had never worked with flex materials or considered themselves to be just learning how to design with flex. Over half of the room raised their hands, which excited me because I could help them learn something new. In my opinion, the best way to lessen the challenges and uncertainty of change is to arm yourself with as much knowledge as possible.

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November 14, 2019

Flex Talk: Additive Electronics Momentum

I have been involved with additive electronics for the past several years, and I have seen the discussion of and demand for sub-75-micron feature sizes slowly grow. Conversations, questions, and research about SAP and mSAP increased significantly when it was announced that the mSAP process was used to create the circuitry in the more recent versions of our smartphones. While this process is available in very high volume in some areas of the world, it is still in the early stages of development in other areas.

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August 02, 2019

Flex Talk: When You Do Everything Right and Something Still Goes Wrong

This industry is full of tales describing the work and effort needed to overcome fabrication hurdles to produce a complex design. Tara Dunn shares a case study of one of those types of designs.

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July 11, 2019

Spark an Idea

One of the favorite parts of my job are the days when I meet with a group of engineers and designers to talk about flex and rigid-flex. We might do a "lunch and learn" with a general overview of the technology or address a specific challenge. It is always helpful to bring samples to pass around and show different features. Usually, looking at a sample will spark an idea and the comment, "I wonder if we could do something like this.” From there, the brainstorming begins.

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June 10, 2019

Flex Talk: New Materials or New to You?

There are so many new processes and materials in the PCB segment that it can be a challenge to keep up with all the new developments. It is fun to start chasing the next new thing, but it is important to keep in mind that even materials and processes that have been around for a while are still new to someone.

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May 27, 2019

Flex Talk: New Engineering Talent Joining the Electronics Industry

Last spring, Ross Olson, an undergraduate student at the University of Minnesota and member of the U of M Solar Vehicle Project team, attended the Geek-a-Palooza event in Minneapolis and displayed one of their race cars. Tara Dunn had the opportunity to get to know Ross, and recently sat down with him to talk about his interest in engineering and his thoughts on the future of the electronics industry.

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May 08, 2019

Flex Talk: Old-fashioned Networking

We live in a connected world. Information is collected at an astonishing rate, and people are working diligently to put this information to good use. It is new, fun, and exciting. But I sometimes wonder what is going to happen to the good, "old-fashioned" networking. Not networked devices, but the act of going out and meeting people in our industry, learning about their story and expertise, and sharing yours—mutually beneficial sharing of information and resources.

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October 10, 2019

Flex Talk: Don’t Build Flex That Doesn’t Flex

One of the primary advantages of moving to a flexible circuit design from a rigid board is the ability to package the flex in three dimensions, bending or folding into imaginative configurations and saving precious space in the final package.

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January 23, 2019

Flex Talk: FlexFactor—Imagination and Innovation

The ultimate goal of FlexFactor is to create a generation of students who use their critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration skills to create the materials and devices that will address and mitigate the biggest challenges of the future.

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December 12, 2018

Flex Talk: The Myth About Rigid-Flex Costs

Do you cringe when you think of the option of rigid-flex? It is not an uncommon reaction when talking with designers and engineering managers about using rigid-flex to solve a packaging problem. Why? The most frequent answer is, “They are so expensive.” While it is true that a rigid-flex PCB is typically more expensive on the surface when compared to rigid-board solutions with cables and connectors, a lot is being missed with that mindset.

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September 17, 2018

Flex Talk: Mina—RFID, LED and What Else?

“The science of today is the technology of tomorrow.” This Edward Teller quote is an apt description of the Mina product. This advanced surface treatment, recently developed to enable low-temperature soldering to aluminum in the RFID market, is not only finding success in that market, but quickly finding a home in other markets, including the LED market, where the incentive is both cost and improved LED performance.

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June 25, 2018

Raising the Capability Ceiling: SMTA Upper Midwest Chapter Expo

An energetic and engaged crowd filled the recent SMTA Upper Midwest Expo & Tech Forum. The event, held in June 14 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, hosted 57 exhibiting companies and had over 100 pre-registered attendees. The underlying theme for the technical presentations was "Raising the Capability Ceiling!" Here's a wrap-up of the event.

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May 23, 2018

Flex Talk: E-Textiles—the Wild Frontier

How many hours is your car sitting idle outside in your driveway or a parking lot? What if your car was used for solar harvesting—converting heat to energy? What about biometric sensors in automotives: skin sensors for preventing DUI, posture identification to monitor driver fatigue, monitoring exposure to hazardous materials in a load for truck drivers.

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May 02, 2018

Flex Talk: Something New for Everyone

Whether you are new to single- and double-sided flex, moving into rigid-flex construction, thinking of using bookbinder technology, or investigating an additive process, working with new technology can be both exciting and challenging.

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April 16, 2018

Flex Talk: Invited Guests to the Party

Hanging on the wall in my office is this quote from Jeff Bezos: “We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.”

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November 27, 2017

FlexFactor: Faith in the Future

Take just a minute and read through this list of new product ideas. Can you identify the common thread? Yes, they are all enabled by advanced technology, but would you believe that these products were all pitched in the last year by high school students?

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October 03, 2017

Flex Talk: The Man Behind the Curtain

“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” This famous quote from The Wizard of Oz conjures up the image of Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow discovering that the great Wizard of Oz isn’t as grand or as magical as he seems.

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August 31, 2017

Flex Talk: Knowledge is Power

“What can I do to help drive cost from my design?” This is a question that I am asked routinely. That question is often followed by, “Can I get these faster?” Both questions are even more predominant when talking about flexible circuits or rigid-flex.

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June 22, 2017

Flex Talk: Mina—Trouble-Free Soldering to Aluminum

Thinking about the RFID market and the significant growth projected in this market, I decided to do a little research on RFID tag manufacturing. During this research, I learned of a relatively new offering, Mina, an advanced surface treatment technology that addresses the common constraints of large scale manufacturing of aluminum on polyester (Al-PET) circuits.

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May 01, 2017

Flex Talk: Squink—Integrating Fabrication and Assembly in one Package

When walking through trade show expos, I tend to be drawn into product demonstrations on the show floor. Recently, at the IPC APEX EXPO, I stopped in front of a piece of desktop printing equipment that was demonstrating with a flexible circuit.

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April 03, 2017

Flex Talk: Flex Material Handling—An Inside Peek

As increasingly more designs move to flexible materials to take advantage of space, weight or packaging benefits, it has been clear that flexible circuits require a different set of rules than their rigid counterparts. We spend substantial time working through the design to ensure that he flex is as robust as possible.

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January 26, 2017

Flex Talk: Final Surface Finish—How Do You Choose?

There are so many final surface finish options to choose from today. How do you decide which is best? HASL—both tin-lead and lead-free—immersion tin, immersion silver, ENIG, OSP, and ENIPIG are the primary finishes used in PCB fabrication.

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December 28, 2016

Flex Talk: A Glimpse into PCB Sales

Summarizing the feedback from both customers and manufacturers, the most successful PCB salespeople are organized, take a genuine interest in their customers’ needs and business challenges, have a better than average understanding of the PCB industry, fully understand the manufacturer’s strengths and capabilities and advocate for both to find the best solution.

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October 06, 2016

Flex Talk: Troubleshooting Flex Circuit Applications for Mil/Aero Projects

I imagine that everyone has been in this position at one time or another: Despite everyone’s best attempt at creating the perfect design, PCB fabrication and assembly, something goes wrong and the troubleshooting begins.

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May 24, 2016

Flex Talk: Inaugural West Coast Geek-A-Palooza a Fun-filled Success

Geek-A-Palooza kicked off the 2016 schedule May 12 in Irvine, California. Historically, Geek-A-Palooza has been held in Minneapolis but is expanding this year to include Orange County and Boston as well.

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April 18, 2016

Flex Talk: PCB Sourcing? One Size Does Not Fit All

When analyzing a set of PCBs to improve yields and maximize profits, the first place to start is with a critical review of each PCB design. Are there any attributes that are pushing your manufacturer’s standard design rules? If so, is this necessary to the design or is there another approach that could improve the manufacturer’s yields, reduce cost, and ultimately increase profit?

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November 19, 2015

Flex Talk: Thoughts on the IPC Flexible Circuits–HDI Forum

As an attendee at the IPC Flexible Circuits–HDI Conference held October 28–30, I found myself in a room of people, all eager for technical information, with the opportunity to reconnect with industry friends and to make new connections. The audience was diverse with young people, new to our industry, sitting alongside industry veterans willingly sharing their knowledge and passion for HDI design and flexible circuit technology.

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August 20, 2015

Designing Flex Circuits for Domestic Prototyping

Designing a flex circuit to be prototyped domestically? No problem. Designing a rigid-flex circuit for production offshore? Got it. Designing a part that will be prototyped domestically with a seamless transition to offshore production? That can be a little more challenging.

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July 09, 2015

Rigid Flex: Total Cost Comparison

The transition to a rigid-flex design from the traditional approach of using cable assemblies to join two or more PCBs has obvious benefits—space, weight, packaging, reliability and increased currently carrying capabilities. Yet many times the perception that rigid-flex is a high-cost solution causes designers and engineers to hesitate.

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June 04, 2015

The Flex-to-Fit Approach

The flex-to-fit concept reminds us that creativity and engineering go hand-in-hand. When there is not ample space for a conventional approach, this process, which is the convergence of the mechanical world and the electronics world, results in the ability to design a flexible circuit along the contour of an existing, irregularly shaped structure.

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June 25, 2015

Primary Cost Drivers for Flex Circuit Designs

Someone once told me that the potential applications for flexible circuits are really only limited by our imaginations. After pondering that a bit, I had to agree. In fact, one of the things I like best about what I do is that moment during a discussion when I can see the light bulb go off in a designer's head.

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