Printed Circuit Design & Fab Online Magazine

NEWS

NextFlex Announces Funding Opportunity for Flexible Hybrid Electronics

21 March 2023

SAN JOSE, CA – NextFlex has announced the release of Project Call 8.0, the latest call for proposals that seek to fund projects that further the development and... Read More...

DCP Capital Looking to Sell MFS Technology

17 March 2023

HONG KONG – Chinese private equity firm DCP Capital aims to sell its Singaporean portfolio firm MFS Technology, which makes flexible printed circuit boards, for... Read More...

Unimicron Investing in Thai Subsidiary

16 March 2023

TAOYUAN, TAIWAN – Unimicron has announced the investment of 1.26 billion baht ($366 million) into a new Thai subsidiary, becoming the latest PCB fabricator to a... Read More...

MKS Instruments Invests in Yokohama TechCenter

14 March 2023

YOKOHAMA, JAPAN – MKS Instruments unveiled a significant investment in its Yokohama Technical Center in Japan that will enable an integrated approach to creatin... Read More...

Electronic Component Sales Sentiment Exceeds Expectations in February

13 March 2023

ATLANTA – The electronic component sales sentiment climbed to 90.6 in February, according to the Electronic Components Industry Association's latest Electronic ... Read More...

Study Finds Environmental Impact of Flexible Electronics Can Be Reduced by Almost 90%

13 March 2023

ESPOO, FINLAND – A recent study by the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland found that environmental impact could be reduced by 86% when additive printing m... Read More...

TTM to Sell Backplane Assembly Unit to Chinese Assembler

10 March 2023

SANTA ANA, CA -- TTM Technologies has signed a definitive agreement to sell its Shanghai backplane assembly plant for approximately $11.8 million, subject to cu... Read More...

Trident Factory Construction in Progress

09 March 2023

SINGAPORE – Trident is in the process of constructing a new factory in Thailand. The new factory, which will be the company's third in the country, will increas... Read More...

Eltek Announces $10.5M in Quarterly Revenue

09 March 2023

PETACH TIKVA, ISRAEL – Eltek reported $10.5 million in fourth quarter revenue, a 10.5% increase from the revenue of $9.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. ... Read More...

SIA: Global Semiconductor Sales Decrease 5.2% in January

08 March 2023

WASHINGTON – Global semiconductor industry sales totaled $41.3 billion during the month of January 2023, a decrease of 5.2% compared to the December 2022 total ... Read More...

Global Shipments of AR/VR Headsets Decline Sharply in 2022, Says IDC

08 March 2023

NEEDHAM, MA – Global shipments of AR/VR headsets declined 20.9% year over year to 8.8 million units, according to new data from the International Data Corporati... Read More...

Kinwong Electronics Holds Groundbreaking for New Manufacturing Facility

07 March 2023

XINFENG COUNTY, CHINA – Kinwong Electronics held a groundbreaking ceremony this week for its new PCB manufacturing facility in China's Jiangxi Province. Read More...

Ansys Announces Open Call to Academia for Funded Curriculum Proposals

07 March 2023

PITTSBURGH – Ansys announced that it is contributing $250,000 toward funded curriculum proposals in 2023 as part of its ongoing mission to support the next gene... Read More...

NI Acquires SET GmbH

07 March 2023

AUSTIN, TX – National Instruments has announced the acquisition of SET GmbH, a German developer of aerospace and defense test systems and recent innovators in p... Read More...

IDC: Worldwide Hardcopy Peripheral Shipments Increased 11.6% in the Fourth Quarter

03 March 2023

FRAMINGHAM, MA – The worldwide hardcopy peripherals market saw overall shipments grow 11.6% year over year to nearly 25.0 million units in the fourth quarter. S... Read More...

FEATURES

How Interconnects Work: Characteristic Impedance and Reflections

Understanding reflections caused by transmission line characteristic impedance and termination impedance mismatch. Analysis of “digital interconnects” is the a... Read More...

Permittivity vs Permeability: What’s the Difference?

Some areas of physics have considerable impact on PCB designs. PCB designers have had exposure to electronics (some more than others). And most of what we do f... Read More...

Good Signs: IPC Apex Booth Traffic Suggests Busy Year Ahead

Exhibitors hope new products will keep the order books filled in 2023. The good times of 2022 carried over into January as the industry turned out for one of t... Read More...

A Quick Fix for Fillet Starvation

Not enough solder? Blame the via design! Vias in pads can be “solder thirsty” and suck up solder from pads at terminals during reflow, creating what may appear... Read More...

Statistical Process Control Charts: Sampling Frequency, Subgroups and Plans

Taking the confusion out of determining appropriate data collection parameters. In 1924, Dr. Walter Shewhart was working at Bell Telephone Laboratories. On May... Read More...

Protecting Connectors on Zero Edge Clearance Boards

Not leaving enough clearance is a design oversight that can have costly consequences. As PCB designers, fabricators and assemblers, we wear a lot of hats at Ru... Read More...

Practices for Sustainability in PCB Metallization

A comparison of energy, water and chemical use for two common processes. “We will make decisions based on sustainability, Lenora.” I heard the words clearly. I... Read More...

DfM: The Devil is in the PCB Design Details

A design can look good on paper, but has it been vetted for manufacturing? Printed circuit board assembly: What comes to mind when you hear, read, or think tha... Read More...

Basics of Polymers for Thermal Management of Electronic Devices

Thermal interface materials provide much-needed heat relief for electronic assemblies. Overheating is the number one cause of electronic component failure and ... Read More...

Updating an Existing Printed Circuit Board Design

A basic process for revising a client-supplied CAD (http://www.pcdandf.com/pcdesign/menu-research/cad-cam-pcb-software) database. Not all designs start from sc... Read More...

Practical Statistical Tools for Process Engineers

A review of five useful tools and the basis for using each. What is the prominent skill process engineers are on the payroll for? It’s their problem-solving sk... Read More...

Designing an LVD/IR Printed Circuit Board

Will a “universal” footprint work for various-sized passives? This details the design of an LED constant-current driver PCB. I am trying to make this design as... Read More...

Why I4.0 and Reshoring Go Hand in Hand

The path to digitize a factory is both closer and cheaper than most engineers realize. Reshoring has been a buzzword for a few years now. But when supply chain... Read More...

NTI 100: The Unsinkable, Unstoppable PCB Market

Political and supply-chain issues could not slow printed circuit growth in 2021. The author attended his first IPC meeting in 1966. At that time, the consen... Read More...

Making Technology-Specific Design Charts

IPC-2152 is an important baseline for determining current carrying capacity, but further work must be done for individual applications. In response to recent c... Read More...