CircuiTree articles from September 2006

CircuiTree archives from September 2006

An open letter to IPC.(Inbox)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2006... Dear Colleagues, I am writing today to ask for your assistance in addressing a grievous wrong that is having a major impact on our industry; the ill considered legislation and directives of the European Community banning lead in most...

Correction of inner-layer registration in multilayer PCBs.(printed circuit boards)
September 1, 2006... Inner and outer layers of multilayer PCBs do shift during the fabrication processes, possibly creating poor layer-to-layer alignment. This can be a particularly costly scenario when these movements create breakouts or miss-alignment of the...

The shows must go on!(The Way We See It)
September 1, 2006... It's September, and that means that the industry tradeshows are right around the corner. If you're responsible, by this time you've probably reserved your flights, booked your hotels, and might even be muttering to a few colleagues that there...

Built-in reliability: optimization of the desmear and metalization processes for use on high frequency and lead-free laminate materials; How to improve the adhesion of the copper deposit through a closer study of the critical success factors influencing the metal adhesion to both the interconnect and hole wall.(printed wiring board )
September 1, 2006... PWB fabricators and end users must manage ever-increasing complexities in PWB design, technology requirements and long-term reliability. It is critical that key processes such as desmear and electroless copper provide optimum reliability...

PCi tackles UL approval on rigid-flex circuitry.(Fab Focus News)
September 1, 2006... Minneapolis, MN -- Printed Circuits Inc. (PCi) received UL 94V0 and UL 796 approval for the most comprehensive qualification of rigid flex PCBs in the world. Rigid flex engineers, designers and buyers can now receive UL approved boards from...

GSPK's success calls for new website.(Fab Focus News)
September 1, 2006... Knaresborough, North Yorkshire -- GSPK Circuits Ltd. launched a new website: www.gspkcircuits.ltd.uk. The company's growing success has resulted in the need to establish a website to clearly communicate GSPK Circuit's success and ongoing...

eVAR opens Malaysian supply management center.(Fab Focus News)
September 1, 2006... Exception VAR (eVAR), the offshoring specialist of PCBs and electronic components, opened a new supply management centre (SMC) in Penang, Malaysia. Part of the Exception Group, eVAR has seen demand for its managed offshore manufacturing...

Asia Pacific manufacturing IT spending to reach $22 billion in 2010.(Fab Focus News)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Singapore -- According to a recent report "Asia/Pacific (Excluding Japan) Manufacturing IT Spending 2006-2010 Forecast" of Manufacturing Insights, an IDC company, the APEJ manufacturing industry has been recovering and gaining momentum after...

Trackwise acquires MCL.(Microwave Components Ltd )(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Trackwise acquired the PCB manufacturing assets previously used by Microwave Components Ltd (MCL), of Rochester, Kent, UK. Manufacturing will be consolidated at Trackwise's facility in Tewkesbury. Philip Johnston, the Managing Director of...

SOMACIS pcb industries continues growth.(SOMACIS Deutschland GmbH)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Munich -- SOMACIS pcb industries founded SOMACIS Deutschland GmbH, a new commercial Business Unit in Munich. In his role as Sales Manager Germany Mr. Jo van Neer will manage this new business unit and he will also take on the role of Key...

Fine lines in high yield (Part CXXXII): reminiscing about fully additive processes, electroless copper, and direct metallizations.(Tech Talk)
September 1, 2006... Up front I should apologize to the readers of Tech Talk who have learned to expect solid technical information on the fabrication of advanced PWBs and packages. But this time I am tempted to reflect on some changes in the metallization of PWBs...

TPCA product preview.
September 1, 2006... Enthone -- Booth #AD7 Enthone Introduces CUPROSTAR[R] CVF1 Microvia Fill Acid Copper. CUPROSTAR CVF1 acid copper plating process is specially developed for filling blind microvias and plating through-holes simultaneously in vertical DC...

Plugging pastes: via plugging of HDI boards; As demand for copper plating and dimensional stability grows, so is the importance of via plugging. Read on to learn how you can safely use plugging pastes at high temperatures.
September 1, 2006... In the beginning, PCBs with plugged buried vias were mainly used for a temperature range of up to 125[degrees]C. Today, however, they are increasingly used in higher temperature ranges up to 175[degrees]C. The thermal expansion of the plug that...

Kemmer Technology bucks outsourcing trend.(Supply Line News)
September 1, 2006... Schwabisch Gmund, Switzerland -- In contrast to outsourcing trends to low cost countries, Kemmer Technology AG has been withdrawing its production facilities from Switzerland since January, and transferring the work to Germany. "By June all our...

Burkle North America's Fab Four partner, Schmoll, selected by Prototron Circuits.(Supply Line News)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Garden Grove, CA -- Dave Howard, Vice President--Electronics Products of the Burkle North America FabFour Marketing Alliance, announced that Prototron Circuits Inc. has ordered two systems from Schmoll Maschinen for its Redmond, Washington...

Printline invests in Control Center engineering planning system.(Supply Line News)
September 1, 2006... Odense, Denmark -- Direct Logix Inc. announced the purchase made by Printline of Control Center[TM] automated manufacturing process planning software for bare PCB manufacturing.

Added Value Technology installs Enthone final finishes.(Supply Line News)
September 1, 2006... West Haven, CT -- Added Value Technology LLC (AVT) installed the AlphaSTAR[R] immersion silver and ENTEK[R] PLUS HT organic solderability preservative processes to meet the electronics industry lead-free assembly requirements. The final...

Korean bumping house orders two Camtek falcons.(Supply Line News)
September 1, 2006... Migdal Ha'emek, Israel -- Camtek Ltd. received an order for two Falcon wafer inspection systems from a major Korean bumping house. The falcons will inspect wafers of driver chips for flat panel display (FPD) screens. The integrity of the...

Everett Charles Technologies consolidates atg Test Systems, Luther Maelzer.(Supply Line News)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Pomona, CA -- Everett Charles Technologies announced plans for two of its Capital Equipment Group's wholly owned business units, atg Test Systems (Wertheim, Germany) and Luther Maelzer Gmbh (Wunstorff, Germany), to consolidate operations into a...

Stora Enso joins Parelec's Certified RFID Partner Program.(Supply Line News)
September 1, 2006... Stevens Point, WI -- The Global Speciality Papers Group of Stora Enso has signed an exclusive agreement with Parelec Inc. to join Parelec's Certified RFID Partner Program as a strategic partner for RFID antennae paper substrates.

Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials aligns Circuit Board Technologies' global strategy.(Supply Line News)
September 1, 2006... Marlborough, MA -- Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials, Circuit Board Technologies (CBT) completed the sale of its liquid soldermask, legend ink and "screen printable" etch resist business to Electra Polymers Ltd in June 2006. "These product...

HMS begins construction of fourth factory.(Hollmuller Maschinenbau GmbH )(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Herrenberg, Germany -- In June ground was broken and thus the path cleared for Hollmuller Maschinenbau GmbH (HMS) next expansion phase. The new facilities located in Nowogradiez in Poland (basically identical to the Roth factory) will take up...

Excellon Automation re-establishes European distributor.(Supply Line News)
September 1, 2006... Rancho Dominguez, CA -- Excellon Automation renewed the appointment of ExCellTec GmbH as Service and spare parts distributor for Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Scandinavia, Greece, Italy, Eastern Europe, Turkey and Near East.

Sun Chemical Circuits changes name.(Supply Line News)
September 1, 2006... Coates Circuit Products changed its name to Sun Chemical Circuits. The company has been trading under the Coates brand for many years, but this change reflects the organization's fully integrated position within the Sun Chemical group of...

Micronic receives order for Omega6080 system.(Supply Line News)
September 1, 2006... Taby, Sweden -- Micronic Laser Systems AB received an order for an Omega6080 laser pattern generator from a customer in Asia. "A large share of the semiconductor industry's photomasks are produced with an aging fleet of e-beam and laser pattern...

More FIBRotools[TM] installations.(Supply Line News)
September 1, 2006... ECSI, the manufacturer of IKo Classic -- electroplating and electroforming equipment for MEMS and HDIs--is experiencing a banner season. IKo's sales penetrated markets in Italy (Politecnico di Torino, Torino), Belgium (UCL, Louvain-la-Neuve),...

Viking Test Services announces sales.(Supply Line News)(Newbury Electronics bought MicroCraft MJL6151 Direct legend Printer)(Graphic Plc)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Newbury Electronics (Newbury, UK) purchased a MicroCraft MJL6151 Direct legend Printer from Viking Test Services. The system was chosen for its superior image quality. In other news, Graphic Plc (Devon, UK) ordered a MicroCraft test...

Seica doubles production capacity.(Supply Line News)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Strambino, Italy -- Seica SpA completed new production buildings at the Seica headquarter near Turin. With the completion of a new 1,300 square meter production hall, Seica has nearly doubled the production capacity. Along with the production...

Specialty Coating Systems equipment meets RoHS requirements.(Supply Line News)
September 1, 2006... Indianapolis, IN -- Specialty Coating Systems (SCS) has confirmed that their equipment lines meet the requirements of the EU's RoHS Directive 2002/95/EC, which went into effect July 1, 2006. In other news, the company opened its newest...

WISE snags order for developing, S-E-S machines.(WISE Worldwide Enterprise contracts with Harbor Electronics Inc.)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Parma, Italy -- WISE Worldwide Enterprise srl received a new order from Harbor Electronics (CA) for DEVSTAR, the latest evolution of dry film developer. The line will be installed in third quarter of this year. In other news, WISE received...

A capacitance-size diagram for embeddable dielectrics.(Embedded Passives Update)(Column)
September 1, 2006... In the past few columns, I've been describing some of the commercially available embeddable dielectric technologies, and why they act they way they do. In this installment, I want to pull the capacitance data together for easy comparison. One...

Mania and Camtek sign OEM plotter agreement.(Data Transfer)
September 1, 2006... Migdal Ha'emek, Israel -- Camtek Ltd. (Nasdaq: CAMT, TASE: CAMT) and Mania Technologie AG of Riedelbach, Germany, announced that the two companies have signed an OEM agreement under which Camtek will offer film plotters for photo tools, based...

Improving yields: linear and non-linear dimensional analysis, correction and predictions; As PCB designs become more complex, the effects of dimensional instability have made registration control key to maintaining high yields.
September 1, 2006... The key to understanding and improving registration compensation is to collect, understand and utilize measurement data from the in-process inspection steps. After collating sufficient data, it is possible to analyze this data and provide...

Rogers introduces R/flex JADE[TM] series adhesive system for flex circuit designs.(Technology Today News)
September 1, 2006... Rogers, CT -- Rogers Corporation is introducing R/flex JADE[TM] series flexible circuit materials. Environmentally friendly, these materials meet flammability requirements without the use of halogens. They are also lead-free solder capable....

Christopher Associates announces AOI programming breakthrough.(Technology Today News)
September 1, 2006... Santa Ana, CA -- Christopher Associates Inc. announced breakthroughs in performance of the NSpec automatic optical inspection system. With a universal data converter, an enhanced and extensive parts library, and significant performance...

Taconic introduces HyRelex.(Technology Today News)
September 1, 2006... Taconic introduced HyRelex, a family of low loss, high reliability, thin, flexible interconnect materials. HyRelex laminates can be used in conjunction with HyRelex bond-ply and cover-lay for a wide range of applications including high...

PCBs in the wild west: Colorado 2006.(Data Transfer)
September 1, 2006... Colorado is a unique state with a proud history. On our last Road Show in 2003, the state's (then 11) PCB fabricators accounted for sales of $82 million. Today, 2006 sales of now 10 PCB fabricators (with 652 employees) should exceed $102...

Back to basics Part 11: flex circuit design--conserving material by design.(Flexible Thinking)
September 1, 2006... The topic of Part 10 of this series on flex circuit basics dealt with establishing the tolerances on flex circuit features in the design process. The intention was to point out the intrinsic problems of manufacturing thin flexible materials to...

Excellon Automation.(appointed Mike Mattorano )(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Rancho Dominguez, CA -- Excellon Automation named Mike Mattorano as a Systems Specialist and an addition to its Western Region service team in the San Francisco Bay Area. Mike has extensive experience in the repair and service of Excellon...

Photocircuits.(Power People News)
September 1, 2006... Photocircuits appointed two new executives to its management team. The company's new CEO is Steven Lach. He joins the company having served most recently as the VP and General Manager of the Western Region of Sanmina-SCI. "We are very pleased...

Hitachi Asia Ltd.(Power People News)
September 1, 2006... Tokyo, Japan -- Hitachi, Ltd. appointed Shunsuke Ohtsu, Managing Director Hitachi Asia Ltd., as Chief Executive for Asia. The Chief Executive for Asia is the Hitachi Group's senior representative for all Asian countries, except Japan and China....

Park Electrochemical Corp.(Power People News)
September 1, 2006... Melville, NY -- Park Electrochemical Corp. appointed Anthony W. DiGaudio as Vice President of Marketing in addition to his position as Vice President of Sales, to which he was promoted in June 2005. As Vice President of Marketing and Sales,...

Technic.(Power People News)
September 1, 2006... Cranston, RI -- Eric Stafstrom has joined Technic Inc. as a Global Product Manager, bringing with him over 20 years of plating, engineering, customer service and marketing experience in the PCB, semiconductor and metal finishing markets. Eric...

TechSearch International's analysis shows flip chip substrate supply tight through end of 2006.(Data Transfer)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... As TechSearch International predicted last year, increased demand in 2005 resulted in longer delivery times and price increases for laminate flip chip build-up substrates. While several companies have added capacity since 2005, the situation is...

Standards for PCB serialization: with circuit board real estate being taken up by increasing demands from engineers--and PCB physical dimensions decreasing,--traceability is a growing focus for PCB manufacturers.
September 1, 2006... By encoding PCBs with identifying markers, companies insure themselves against costly production and engineering mistakes. Serialization enables companies to trace the production process, immediately identify products compromised by flawed...

RoHS: babies on the way?(Restriction of Hazardous Substances )
September 1, 2006... It's here, like it or not. European legislation--Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS)--went into effect on July 1, 2006. While this new legislation has been difficult enough for many in the electronics industry, perhaps more daunting is...

North American PCB industry grows in stature; Decent global end market demand but bloated chip inventories.(Market Outlook)
September 1, 2006... There was some big news in early August: TTM Technologies acquired Tyco Printed Circuit Group business unit from Tyco International for $226 million. "The acquisition of Tyco Printed Circuit Group makes us a leader in the attractive...

Faraday Technology files first product patent.(Data Transfer)
September 1, 2006... Clayton, Ohio -- Faraday Technology recently filed a patent for a plating cell design that can greatly enhance the uniformity of copper electro-deposits on printed wiring boards (PWB). Patent filings are not new to Faraday. They currently...

Wise guise: a new concept in surface treatment equipment; A review of Wise's high-precision planarisation system, capable of removing residues of resins, pastes and inks, reveals it to be an enabler for via-filling technology.
September 1, 2006... "Microvia-in-pad" has become an increasingly significant outerlayer feature of high-density designs, specifically as a means of freeing up real estate under micro-BGA packages to aid conductor routing. But open vias can cause problems in...

Vertical thinking.(in circuit design)
September 1, 2006... Creativity experts caution against too much vertical thinking, suggesting that lateral thinking will get us out of the box to find ideas that are more novel. But those who have been in the circuit business for a while have done plenty of...

Zmetrix releases ST100.(Data Transfer)
September 1, 2006... Zmetrix announces the release of a new ultra-low-cost TDR product for controlled impedance testing of printed circuit boards: The ST100. ST100 systems are currently configured for both single and differential measurements, and come with a...

2006 CircuiTree LIVE Conference Series.
September 1, 2006... Don't Miss Out... October 16th... An Additional Full Day of Flexible Circuitry Manufacturing Techniques taught by CircuiTree contributors Karl Dietz and Happy Holden. TAIWAN Conference Schedule 7:30-8:30 ...

Events.
September 1, 2006... CircuiTree LIVE Advanced Technologies for Packaging, Flex, and Rigid Flex September 7, 2006 Minneapolis, MN Website: www.circuitreelive.com DesignCon East--2006 Sept. 25-27, 2006 DCU Center Worcester, MA ...