CircuiTree articles from March 2005

CircuiTree archives from March 2005

Best edition ever?(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2005... [Your February issue] was one of the best editions ever--from the cover article on "Direct Writing" to Karl Dietz's usual excellent presentation on industry technology drivers. I thoroughly enjoyed the series of letters from Marshal [Gurian]...

Implement tax on all imports now!(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2005... I read with interest [Dan Feinberg's column "Fair Trade? Yes, But Not Protectionism," December 2004]. He pointed out his reasons to support one of two methods to control imports. But he [didn't] look at the overall picture of excessive imports....

The future of dry film photoresist.(SupplierSpotlight)
March 1, 2005... Dry film photoresist remains the most widely used resist type for PWB production, since shortly after DuPont[TM] Riston[R] was invented in the late 1960s. What's the future of dry film photoresist, and what's driving the introduction of new dry...

America's innovation 'Shuffle'.(TheWayWeSeeIt)
March 1, 2005... For my birthday, I was given Apple's new portable music player, the iPod "Shuffle." As any tech geek or music fan will tell you, it's the latest incarnation of the company's hugely successful iPod series, capable of holding over 200 songs in...

Via life vs. temperature stress analysis of Interconnect Stress Test data: a new data analysis methodology provides significant insight into plated through via reliability versus thermal stress temperature.(Interconnect Stress Testing)(measuring plated through via )
March 1, 2005... Interconnect Stress Testing (IST) was developed during the 1990s as a test method for measuring plated through via and interconnect reliability in printed circuit boards. A new data analysis methodology presented here provides significant...

Green is our color. Hi-tech is our nature. Featuring a complete product line of laminates and prepregs.
March 1, 2005... PRODUCTS IT140 IT150-M Property Condition Std. FR-4 Mid-Tg Tg ([degrees]C) DSC 140 155 Tg ([degrees]C) DMA 148 ...

Circuit jetting.(CircuitsUnusual)
March 1, 2005... Some have dreamed of making circuit boards by hurling self-assembling conductors at dielectrics. While the industry is very good at making printed circuits, it's not all that easy because there are so many steps in the process that want to get...

As the trade deficit grows.(Fein-Lines)
March 1, 2005... As I write this the latest trade deficit numbers are just crossing the wire. The deficit being reported is much higher than expected and, in fact, even the previous month's numbers were just revised upward to a record $60.3 billion. We can...

Sierra Proto Express.(ADVERTORIAL)(Advertisement)
March 1, 2005... "Sierra Proto Express Presents Tomorrow's Technology-Today!" Tired of endless evolutions? Are you ready for a real revolution? In 2004, Sierra Proto Express decided it was time for a change--time for America's electronics industry to...

Option Technologies gaining momentum.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Haslingden, England -- After its debut at the 2004 IPC Show in Anaheim, Option Technologies said it is beginning to make an impact on the U.S. PCB market. The company is a manufacturer of small-to-medium quantities of masslam (custom innerlayer...

Samtec named DesignVision Award finalist.(Suppliers)
March 1, 2005... Samtec, Inc. has been named a DesignVision Award finalist in the PCB Design Tools category for development of its Final Inch[R] product for streamlining the layout of the PCB signal breakout region around high speed connectors. The...

Transene acquires Acton Technologies' segment.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Danvers, MA -- Transene Company acquired a high purity segment of the Electronic Chemicals Division of Acton Technologies (Pittston, PA). Included in the transaction are thin film metal and semiconductor etchants as well as plating chemicals...

Tapco signs letter of intent to purchase EIS Circuit Supply.(Suppliers)(Tapco Associates)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Tapco Associates has signed a letter of intent to purchase the Circuit Supply Division of EIS, a national distributor of materials to the PCB industry. The purchase of EIS Circuit Supply is expected to be completed by the end of the first...

Orbotech, Quanta Display ink deal.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Yavne, Israel -- Orbotech received a major additional order from Taiwan-based Quanta Display Inc. for multiple AOI systems, in both in-line and off-line configurations, as well as Eyes-2020[TM] data analysis software to be utilized in the...

Viking announces more sales, orders.(Suppliers)(Circast electronics)(Eurotech Group Plc)(Multi-Teknik)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Circast electronics (Leamington Spa, UK) purchased a Microjet Direct legend Printer from MicroCraft. The Microjet can print a 2-mil line on most common soldermasks. Second, Eurotech Group Plc (Exmouth, UK) ordered two MicroCraft Emma,...

TMT Trading, OPTEK sign agreement.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... TMT Trading GmbH (Germany), a distributor of PCB products, and Operations Technology, Inc., a U.S.-based manufacturer of precision measuring equipment, signed a distributor agreement for Europe. Operations Technology provides the OPTEK VideoMic...

Preco Industries, CIT announce business venture.(Suppliers)(Conductive Inkjet Technology)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Lenexa, KS -- Preco Industries announced a strategic partnership with Conductive Inkjet Technology (CIT), a U.K. business venture formed by technical-plastics developer Carclo and inkjet-technology company Xennia Technology. Preco will work...

PerfecTest reveals installations.(Suppliers)(PerfecTest P4 systems)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Redmond, WA -- PerfecTest Corp. said the following companies purchased and installed PerfecTest P4 systems for controlling innerlayer registration in high-density multilayer PCBs: Saturn Electronics (Romulus, MI), Teradyne (Nashua, NH), Eastern...

WISE Software reports a 15% increase in North American revenue.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Newberg, OR -- WISE Software Solutions Inc. announced that annual 2004 revenues were up 15% in North America and 6% internationally over 2003. Growth was also captured as a result of the success of GerbTool[TM] version 13, which provided...

DKN offers free newsletter.(Suppliers)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Haverhill, MA -- DKN Research, an engineering and research company serving the global interconnect industry, is opening its weekly newsletter to all interested parties on a no-cost basis. The newsletter, predominantly covering the latest...

Back to basics 2: flexible circuit base materials.(FlexibleThinking)
March 1, 2005... The first part of this series covered the topic of basic flex circuit constructions profiling the most commonly employed structures. This second in the series reviews some of the most common base materials used in the construction of flex...

Getting a handle on materials declaration.(IPCIssuesandAnswers)
March 1, 2005... As many companies struggle to determine their strategy for meeting the European Union (EU) Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive and other material restrictions, companies throughout the supply chain are being "driven up the...

America's dynamic duo: two American printed circuit makers--Electropac and Hallmark Circuits--are on opposite sides of the country. Though separated by more than 3,000 miles, they share similar strategies when adapting to the harsh economic realities of the global economy.
March 1, 2005... CircuiTree often focuses on large printed circuit manufacturers who deal in high-volume production and are publicly traded. While most of these companies grab headlines along with the volume jobs, we thought it was time to shift our focus to...

Fiber lasers: the hot new laser source.(SeeingTheLight)
March 1, 2005... For years, since their invention in early 1960s, fiber lasers were employed primarily in laboratories as bench-top tools. The low power output (milliWatt range) prevented fiber lasers from serious consideration as industrial tools, confining...

Spirit Circuits celebrates first anniversary.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Rochester, UK -- Spirit Circuits celebrated its first birthday at the Southern Electronics show (February 16-17) at Thorpe Park in the United Kingdom. Spirit Circuits started trading on the 16th of February 2004 and after a self-described...

Circast electronics purchases MicroCraft Direct legend Printer.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Leamington Spa, UK -- Circast electronics purchased a Microjet Direct legend Printer from MicroCraft. The Microjet system is a digital printing system to apply the legend to the PWB without any films or artwork, direct from data. The MicroJet...

Cosmotronic qualifies MIL-PRF-31032.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Irvine, CA -- Cosmotronic, an ITAR and AS9100B registered provider of complex, advanced-technology interconnection circuitry, qualified to make MIL-PRF-31032 for rigid, rigid-flex, and flexible PCBs. Cosmotronic has been providing military...

Teradyne invests $2 million in PCB Technology Team.(Fabrication)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Nashua, NH -- Teradyne Inc. Connection Systems Division, formed a PCB Technology Team that will develop and introduce new products and processes to meet PCB technology requirements for the future. The team is comprised of veteran PCB engineers...

Korea's PCB makers think big.(Fabrication)(Printed circuit boards)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Seoul -- According to a survey made by PSP Research Institute, 33 South Korean PCB manufacturers plan to raise a total of $4.8 billion (5.0319 trillion won) in sales this year, up 32% over last year. South Korea's top five PCB makers, including...

IPS to consolidate PC Dynamics, Lone Star Circuits.(Integrated Performance Systems Inc.)
March 1, 2005... Dallas, TX -- Integrated Performance Systems, a printed circuit board and electronics component manufacturer, announced that it plans to consolidate its PC Dynamics manufacturing operations located in Frisco, Texas into its state-of-the-art,...

Park Electrochemical.(People)(appointments)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Lake Success, NY -- Park Electrochemical Corp. appointed Jonathan Spiegel as Product Director.

Advanced Circuits.(People)(appointments)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Aurora, CO -- Advanced Circuits named John Yacoub, formerly CFO and COO of the company, as president.

Agilent Technologies.(People)(appointments)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Palo Alto, CA -- Agilent Technologies elected William P. (Bill) Sullivan as the company's president and CEO.

Tapco.(People)(Tapco Associates Inc.)(appointments)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Chicago, IL -- Tapco Associates Inc. hired two new managers to lead IT and quality initiatives. Roy Devadas joined Tapco as Information Technology Manager. Rob Shah signed on as Tapco's Quality Manager.

MacDermid.(People)(appointments)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Bruce Lee joined the OEM & Assembly Applications team at MacDermid, Inc. as Specifications Manager. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Innovex.(People)(appointments)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Maple Plain, MN -- Innovex Inc. added Townsend H. Porter to the company's Board of Directors.

Taconic.(People)(appointments)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Petersburgh, NY -- Taconic named Manfred Huschka Vice President of Global Sales for the Advanced Dielectric Division.

Maurice Hubert Associates.(People)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Maurice Hubert Associates was appointed as the Managing Distibutor for the Piergiacomi range of hand tools in the U.K. and Irish markets.

M-Flex.(People)(Multi-Fineline Electronix, Inc.)(WBL Corp. Ltd.)(appointments)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Anaheim, CA -- Multi-Fineline Electronix, Inc. (M-Flex) elected Choon Seng Tan, the new chief executive officer of WBL Corp. Ltd., to its board of directors.

Rohm and Haas.(People)(appointments)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Marlborough, MA -- Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials named Chris Milton General Manager, Europe, for the company's Circuit Board Technologies business. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] For a list of positions available, check in at NDS...

Case study on embedded resistor design and cost impact: embedding resistors in high-speed boards and chip packages can generate significant cost savings from reduced size and reduced component placement costs.
March 1, 2005... Embedding passive components such as resistors and capacitors inside boards and chip packages can offer substantial benefits to the designer: [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] * Open up valuable real estate on the surface allowing increased...

Sizing an embedded bandpass filter.(EmbeddedPassivesUpdate)
March 1, 2005... I've been working for some weeks with Symmorphix Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA) on a project to demonstrate RF filters using embedded passives. This is not a journal article so I'll skip lots of details, but we learned a few things in general, and I...

LPKF introduces ProtoLaser[TM] 100 laser structuring system.(Products)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Wilsonville, OR -- LPKF Laser & Electronics announced the new ProtoLaser 100, an easy-to-operate high-performance laser structuring system for PCB prototyping that combines the milling, drilling and contour routing capabilities of an advanced...

Isola launches IS500 Halogen Free product.(Products)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Chandler, AZ -- Isola Group launched its IS500, the next generation High Tg Halogen Free product. The product addresses the emerging need for lead free and halogen free platforms. IS500 has a Tg approximately 180[degrees]C and the Dk/Df closely...

Holland Shielding Systems develops new foil.(Products)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Holland Shielding Systems BV developed a new type of Mu-copper foil for electromagnetic shielding of rooms, buildings and appliances. With this material, which can be applied as wallpaper, an existing room can be transformed easily into a...

Samtec releases new Full Line Catalog.(Products)
March 1, 2005... Samtec has released its new F-205 Full Line Catalog, providing 340 pages of applications, specifications, and ordering information on Samtec Sudden Circuits[R] High Speed Connectors, Board-Board Interconnects, Rugged & Power Systems, I/O...

Metallic Resources reveals new lead free solder alloy.(Products)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Metallic Resources Inc. introduced a new lead free hot air leveling solder alloy comprised of "enhanced" tin/copper. The proprietary (and patent pending) alloy has been formulated to produce a brighter and shinier surface compared to...

Rogers introduces new Flex Circuit Materials.(Products)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Rogers, CT -- Rogers introduced its 2L-FCCL Adhesiveless, All-polyimide (API) Flexible Circuit Materials for use in cell phone hinge flex, LCD interconnection and other applications at IPC Expo. Offerings include a single-clad, cast-on type...

Report: how small U.S. manufacturers can succeed in global world.(Products)(EcoMatrix)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Harpers Ferry, WV -- To support U.S. manufacturers in continuing their leadership role in the face of increasing pressure from offshore competition, EcoMatrix is providing a free report, "Inverting the Offshore Trend." This report describes a...

McGraw hill publishes 'Implementing Lead-Free' book.(Products)
March 1, 2005... Dr. Jennie Hwang completed another new book: Implementing Lead-Free Electronics (ISBN: 0-07-144374-6). The book is a companion to the author's previous book: Environment-Friendly Electronics: Lead-Free Technology that covers lead-free...

BPA Consulting, Quantum Performance Group team up.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... BPA Consulting Ltd. and Quantum Performance Group, LLC are combining forces to present Executive Briefing Meetings (EBM) on "Next Generation Interconnect Technology for High Speed and Miniaturized Systems. "The EBMs will be presented in Newport...

Soft landing ... hopefully no crash.(MarketOutlook)(Industry Overview)
March 1, 2005... In 2004, the world's PCB production totaled about $38 billion (Chart 1), with Asia (including Japan) representing 75%. Not surprisingly most of the growth was in China, South Korea and Taiwan with North America and Europe quite flat. ...

Flextronics, Nortel complete transfer of manufacturing ops.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Singapore -- Flextronics and Nortel announced that they have successfully completed the transfer of the manufacturing operations and related assets including product integration, testing, repair and logistics operations of Nortel's Systems...

Fine lines in high yield (Part CXIV): hole voids (Part A).(TechTalk)
March 1, 2005... Conductor via through-hole voids, or "hole voids," are a variety of defects stemming from a number of different causes leading to insufficient or missing metal coverage in the conductor via. This four-part series is an update of the topic of...

WISE srl: a phoenix rising from the ashes?(WISE)(wet processing equipment )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... WISE completed its first year in business, manufacturing wet processing equipment for the PCB industry. Located in Parma, Italy, the facilities which formerly turned out IS equipment are experiencing a true rebirth, as the technical,...

Events.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
March 1, 2005... March 15-17, 2005 Electronica & Productronica China Shanghai New International Exhibition Center, China Visit www.electronica.de March 16-18, 2005 CPCA Show Shanghai, China Visit: www.cpca.org.cn April...