EIPC Winter Conference Salzburg, 8-9 February 2007

Citation

Ling, J. (2007), "EIPC Winter Conference Salzburg, 8-9 February 2007", Circuit World, Vol. 33 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/cw.2007.21733bac.002

EIPC Winter Conference Salzburg, 8-9 February 2007

EIPC Winter Conference Salzburg, 8-9 February 2007

8 February

There was no snow in Salzburg; it was in England. So that meant that Salzburg was nice and warm, as was the welcome from Frank Smulders, EIPC Managing Director, who suggested that the usual tradition of going to say “hello” to someone in the room who you had not met before should be followed. As usual, it led to a whole host of animated conversations being struck up, and, as usual, getting the assembly to sit down again was a struggle. However, once achieved, Michael Weinhold, Technical Director, EIPC, introduced the planned activities that EIPC is involved with for the next 12 months. There is much going on.

The exchange of information is always one of the industry building blocks, and these conferences do much in these constructions. It always seems a shame that so many companies fail to take advantage, perhaps content to continue in their own world with the assumption that they are absolutely “on the ball”. One hopes so. They would have done well to have come to Salzburg if only to listen to the inimicable Walt Custer, whose crystal balls regarded with such awe.

Walt said that 2006 had been a relatively good year world wide, but he saw some slowing in 2007 due to higher interest rates. Also, the Euro is getting stronger, so exports are reducing. In North America, there has been slow growth in electronic equipment, but inventories are low anyway. Japan is static, but Taiwan EMS companies are showing huge growth, 21 per cent, with consumer goods peaking at Christmas time. Volume has, of course, shifted to low cost areas, but the protected markets such as military, medical, and high IP content products remain where they are.

Walt always sends his full data to those people to who come to the conference and who give him their business card, which is one heck of a good swap. But you need to come to the conference first, and this writer has no intention of giving you any free information you do not merit (Figure 3).

Figure 3 Frank Smulders, Managing Director, EIPC, The Netherlands, with Walt Custer, Custer Consulting Co., USA; Hans Friedrichkreit, PCB Network, Germany, and Jerome de Boysere, Clariant Products, Germany

In an absorbing presentation, Hans Friedrichkreit looked at the changes in production due to globalisation, using Japan as a business model, and told how three different companies have benefited from global expansion. In world PCB production, USA has dropped from 35 to 11 per cent, Europe from 25 to 8 per cent, but SE Asia has risen from 12 to 59 per cent. But in all this sea of change, Japan has remained secure. So why is high-waged Japan an exception? Well, Japan owns 26 per cent of the world market share in flexible circuitry, and 39 per cent of microvia production and is market leader in these technologies.

Hans looked at the three companies who had caught his eye. Founded 1864, the Schmid Group are based in Freudenstadt, Germany. With commendable foresight, in 1989 they produced the first flat panel display processing equipment, which was huge at 2.3m wide, and could handle panels 0.2-0.3mm thick, also equipment for solar industries photovoltaic products. Not only that but they started production of their equipment in Taiwan in 1999, long before many of the European PCB companies kicked off there. Their sales growth has been huge, rising from e35 million 10 years ago to this year's e170 million.

The second company was LPKF Laser & Electronics AG, who is the world market leader for laser routing and drilling, with about 70 per cent market share. Their Protolaser is perfect for prototypes, and for SMT stencil production, which allows smaller companies to produce stencils at low cost. They have a system for cutting and routing flexible PCBs, laser direct structuring for three-dimensional part creation. About 52 per cent of their sales are in the laser business; highly innovative, they are the world market leader in two business segments and have a well-established sales and service operations in SE Asia.

Finally, there is the e10 million Elekonta Marek, a company which is 33 years old, and which has always specialised in QTA and prototyping only. They aim for high-layer count PCBs, 14-layer flex-rigids, but only produce 1,200 PCBs per day, so it is not the volume, it is the value that counts. Dodd Marketing GmbH linked this company with high-volume Prime Star in Hong Kong, and with Photocircuits in the USA for the automotive boards, so they are now a one stop shop, with access to world markets.

The common properties that they have are as follows:

• •

  all of them are successful;

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  all of them listen to their customers;

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  all of them stay with the winners;

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  all of them have a strong skill base; and

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  all of them are in Asia, where the customers are.

Point made, Hans.

Jérôme de Boysère gave a useful insight into the wonderful EC regulations, and their consequences for the European electronics industry. There is no clear picture yet on how all the EU members are responding to the WEEE and RoHS Directives, but in practice consumer electronics and IT equipment are still not recycled and still not disposed of properly, with the exception of Germany where WEEE is a reality. Much equipment that has reached its end of life gets shipped to China or India, but the largest volume goes to landfill, although not for much longer, and certainly not in Germany. Even now only 10 per cent is sent for incineration for energy recovery, with 60 per cent going to landfill. It is a truth that what is waste for us can be reused in less developed countries. For us it is only waste when it is no longer useable, or it is obsolete.

The WEEE Directive was explained, and here the responsibility is being shifted back to the producer. But different WEEE laws are being implemented in the EU member states, which is causing some confusion.

Registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals (REACH) is a new EU Directive coming into force, but this should come as no surprise, as EIPC delegates were warned about this back in June 2006 by Veronique Steukers at the EIPC Conference in Venice. REACH will be in place by July this year. Manufacturers will need to submit more data on physical, chemical and toxicological properties, chemical safety assessment and exposure scenarios. It affects all chemicals produced in Europe, and affects all chemicals contained in articles being imported into Europe. It has global implications. It will affect all chemical companies, large and small, and the costs of implementing will probably force many of the smaller, speciality chemical producers out of business.

Having listened to Jerome, you have to hand it to the European Commission, they certainly know how to encourage and support business in Europe. No one will be able to manufacture anything, but e-waste management will be a booming business. For all the ghastly details, contact: www.clarient.com, www.exolit.com and www.flameretardents

Nils Ahrendt of Ormecon described an immersion tin plating concept based upon their “organic metal” conductive polymer, used as a component of the pre-dip chemistry. The catalytic effect of the organic metal gave very precise control of the tin-copper exchange mechanism, resulting in a very uniform tin deposit with large flat crystals. This gave better temperature resistance, improved shelf life and reduced susceptibility to oxidation and diffusion. Addition of silver to the organic metal pre-dip enhanced the resistance of the tin deposit to whisker formation by balancing the diffusion rates of tin into copper, and of copper into tin, reducing internal stress which is known to initiate whisker growth.

Dr Norbert Schulze from Umicore explained how palladium could be used as a diffusion barrier in electroless nickel immersion palladium immersion gold (ENIPIG) coatings (as opposed to ENEPIG, ENIGEG and other well- known acronyms for multifunctional surface finishes). The principles used in the finishing of palladium pre-plated lead frames have been adapted for PCB applications. A 4-6m electroless nickel, coated with less than 0.045m of immersion palladium and 0.03-0.06m immersion gold gave a very cost effective finish for lead-free soldering and wire bonding.

Guido Perrelet from EMS provider Asetronics then gave a user view and recounted the exhaustive qualification exercise his company had to endure in order to demonstrate to their automotive customers the benefits of the ENIPIG finish in functionality and reliability.

Hiroyoshi Toujima from MEC in Japan reported on the work which had been done to develop a new generation of super-roughening adhesion promoters for improving the reliability of dry-films, solder masks, and pre-preg bonding in the HDFI circuit manufacture. Their objective was to achieve a fine, deep, grain-boundary etch without excessive loss of metal or conductor profile, and their CZ-2001 product showed much better results in cross-hatch/acid dip/tape test than could be demonstrated by alterative surface preparation methods.

Paul Sevriens from Dutch Reverse Pulse Plating described some of the problems in plating distribution which could be resolved by applying their Easy-Pulse software. This engineering tool calculated optimum pulse plating parameters – total forward current, forward-reverse ratio, forward-reverse frequency and total plating time – which were then fed to the pulse plating rectifier. The parameters could be fine-tuned to adjust throwing power in large and small holes, and the system could adapt it is algorithm to suit different plating environments (Figure 4).

Figure 4 John Ling, Circuit World Associate Editor, with the speakers at Session 2 on Surface Treatment and Advanced Plating Technology, L-R – Paul Sevriens, Dutch Reverse Pulse Plating, The Netherlands; Hiroyoshi Toujima, MEC, Amagasaki, Japan; Norbert Schultze, Umicore Galvanotechnik Gmbh, Germany; Nils Arendt, Ormecon, Germany; and Guido Perrelet, Asetronics AG, Switzerland

The endearingly passionate Bernard Bismuth touched upon the changing face of the European PCB industry. However, the future market will be one devoted to high mix, high tech, with quick delivery times, small volumes, and strategic location. Imperatives will include proximity to markets, innovations, reduced time-to-market, long term partnerships, protection of IP, and the introduction of environmental regulations which have to be respected everywhere in the world. Some evidence of these has been seen, and being adaptable to change is the key. He felt that PCB production in Europe should be a vehicle of innovation in the years ahead, also the subject of costs should be discussed seriously. We need to see new investment in people, in equipment, to give the market evidence that one is really “in the business” (Figure 5).

Figure 5 Bernard Bismuth, CCI Eurolam, France talks to Paul Comer, Technical Director, Graphic PLC, Crediton, Devon

There are two big problems in Europe, the first being that the European Commissars still think that manufacturing is not important. Furthermore, there is a lack of funding for R&D in electronics from the EC, who in fact waste huge sums on abstract projects that have little bearing on what is needed.

Can we grow without volume? We need to work together and not as 25 separate countries, thought Bernard, we need to have a European industrial policy, and we need to be making savings in the supply chain. He sees the distributor being replaced by a professional, a technical specialist, handling different products, operating to a high quality standard, and being totally reliable. Just like Bernard, in fact.

JuÍrgen Willuweit is the cheerful face of Technolam. PCB production often demonstrates non-reproduceable properties regarding dimensional stability, twist and bow, impedance values, CAF behaviour, photoimageable yields, and copper peel values. The advantages of the vertical integration of the different components – raw materials- epoxy resin – copper foil, and the glass-yarn and glass-cloth are best seen where one company controls all three disciplines. Dimensional stability is controlled by IPC-TM-650.2.4.39.A. Vertical integration was shown to bring about closer tolerance of final thickness, closer tolerance of insulation resistance, and the dielectric properties requirements regarding impedance were easier to fulfil, mainly through a series of compensation factors which one can key into ones own production software.

Manfred Walschofer comes from the Panasonic Electric Works in Austria, and he got up to inform us somewhat clearly what a laminate is. It is not just a copper clad laminate, it is a complex material which can make or break the performance of a PCB.

The influence of heat on a circuit board is one of the factors brought about by the requirements of RoHS with higher soldering temperatures, so increased demands upon the manufacturer for monitoring of some critical properties. T_g is one. T_g – the measuring of heat – can be measured by three methods – differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), thermal mechanical analyses (TMA), and dynamic mechanical analyses (DMA). Degradation temperature T_d is measured by TGA (thermal gravimetric analysis), and Z-axis expansion is measured by TMA. This was a very technical discourse on laminate which will have been of interest to those who are, well, interested in laminates. But the emphasis that the choice of laminate for end use requirements is now a critical stage in production was well made.

Bert Ohlig of OLEC had come all the way across from California to speak for the first time at an EIPC Conference, and he was happy to be with us. Bert is someone who is always interested in what people do, and how they do it. Understanding customers is critical to success, he said, and his mantra is “don't give the customer what they want – give them what they need”. OLEC is a 30 year old company, started in the living room of his father's house; they have come a long way since then, and Bert demonstrated that he and his company knew what was required of them – finer resolution, tighter registration, faster turn-around, smaller lot sizes, higher technology – are all demands now for PCB manufacture. In imaging there are three main factors – intensity, spectrum and optical angles. Matching spectral response will increase photo- speed, reduce absorbed energy, increase resolution, and give you better process control. A good spectral match is needed. Flood imaging is not under discussion, point source is preferred; it gives you an optimised spectra, a small foot print, lower purchase price; lower power and heat consumption. Olec have come up with hybrid collimation.

Making images fit to a panel is critical, and here temperature and humidity play a role 2-point registration not now used, and a 4 point process deviation tool is now available based on data collected by SPC. This allows you to control the process. With regard to costs of imaging: LDI is the highest, AT semi-automatic is the lowest with the highest productivity, giving high resolution with high yields using smart machines.

Frédéric Baradel is the Sales & Marketing Director of Automa-Tech, and it showed.

He talked about the use of collimated light in solder mask imaging, and about collimated light versus scattered light. He explained what is meant by undercut, and by overhang. Undercut is the difference between the size of the solder mask (track and pad after developing) and the size of the image on the artwork. Overhang is the difference between the maximum size of the solder mask image and the nominal value of the artwork. These depend upon many parameters – undercut is generally caused by under exposing or overdeveloping. Overhang is usually generated by overexposing and ink quality. Thick ink film gives greater risk of overhang. Coating methods were described, and here ink quality plays a great part in the process. Excessive thickness can result in insufficient polymerisation, and Frederic clearly demonstrated that collimated light had a better performance with regard to overhang and undercut. The new Automa-tech Fiducial Registration & Positioning System (FRPSe) works with collimated light, and gives an accuracy, artwork to artwork, of ^5m; artwork to panel ^8m, and repeatability ^3m.

Uwe Altmann from Orbotech came on to discuss HDI mass production by LDI systems. With LDI you can use an affixed scale factor which lets the machine measure the panels, apply the determined scale and use the average for the whole batch. With dynamic scaling the machine measures the distance between the targets on the panel, and knows where the fiducials are to be placed. It stretches or shrinks the CAM data according to the found dimension, and gets the best fit. In the HDI market, BGAs of 0.5 are standard but we will see 0.4 and 0.3. So it gets tighter. LDI machines give higher capacity solutions, their high power lasers give good yields with conventional dry films. About 73 panels per hour at 15mj/cm². Automated LDI machines now come complete with cleaner and flipper, as a stand-alone or in-line, where one can use one or both machines as required. Code numbers can be applied as idents as a number or barcode. Uwe thought that the cycle times of LDI really fits in well with the Bernard Bismuth concept of having a short response time (Figure 6).

Figure 6 Balver Zinn had a table-top stand at the EIPC Winter Conference, (L-R) Thomas Berger, Balver Zinn, with Bernard Bismuth, CCI Eurolam, France; Arieh Reichart, CEO Eltek Ltd, Israel

9 February

The ebullient Jörg Sperling of Jumatech GmbH opened the day by telling us about an interesting additive process – the wire-written PCB. This is achieved by welding flat and round wires onto copper foil, producing wire-laid foil. It can replace costly rigid-flex; it can replace connectors; it can be used for 3D boards for high currents; it replaces thick copper technology, merging hybrid signal and power PCBs and it can be used as 3D boards for RFI/EMI shielding. They use existing EDA tools for design. For automotive application the wires are embedded in the pre-preg. In to-day's automotive industry, PCB designs are facing more and more constraints, with pressure on costs, more complex signal functionality, with higher and higher routed currents. They only sell to PCB manufacturers, but demands are increasing rapidly.

One of their customers is Schweizer Electronic AG, whose Thomas Gottwald talked to us about integrating chips into PCBs, which he made look remarkably simple, although the skills required were rather modestly understated. The SEAG board was designed to bridge the gap between the silicon and the PCB industries. The silicon chip is assembled on to very thin rewiring material with very high accuracy, and this preassembled module is pressed between the inner layers of a multilayer. The enlargement of the pads allows the rewiring element to be contacted by conventional drilling processes.

Herman Reischer from Polar Instruments talked about lossy transmission lines, which the delegates found most helpful as Herman has that knack of describing what is a hugely technical subject in terms the layman can understand. This is important, as over the coming years transmission line loss will become one of the key parameters that PCB designers will need to understand. Herman described various design disciplines that could be followed. It was reassuring to know that he knew what he was talking about, so Polar would be good to have as an ally.

Ian McDonald came on after coffee to talk about green paint. Sun Chemical Circuits inherited the Coates mantle, and Ian is one of the stalwarts of Coates. He wanted to describe the requirements for state-of-the-art solder masks, which hinged around process requirements, image registration, lead- free soldering, high temperature automotive requirements and regulation and restriction – halogen free?

He traced the history of solder masks back some 40 years, when he started. Nowadays solder masks have to contend with definition down to 20mm, with direct laser imaging, digital printing, and lead-free soldering all testing the rheology of an ink. Current application techniques were described, the division being 87 per cent for screen printing world wide, with curtain coating at 8 per cent, spray at 4 per cent, and roller coating (Far East mainly) at ,1 per cent. Europe is pretty evenly split between curtain coating and screen, US is now 90 per cent screen, the Far East 94 per cent. Screen printing is an efficient system, and has low VOC emissions. High VOCs will be seen to be a problem in carbon dioxides created during the drying process.

Digital printing was described. The engine is the print head; here a drop- on-demand print head has between 100-300 individual nozzles, with a piezo crystal which is deformed on electrical impulse, so that the droplet is displaced from the chamber at the rate of between 3,000 and 20,000 drops per second. Each droplet is approximately 80pl. Productivity depends upon the number of print heads and scanning speed. Curing is U/V or thermal. However, solder mask application is yet to be done using inkjet, whereas notation inks and primary imaging resists are becoming quite common.

LDI was also covered. Mis- registration can be caused by artwork shift, operator error, temperature changes, and artwork growth, but he felt that LDI gives a better accuracy, with no set-up time. Solder-mask sensitivity has been improved with a new range of resins, so that exposure or imaging times can be reduced. In the field of high-temperature automotive requirements, the development of new coating polymers may be needed to meet high temperature demands, and Sun are working with laminate suppliers on this.

Halogen-free – what does it mean? Ian explained, and the fact that halogens come from epoxy polymers or photopolymers used in solder masks, and these cannot be removed, and it also comes from the green pigment. So halogen-free really means bromine free, low halogen, he concluded. He only mentioned Imagecure once.

Dr Manfred Suppa from Lackwerke Peters spoke on the evaluation of photoimageable solder resists looking at the demands on EuP Directive on energy using products. The specific demands of EuP are yet to be made clear, but essentially we have to reduce the amount of energy needed, and the environmental impact. We need to produce “green” products that we can reduce, recycle, and reuse. We need to be eco-efficient. Dr Suppa took us through the whole process chain, explaining the consumption of resources for two types solder masks – the alkaline-developing systems and the polyalcohol developing systems. Both systems use novella-epoxy resins, both are petrochemical by-products. However, the alkaline developable systems have more ingredients than the polyalcohol type, which therefore has a larger advantage in raw materials. The difference essentially is that you can recycle solvents used to process the polyalcohol solder resist, whereas the aqueous development goes to air. In environmental terms Dr Suppa concluded that alcohol developing LPISM is superior in environmental impact terms to alkaline developing systems, with better thermal stability and better thermal cycling He never once mentioned Elpemer.

Anders Ekman from Huntsman Advanced Materials comes from Sweden.

When talking about solder resists, he probably did not need to go that far back in basics, but once he got going he went into a sales pitch for the merits of Probimer 77 on LDI machines, and then reminded us all, in some detail, of the requirements of WEEE & RoHS. He concluded by saying that through the UL they had now a certificate which showed that Probimer 77 is RoHS compliant. Probimer 77 got more mentions than a BAFTA nomination (Figure 7).

Figure 7 Speakers at Session 6 – L-R Joachim Zimmermann, Robert Bosch GmbH, Moderator, with Ian McDonald, Sun Chemical Circuits, England; Dr Manfred Suppa, Lackwerke Peters GmbH & Co.KG, Germany; and Anders Ekman, Hunstsman Advanced Materials, Sweden

Another excellent EIPC Conference, enjoyed by all, and appreciated for the high-level of technical content and the excellence of the speakers.

John LingAssociate Editor