Fab News

TAIWAN and CHINA– Nan Ya Printed Circuit Board (NPC) reports that it will decrease prices 3% to 5% in Taiwan and up to 10% in China, starting in October. The action stems from decreasing inventory levels and falling copper prices. CCL makers in Taiwan report copper clad prices have fallen 5% to 6%, resulting in a 2% to 3% reduction in manufacturing costs. It is rumored that several competitors, such as Elite Materials and Taiwan Union Technology, might follow. The anticipated price reductions are greater in China because of the company’s larger market. Copper prices are less than $7,000 per ton, and sources predict lower prices for November. 
BANNOCKBURN, IL– IPC presented over 70 awards at the recent IPC Midwest Conference & Exhibition in Schaumburg, IL.  
Read more ...
SANTA ROSA, CA– Jessica Black has joined Deposition Sciences, Inc. (DSI) as the sales engineer for the company’s Midwest territory. She has extensive experience in optical coatings, having held positions as a process engineer; systems test engineer and account manager and sales engineer. DSI feels Black’s well-rounded background will help expand its customer base in the Midwest.

ELK GROVE and CHICAGO, IL– Global Laminates has opened an 8,000-square-foot service and distribution center, with an open house scheduled for September 25. The facility will allow Global to slit prepeg rolls, as well as tool and vacuum seal on-site, and includes a 12 ft. by 16 ft. cold room and dock-height delivery truck that will service the local area–all in addition to its laminate cutting capacity and extensive inventory of Shanghai Nanya rigid laminates and Ventec laminates and prepeg.

FLORENCE, KY– Ticona Engineering Polymers plans to break ground on a Vectra liquid crystal polymer (LCP) production facility at the Celanese integrated chemical complex in Nanjing, China, next year. This will be Ticona’s fourth unit within the complex. In addition to manufacturing, it will also provide technical and commercial resources focusing on customer application development.
 
The plant will produce highly crystalline, thermotropic thermoplastics, delivering precise and stable dimensions, high temperature performance and chemical resistance for very thin-walled applications. The polymer is flame resistant, contains no additives, is halogen-free and permits lead-free soldering–allowing customers an eco-friendly innovation. “The new units, combined with our presence in Europe and North America, will support our customers’ need to shift to non-halogenated materials and give Ticona a global footprint to provide the same brand experience to customers throughout the world,” explains Sandy Beach Lin, president.
ESPOO, FINLAND– Imbera Electronics Ltd. has entered a 5-year deal with Ibiden to license its integrated module board (IMB) technology. The agreement allows Ibiden to offer a cost-effective miniaturization solution with the capabilities to support numerous product applications. “This deal will enable others to see IMBs great potential to satisfy the electronics market’s requirement for thinner, smaller products with enhanced electrical performance and functionality,” explains Jeff Baloun, Imbera CEO.
 
Imbera also announced it has released the next generation of IMB technology that allows OEMs/ODMs to produce smaller boards, in less time and at lower costs, through simple adaptations to current manufacturing processes. Through this latest technology, numerous types of components can be embedded inside the core layer of a PCB, such as discrete passive components, wafer level CSPs and bare die. 
 
The Imbera IMB technology embeds components on the inside of a PCB core layer and then electrically connects them by laser drilling and electrolytic copper plating. Differing from other embedded component processes, Imbera IMB embeds unpackaged die and components, reducing the footprint. The components are attached to a sheet of copper foil and processed through pre-preg build-up and a lamination sequence that results in the encapsulation of the components into a double-sided PCB core layer. Standard laminate materials are used. The laminated core is processed through laser drilling to expose the electrical contact areas on the embedded components and then the core is electroplated to make the connection to the top layer of circuitry.

 
A wide variety of components can be embedded including discrete passive components, application specific integrated passive (ASIP) components, bare die (Silicon, GaAs) and wafer level CSPs. According to CTO, Risto Tuominen the current process has some I/O limitations, with components that have over 350 I/Os being harder to process.

Page 622 of 709