Features

A review of the six fundamental steps behind scientific process development.

Design of experiments (DoE) is an efficient method for planning experimental tests so the data obtained can be analyzed to produce valid and objective conclusions. Designed experiments are commonly used for product and process design, development and improvement. Here we review the history of designed experiments, experimental design, common design of experiments and experimental steps.

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After new technology investments, the flagship operation of the Chicago-based fab is primed for growth.

As the US electronics manufacturing industry braces for the next wave of technological advancements, American Standard Circuits is positioning itself as a key player in the ultra-high-density interconnect (UHDI) space. Yet, the looming question remains: Could UHDI follow the same path as HDI, where slow domestic investment permitted Asia to dominate?

Years ago, HDI production was overtaken by Asian manufacturers, as the US didn’t invest fast enough. UHDI could follow a similar trajectory, especially as the demand signal for the technology remains unclear, particularly in defense. As circuit board investment ramps in India, Thailand and Vietnam, it adds pressure on North America’s ability to compete for next-generation products. ASC, however, recognizes that PCB manufacturing should be viewed as critical infrastructure, akin to roads and buildings – integral to defense, medical, automotive and communications sectors.

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The High Density Packaging User Group drives innovation through active partnerships.

For more than 30 years, the High Density Packaging User Group has facilitated innovations in the electronics industry supply chain, encouraging collaboration to solve some of the industry’s critical problems.

We sat down with HDP project facilitator Karl Sauter during PCB West 2024 to learn more about the group and some of its ongoing and completed projects.

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What’s ahead for antennas, heaters and inks.

In the 39 years I’ve been in the printed electronics industry, I’ve had the privilege of witnessing, influencing and playing a part in life-changing innovations such as the SonoCine ultrasonic breast imaging device and printed wearable therapeutics. As brilliant as these breakthroughs were back in the day, however, they don’t hold a candle to today’s conductive transparent thin films that are enabling limitless design and engineering possibilities.

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Different types of nickel corrosion and potential mitigation strategies.

Electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG) chemistries were introduced in the mid-1990s to replace electrolytic nickel and gold for high-density circuits. In the mid-1990s, nickel corrosion, soon to be known as the ubiquitous “black pad,” was discovered. Chemical suppliers and board manufacturers took steps to reduce the occurrence of black pad. To that end, in 2002, IPC released IPC-4552, “Performance Specification for Electroless Nickel/Immersion Gold (ENIG) Plating for Printed Boards.”

In the late 1990s, electroless nickel electroless palladium immersion gold (ENEPIG) chemistries were introduced as a universal finish for gold, aluminum and copper wire bonding, with perceived protection from black pad. In 2013, IPC released IPC-4556, “Specification for Electroless Nickel/Electroless Palladium/Immersion Gold (ENEPIG) Plating for Printed Boards.” Today, black pad is still a reality with ENIG and ENEPIG plating.

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A noted solutions architect offers an audacious plan for AI acceptance. It just might work.

The talk of AI-based printed circuit design – and the idea that artificial intelligence could theoretically design a board faster and more efficiently than a human – has inevitably led to the fear that designers will be replaced by their algorithmic counterparts.

Rather than stoke those fears, a proposed process for AI implementation presented by a leading ECAD architect at PCB West in October focused on the new opportunities that could come for designers as AI implementation begins to take place.

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