-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- design007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueLevel Up Your Design Skills
This month, our contributors discuss the PCB design classes available at IPC APEX EXPO 2024. As they explain, these courses cover everything from the basics of design through avoiding over-constraining high-speed boards, and so much more!
Opportunities and Challenges
In this issue, our expert contributors discuss the many opportunities and challenges in the PCB design community, and what can be done to grow the numbers of PCB designers—and design instructors.
Embedded Design Techniques
Our expert contributors provide the knowledge this month that designers need to be aware of to make intelligent, educated decisions about embedded design. Many design and manufacturing hurdles can trip up designers who are new to this technology.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - design007 Magazine
Additive Manufacturing Requires Additive Design Techniques
May 9, 2022 | Luca Gautero, SUSS MicroTecEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
Although I am not a designer by trade, I want to share my thoughts on what additive manufacturing means for designers, especially how it relates to solder mask. I feel the following topics are the most important to address.
1. Definition of Solder Mask
By its nature, the definition provided by any EDA tool is a negative one; the CAM vector files specify what goes away from an assumed continuous surface. Until now, solder mask has always presented itself as subtractive. SUSS MicroTec developed a front end, JETxSMFE, that can operate at the CAM station to smooth out manufacturing. The software understands all of this, managing the details correctly on the incoming files.
2. The Advantage of Inkjet Solder Mask
One advantage of inkjet solder mask is to avoid any filling of holes or vias. Another way, maybe an annoyance to some, is to say that “tenting” is not possible. Still, the consensus is that solder mask-free vias improve a board’s reliability (Figure 1). The JETxSMFE removes solder mask at declared holes. Undeclared drills, which might still exist depending on the manufacturing convention on the production floor, will result in ink on the print table. This is not a big issue as a scraper easily removes excess solder mask, and alternatively, replacing the table or its liner (if present) gets the job done. However, both solutions lead to a small downtime. Long story short, if you want friends on the shop floor, be sure to have all the drills in your design.
3. The Dam Dogma
These small solder mask traces on laminate are supposed to separate two nearby copper pads. Such a pattern indicates the non-solder mask defined (NSMD) pad design choice. However, this choice involves several constraints, and these create an artificial need for narrow dams. From my earlier example, this time with numbers: Imagine two pads, 200 µm apart, nothing extreme. What is the maximum size of a dam between these two? Assuming that LDI technology is used, the dam size results from applying the state-of-the-art constraint of the technology. This 200 µm pitch decreases by the laser beam width plus the registration accuracy twice—one for each pad. Therefore, it quickly comes down to 100 µm. Any more challenging a pad distance will also make it harder to define a dam.
From this reasoning, the many requests to create 50 µm dams or less with traditional technology seem legitimate. So, what do we do with inkjet printing? Does it join the race to the last micrometer?
To find out the answers, continue reading this article in the April 2022 issue of Design007 Magazine.
Suggested Items
Indium Corporation Expert to Present on Pb-Free Solder for Die-Attach in Discrete Power Applications
04/30/2024 | Indium CorporationIndium Corporation Product Manager – Semiconductor Dean Payne will present at the Advanced Packaging for Power Electronics conference, hosted by IMAPS, held May 8-9 in Woburn, Massachusetts, USA.
Taiyo Circuit Automation Installs New DP3500 into Fuba Printed Circuits, Tunisia
04/25/2024 | Taiyo Circuit AutomationTaiyo Circuit Automation is proud to be partnered with Fuba Printed Circuits, Tunisia part of the OneTech Group of companies, a leading printed circuit board manufacturer based out of Bizerte, Tunisia, on their first installation of Taiyo Circuit Automation DP3500 coater.
Vicor Power Orders Hentec Industries/RPS Automation Pulsar Solderability Testing System
04/24/2024 | Hentec Industries/RPS AutomationHentec Industries/RPS Automation, a leading manufacturer of selective soldering, lead tinning and solderability test equipment, is pleased to announce that Vicor Power has finalized the purchase of a Pulsar solderability testing system.
AIM Solder’s Dillon Zhu to Present on Ultraminiature Soldering at SMTA China East
04/22/2024 | AIMAIM Solder, a leading global manufacturer of solder assembly materials for the electronics industry, is pleased to announce that Dillon Zhu will present on the topic: Ultraminiature Soldering: Techniques, Technologies, and Standards at SMTA China East. This event is being held at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center from April 24-25.
AIM to Highlight NC259FPA Ultrafine No Clean Solder Paste at SMTA Wisconsin Expo & Tech Forum
04/18/2024 | AIMAIM Solder, a leading global manufacturer of solder assembly materials for the electronics industry, is pleased to announce its participation in the upcoming SMTA Wisconsin Expo & Tech Forum taking place on May 7 at the Four Points by Sheraton | Milwaukee Airport, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.