Eagle Make PCB CAD software includes Eagle Make Personal and Eagle Make Pro. Offer separate license types based on usability (noncommercial vs. commercial) and board size. Make Pro provides full functionality. Upgradable. Targeted at hobbyists.

CadSoft Computer, newark.com/cadsoft      

Register for PCB West, the Silicon Valley's largest printed circuit trade show, Sept. 15-17 at the Santa Clara Convention Center: pcbwest.com.

Carbon monoxide (CO) lasers are for materials processing applications ranging from glass cutting and via drilling, to fractional skin resurfacing. Output at a wavelength of approximately 5µm; strong absorption in certain plastic films, polymers and water, as well as some dielectric materials and copper oxides used in printed circuit boards. Have low absorption in chalcogenide fibers. Focus to spot size 2x smaller than the CO₂ laser. J-35µm outputs over 200W. Has high quality beam (M² < 1.2). CO lasers reportedly have similar lifetime, reliability and maintenance characteristics as slab discharge CO₂ lasers.

Coherent, www.Coherent.com

IM Gold AT8000 non-cyanide gold process is said to eliminate discoloration of white solder mask when using ENIG as a final finish. Eliminates compounds found in typical cyanide based immersion gold processes that react with titanium dioxide to produce discoloration; preserves bright white solder mask after SMT reflow.

Technic Inc., technic.com

Speedstack PCB layer stackup design system is now available in German, Japanese, simplified Chinese and traditional Chinese versions. Can create and document stackups for high-density interconnect (HDI) and flex-rigid printed circuit boards. Can fine-tune stackup design by assessing the impact of different PCB materials on cost, performance and manufacturing yield. Stackup data can be exported in different industry-standard formats and shared.

Polar Instruments, www.polarinstruments.com