Printed Circuit Design & Fab Online Magazine - Current

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WEST HAVEN, CT - Enthone has released CUPROSTAR CVF1 Microvia Fill Process. CUPROSTAR CVF1 is specifically developed for filling blind microvias with copper while simultaneously plating through-holes. The process is compatible with vertical direct current (DC) plating equipment. Pulse periodic reverse rectification is not required.

Microvia fill is complete and flush with the surface eliminating cavities, moisture or residue entrapment. CVF1 does not require electrolytic regeneration or continuous carbon filtration to maintain optimum performance. The solution additives are fully analyzable and can be controlled using CVS analysis techniques, eliminating variability. Applicable for panel or pattern plating, the process will provide 100% fill of large and small vias and achieve throwing power of greater than 90% in 5:1 aspect ratio plated through-holes.

Reported benefits of CUPROSTAR CVF1 include:

- 100% via fill for large and small vias
- Throwing power greater than 90% with 5:1 aspect ratio plated through-holes
- Capable of panel and pattern plating
- Fully analyzable and controllable single component in predip and plating bath
- Utilizes existing vertical DC equipment
- Plates through-holes and fills blind microvias with one process

SANTA CLARA, CA – Coherent Inc. has released ExciStar XS, a compact excimer laser.

The laser measures 649 x 300 x 400 mm, but delivers up to 10mJ/pulse at 193 nm with an energy stability of <2% (1σ), at repetition rates of up to 500 Hz. The use of Almeta XS all metal tube construction, corona preionization, an all solid state pulser and electrostatic dust removal combine to yield a laser tube lifetime of 500 million pulses and an optics lifetime of 100 million pulses.

The ExciStar XS can reportedly operate at 157 nm (F₂), 193 nm (ArF), 248 nm (KrF) or 351 nm (XeF). Additionally, the ExciStar XS is RoHS compliant.

ROCHESTER, NY – EDA Design Automation has released the EMA Compliance Assurance System (CAS) to support companies in complying with the mandatory requirements for environmental legislations.

CAS is an adjunct to the EMA Engineering Data Management (EDM) system, and together they are said to form a solution to streamline the entire chain of environmental compliance reporting. The CAS system’s architecture reportedly allows for plug in modules to handle the specifics of any one piece of legislation, with the first available module covering EU RoHS 2006 Due Diligence Reporting (DDR).

Read more: EMA Compliance Assurance System Assists RoHS Reporting

ROGERS, CT – Rogers Corp. has released R/flex JADE series flexible circuit materials, the next generation of the R/flex CRYSTAL epoxy adhesive system. Environmentally friendly, these materials are said to meet flammability requirements without the use of halogens. They are also lead-free solder capable.

R/flex JADE flexible circuit materials are reported to display thermal stability and to withstand multiple passes through lead-free processing. Like the traditional R/flex CRYSTAL product line, Rogers says the R/flex JADE flexible circuit materials offer increased yields and better results in fine-line, tight tolerance designs due to its dimensional stability properties.

Reported product features and benefits include:
- RoHS compliant, Halogen-free flame retardant system.
- High Tg (glass transition temperature) allows for higher temperature exposures, higher yields in multilayer builds, and better flex life despite rigorous processing conditions.
- Thermal stability that allows R/flex JADE material to withstand multiple passes through lead-free soldering.
- Transparent adhesive system facilitates optical inspection.
- Available in bonding film, coverlay and flexible copper clad laminate constructions.

ROCHESTER, NY – EMA Design Automation has released the EMA RoHS CIS Library, configured to store the critical RoHS data (from the core component vendors represented) required to aid in supporting due diligence requirements with the compliance status of the parts.

Determining compliance for RoHS is said to be as simple as checking the RoHS compliance field; however, there is much more information required to ensure manufacturability, proof of compliance and compliance for environmental regulations outside the European Union.

To help with these types of concerns, the starter library includes fields such as RoHS compliance status, RoHS compliant alternate part, materials datasheet, certificates of compliance and manufacturer’s data sheet. Having this type of data available during part selection allows an engineering team to select the proper parts for compliance in the design phase, reduce problems in the manufacturing phase caused by incompatible parts and shorten the proof-of-compliance phase should the need arise. The starter library comes preconfigured with over 1,500 parts and is designed for easy expansion as needs grow.

“We are already seeing products being shut out of Europe due to the impact of RoHS and WEEE legislation,” said Manny Marcano, president and CEO of EMA. “We felt it was important to make this library available so that those companies that hadn’t started on RoHS and WEEE compliance could get underway with a reliable base library.“

For those who want to go beyond a starter library, EMA offers a complete compliance by design methodology - EMA Engineering Data Management (EDM). It provides data management tools, integrated CAD tools and component engineering services for a complete solution for RoHS compliance, due diligence justification and WEEE reporting.

SAN FRANCISCO – Applied Wave Research Inc. (AWR) and Pulsic Ltd. announced that Pulsic’s Lyric Automatic Routing system is now integrated into AWR’s Analog Office 2006 design suite for analog and radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) design.

Through the Analog Office OpenAccess open standard data access interface, interconnects represented by the unique Analog Office Intelligent Net2 technology can be automatically routed in Pulsic’s full-featured, automatic, constraint-driven, shaped-based Lyric Automatic Routing system. The new solution is said to enable high-frequency analog, RF and mixed-signal designers to access the Pulsic routing system without leaving the Analog Office design environment, saving design time, increasing accuracy, and speeding designs to final tape-out.

“The collaboration between AWR and Pulsic provides IC designers with a new level of automation and flexibility in choosing the best tool for a particular design job,” said James Spoto, president and CEO of AWR. “We are pleased to be working with Pulsic in order to provide our customers with access to world class automatic routing technology directly from AWR’s easy-to-use, open design environment and unified data model.”

“Pulsic’s Lyric Automatic Routing system offers the highest quality controlled and constrained automatic routing available on the market,” said Ken Roberts, CEO of Pulsic. “The integration of our leading IC physical design technology into AWR’s industry-leading design software offers a breakthrough solution to create and optimize the design of analog, mixed-signal and RFICs for our mutual customers.”