Driven by the need for increased speed, portability and wiring density, the interconnect pitch on semiconductor packages, and the corresponding high density interconnect (HDI) substrates, continue to shrink. The combination of filled blind microvias and build-up technology provides a means to achieve the required wiring densities. With the rapid growth of this technology, the use of electrodeposited copper for filling blind microvias has become a widely adopted process for manufacture of both HDI printed circuit boards (PCBs) and also semiconductor package substrates.
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The development of modern continuous sheet galvanizing lines has led to the disappearance of most of the old manual mills for galvanizing cut sheets. There are however still some machines that galvanize cut-to-length sheets; they use chemical pretreatment sequence similar to those for wire or tube galvanizing.
At the beginning of the line, the end of one coil is welded to the start of the next coil. Then there are two basic methods for continuously galvanizing sheet which differ in the way that the strip is cleaned before galvanizing-chemically or by thermal treatments. Coils of annealed cold reduced sheet may be fed directly to the galvanizing line, or alternatively, coiled sheet is continuously heat treated in the pretreatment line. After leaving the galvanizing bath, in which strip only stays for a few seconds, the surface is wiped to remove excess zinc and may be further treated to after the surface appearance, composition, smoothness or mechanical properties.
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Commercial Electroplating
1. Electroplating is the process of placing a coat of metal on a substrate. Although small applications of electroplating can be used in home workshop or hobby applications, most electroplating is achieved in commercial settings. This has much to do with the size of objects or substrates being electroplated, the size and cost of the machinery needed to fulfill orders from customers and the need for space to accommodate electroplating processes. When the object being electroplated is supplied to the electroplate company 1 million at a time, an additional parameter for volume increases the space needed to complete the business of electroplating.
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Updating its DOS-based software, the company introduces DynaComm II, a 32-bit, Windows-based software that operates under any of the current platforms available (95/98/NT/CE). Employing either the simple point-and-click or touch-screen technology common for Windows applications, DynaComm II provides an electroplating process control program for the PRO-Series and DC rectifiers.
This program consists of an Operator Interface (OI) for parameter entry and display and a Control Server (CS) to control and monitor the rectifiers. These two applications use a Windows socket connection to interchange data using the Internet protocol. This two-part design allows DynaComm II to be installed on a single computer for a stand alone application or to be installed on separate computers where the operator’s and rectifier’s positions can be separated by feet or miles.
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Flexible printed circuit boards (FPCs) are applied to various electronic devices due to their mechanical characteristics and are indispensable to electronic devices requiring system miniaturization, weight reduction and multi-functionality. This article describes a new electrolytic copper plating technology which is an essential step in the manufacturing process of FPCs. This new electrolytic copper plating technology improves the manufacturing process and realizes higher functionality.
Application of FPC
FPCs are employed in a wide variety of applications due to the nature of their characteristics. Examples of applications for FPCs include cell-phone liquid crystal display enclosure, hinge parts, keypad, battery enclosure and interface components. FPCs are also used in optical pickup and device interfaces inside hard disk drives, digital still cameras and digital camcorders. Desired performance characteristics are: 1) wiring within small spaces; 2) wiring connection accompanied by mechanical functions within working part/device and motherboard; and 3) high density interconnect resulting from denser and narrower features.
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