TAIPEI -- The first Electronic Circuit World Convention was held in London in 1979. It was conceived to bring the world's interconnect technologists and senior management together to discuss the latest trends and opportunities in the printed circuit industry and the IPC’s Dieter Bergman was one of the leaders in the initiative. Thirty-two years and 11 ECWCs later, he is still the traffic cop at the center of technology and standards.
For the first time, the Taiwan Printed Circuit Association sponsored the ECWC. Held in Taipei this week, hundreds of technologists and researchers presented over 120 technical papers and over 40 poster presentations. The TPCA, led by president Simon Chen of Unitech, ensured a world-class conference and organization.
The theme, “Creativity, Challenge, and Change” could not have been better chosen. With the industry facing reduced orders and significant cost pressures the challenge to innovate and adapt to accelerating change while enabling the next generation of technology is strong.
Just when you thought you had it figured out, a presentation was given to show the path forward. Douglas Chu, senior director of Integrated Interconnect & Packaging at TSMC, started the conversation by discussing that company’s efforts in 3D and embedded integrated circuits. Reduced signal paths are critical to higher clock speeds and reduced energy consumption and in keeping Moore’s Law relevant.
Wafer-level packaging, already surging ahead in Japan, has become very attractive for mobile applications. 3D packaging also reduces parasitic load and power consumption, which is critical to signal integrity on low power devices. What is certain is that the interconnect is being redefined.
While industry growth is challenged on a holistic basis, certain sectors are doing very well. Overall, the demand for electronic systems grew almost 9% in 2011 led by automotive and portable devices, but the real growth is in HDI (15.7%) and flexible circuitry, as reported by Shiuh-Kao Chiang of Prismark Partners. The income growth especially is highly concentrated with a few manufacturers such as Apple, HTC and Samsung that are positioned at the fore in mobile applications.
Predictions for 2012 are for little growth in the first half, but a total of 4 to 5% for the year based upon second-half indicators.
The technical conferences were very focused on advanced technologies and processes, notably high density interconnect (HDI), packaging substrates, flexible, and rigid/flex applications. As geometries have approached 25 micron and even 15 micron features, substrate stability, interconnect reliability, and precision are vital to high manufacturing yields. Nanotechnology is entering production applications on a wide scale basis, and semi-additive and alternative processes are rising in popularity in order to cope with the new demands of the industry. The next frontier, sub-10 micron, geometries was also on the agenda.
Any-layer via has become the industry norm in HDI manufacturing in Asia. No matter the trademark or technique, the process has become ubiquitous. HDI has become the high-volume process of choice in Asia. Small form factors demand the optimum use of space in all dimensions, and in papers given by a number of manufacturers, product reliability, signal integrity, and performance are all significantly enhanced. Overall package thickness, or thinness, actually is critical.
Matching materials is also critical to today’s interconnect. Design rules, build up layer construction, and stability are all critical, and the level of engineering skill required design for manufacturability makes a thorough understanding of the technology a perquisite.
Some of the new technology highlights presented at ECWC 2011 included semi-additive digital circuitization, laser structuring, and new techniques for embedding both active and passive components, including complete systems. Thermal management has become critical as well in small form packages. As more data on lead free manufacturing has been accumulated, the emphasis on interconnect reliability has also increased.
One interesting note was the presentation by a German printed circuit manufacturer that has a patented process for manufacturing embedded substrates. This company has been manufacturing embedded substrates since the mid 1990s and said that some of the recent JPCA standards and processes may infringe upon its technology.
TPCA 2011: A Vital Contributor
ECWC was held in conjunction with the annual TPCA show. The Nangang Exhibition center is one of the newest in the world and offers all of the amenities necessary to a 21st century trade show. TPCA centers on substrate fabrication and includes both suppliers and fabricators. There are few PCB assembly products exhibited.
In conversations across the floor, exhibitors were predominantly happy with the results of the last year, but deeply concerned about the recent downturn and events in Europe. Presently, business seems to be down between 20 to 25% year-over-year. Thus, despite higher materials and component costs, many suppliers were pricing their products aggressively. Those supplying the most advanced technologies are seeing increased demand and thus significantly better margins.
Booths were significantly smaller this year as suppliers attempt to control costs in a down market. The emphasis at many booths was on using audio/visual techniques to promote products. However, much of the hardware on display was very impressive.
There were few quantum advances at this year’s show, but many process improvements. Direct imaging has become more mainstream, with over 10 companies exhibiting products. At the same time, advanced registration technology for conventional inner layer, outer layer, and solder mask imaging systems seems to keep pace until feature sizes hit 50 to 35 microns.
Inner layer planarization technologies were an interesting new process to maintain substrate flatness and reduce warpage. Orbotech introduced a UV laser drilling system targeted at flexible and rigid/flex manufacturers.
In ink-jet technology, two of Taiwan’s largest drilling machine manufacturers introduced systems based upon cooperative research done with ITRI. In plating, modified semi-additive plating processes were being offered for very fine line applications.
Metrology is critical in manufacturing products such as HDI and embedded, which require extreme precision. Rework is usually not an option. Thus one of the largest groups of exhibitors at TPCA was test and inspection manufacturers. From hole inspection and measurement after drilling to scaling to intermediate and final test and inspection, accuracy is critical. The alternative is to scrap the product, which is at that point very high value.
The show was surprisingly well attended. While orders may be down, the opportunity to see new technologies, compare applications issues and network offer a compelling argument to participate fully. In addition, its proximity to the world’s largest concentration of the interconnect supply chain make the TPCA Show a vital contributor to the advancement of the industry.
Matthew Holzmann is president of Christopher Associates (christopherweb.com); This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
