-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- pcb007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueWet Process Control
In this issue, we examine wet processes and how to obtain a better degree of control that allows usable data to guide our decisions and produce consistently higher-quality products.
Don’t Just Survive, Thrive
If we are to be relevant and prosper during these next critical decades in electronics, we must do more than survive. As an industry, we can and must thrive. In this issue, our contributors explore these concepts meant to help you take your business to the next level.
Material Matters
Materials management is nuanced, multifaceted, and requires a holistic systems approach for business success. When building high mix, low volume, and high technology, managing materials and overall cost containment are even greater challenges.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - pcb007 Magazine
Reliability and Harmonization of Global Standards at Forefront of EIPC Efforts
March 18, 2015 | Pete Starkey, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
![](https://iconnect007.com/application/files/4116/3116/2674/EIPC_interview.jpg)
At IPC APEX EXPO 2015, I caught up with EIPC’s Michael Weinhold and Alun Morgan for a discussion on both recent and ongoing focuses for EIPC, and the importance of the alignment of global standardization processes, especially for Asia.
Pete Starkey: I'm here with two gentlemen from the European Institute of Printed Circuits Technical Director Michael Weinhold, and Chairman Alun Morgan.
Alun, can you get us started by describing the successes of recent times since you joined EIPC? You had a conference recently. What was the outcome of the conference?
Alun Morgan: Yes, we had a very successful conference in Munich at the beginning of February. In fact, that marks the fifth event that we've had this year, so we've carried out four workshops and one conference in the space of the first, say, five weeks of the year. That’s pretty encouraging. The conference was in Munich. We attracted nearly 90 delegates from 11 different countries to attend. We usually find the conferences work very well when we have a good agenda, which means we have good technical presentations. We have an accessible venue, which Munich certainly was. And third we have a good attraction. We were able to organize a visit to the Eurofighter production line in Manching, courtesy of Airbus Defence and Space, which I was very pleased they agreed to. I think those three things came together and gave us a very exciting conference.
Highlights include a session on reliability, which was very well reviewed and commented upon, and we will certainly run a road show of workshops on reliability. So we'll bring together some of the key speakers from the events and we'll run those out into the next few months where we hope to attract a lot of interest.
The other item we covered in some detail was signal integrity, which is becoming more and more important in many applications. We had a very nice overview of that, including an aspect from a chemical supplier, who has proposed a new treatment for the oxide side of copper. We know very well what the profile of copper does to signal integrity. Then we got another view that we haven't really had in the last couple of years that really made it nice and rounded. So now we have a very nice view from the people like Polar Instruments, who provide the test equipment, from the board shops, the fabricators, from chemistry supplies and for laminate suppliers.
All in all, a great package that we can also road show as a training workshop. So I think we'll certainly roll that out in the next few months. We're looking forward now to SMT in May which will be in Nuremberg, where again I've been invited to deliver a keynote speech in the PCB forum. And then our next conference in June will be in Berlin.
Starkey: May I ask you what will be the topic of your keynote speech?Page 1 of 3
Suggested Items
Atotech to Participate at KPCA Show 2024
09/03/2024 | AtotechMKS’ Atotech will participate in this year’s KPCA Show 2024 in Incheon, held at Songdo Convensia from September 4-6, 2024.
Victory Announces Breakthrough in PCB Technology with New Product Launch
08/29/2024 | openPRShenzhen Victory Electronics Technology Co., Ltd., a leader in the printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing industry, is proud to announce the successful development of a groundbreaking new product.
Connect the Dots: Designing for Reality—Electroless Copper
08/28/2024 | Matt Stevenson -- Column: Connect the DotsRoll up your sleeves because it's time to get messy. In a recent episode of I-Connect007’s On the Line with… podcast, we discussed electroless copper deposition. This process deposits a copper layer into the through-holes and vias of what will eventually be a PCB. Electroless copper deposition feels like a black box to many people. It sort of looks like a black box, too. The boards go in one side, come out the other, and emerge differently. So, let's crack open that black box and look inside.
Maximizing ROI Through Better Wet Process Control
08/20/2024 | I-Connect007 Editorial Team“When things get out of control, the variation in your wet process begins,” says Mike Carano,. “Just because they look like good boards and may even pass electrical test, it does not necessarily mean you have good boards. Once the chemistry is headed toward the right or left side of the process control parameter cliff, the plating is compromised. If the copper is thinner than it should be, when the customer puts it into service, the board may fail after 500 cycles vs. the requisite 1,000 or 2,000 cycles. The root cause issue is that you plated 7/10ths of a mil of copper instead of one-mil of copper because you were not controlling your process. The fact that you passed your own electric test becomes inconsequential.”
The Chemical Connection: Controlling an Alkaline Etch Bath With Low Copper Loading
08/07/2024 | Don Ball -- Column: The Chemical ConnectionThis month, I wanted to continue my discussion on how much process control is actually needed for high-density circuit production. However, in the last month, I have been called on to help with a specific process control problem: how to control an alkaline etch bath when you’re not etching much copper. This problem has been cropping up more frequently as smaller shops (and a few larger ones) concentrate on low-volume, high-value plated through-hole panels such as prototypes, resistor cores, etc.