EIPC SPEeDNEWS The Weekly On-Line Newsletter from the European Institute of Printed Circuits.

Issue 29 – October 2014

NEWS FROM THE EIPC

EIPC-EFRA-CEFIC Workshop 4th February 2015

In conjunction with ICL and the European Flame Retardants Agency, EIPC are pleased to announce that they will be holding a one-day workshop on Wednesday 4th February 2015 at the NH Hotel, Munich Airport. This is the day immediately before the EIPC Winter Conference which will be held at the same venue on 5th & 6th February. ICL-IP flame retardants find use in many segments of the electronics industry; all of which provide protection from heat-up fire hazards and short circuit sparks. ICL-IP’s flame retardants are applied in consumer products such as TV sets, PCs, all note books, tablets, cell handsets, as well as network infrastructure and automotive applications. ICL-IP offers specific solutions and products for FR-4 based printed circuit boards, connectors and casing to improve user safety. During this workshop the following topics will be discussed:-

• RoHS EFRA • WEEE and End of Life • REACH • TBBA status - EFRA

The speakers will include Alun Morgan, Chairman, EIPC, Professor Martin Goosey, VP Technology for EIPC who will be accompanied by Mr. L. Tange of ICL. Workshop agenda:

• Introduction EFRA - EFRA • Overview on Legislation - Prof. M. Goosey • Base Materials in PCB’s, New materials - A. Morgan

alternative cost of ownership • Lunch • RoHS 2 - F. Kohl • Recycling, end of life - L. Tange • REACH process for end users - EFRA • Panel Q&A

Workshop fee: EIPC Members/EFRA members: € 199.- Non-members: € 299.- Contact EIPC Bourgognestraat 16 NL-6221 BX, Maastricht Tel: +31-43-3440872 Kirsten Smit-Westenberg Executive Director kwestenberg@eipc.org

EIPC SPEeDNEWS The Weekly On-Line Newsletter from the European Institute of Printed Circuits.

Issue 29 – October 2014

NEWS FROM FINLAND

Aspocomp issued a notice on the consolidation of production in Finland and the possible closing of the Teuva plant. ASPOCOMP RENEWS ITS STRATEGY AND SEEKS GROWTH AND COST-EFFICIENCY Aspocomp is actively seeking new customer groups to round out its operations in the telecommunications segment. Expansion targets include the automotive, pharmaceutical, industrial electronics and security/aerospace sectors in particular. In the future, Aspocomp will pursue growth not only in its main markets in Scandinavia and Central Europe, but also in North America. Under the new strategy, Aspocomp will offer more comprehensive service to its customers. Operating as a service business, the company provides technology solutions and competitive products. With its new strategy, the company can meet customers’ demand throughout the product life cycle and improve its own factory’s utilization and profitability better than before. To a growing extent, products will be manufactured utilizing carefully selected and cost-effective production lines in Asia. In Finland, the company is looking into combining production and development activities and focusing on the latest and most challenging technologies as well as the production of small and quick-turn series. As part of Aspocomp’s strategic transformation the company has today issued a notice on statutory labour co-determination concerning all its personnel at the Teuva plant regarding the consolidation of production in Finland and the possible closing of the Teuva plant. The company expects that combining production and development in Finland will yield

annual savings of approximately EUR 0.9 million. The cooperation negotiations concern a total of 36 employees. The company will publish a stock exchange release concerning the decisions as soon as the cooperation negotiations are concluded. It is estimated that the cooperation negotiations will be concluded by the end of November. In the event the negotiations lead to the closing of the Teuva plant, it would generate a one-time cost of about EUR 1.5 million to be recognized in the last quarter of 2014. The company’s full-year guidance remains unchanged. In 2014, net sales are expected to be between EUR 20 and 25 million and operating profit without one-time items between EUR -0.5 and EUR 1.5 million. For further information, please contact Mikko Montonen, CEO, tel. +358 20 775 6860, mikko.montonen(at)aspocomp.com.

EIPC SPEeDNEWS The Weekly On-Line Newsletter from the European Institute of Printed Circuits.

Issue 29 – October 2014

NEWS FROM GERMANY

CupraEtch SR - Advanced Surface Preparation for Soldermask and Photoresist Adhesion CupraEtch SR is one of Atotech’s surface pre-treatment products, specifically developed to maximize the adhesion of dry and liquid solder masks and photoresists. It is a sustainable and robust process, which satisfies ever increasing technology demands of PCB and HDI manufacturers and helps to minimize the risks of failure and damage during processing.

Primarily developed for treating copper surfaces prior to the Soldermask lamination, CupraEtch SR can also be used for Photoresist pre-treatment for I/L and O/L by simply employing a lower etch depth. The process provides excellent adhesion results and is ideal for the production of complex and demanding PCBs and HDIs, which need a reliable top performance.

CupraEtch SR - Applications

“The simple, low-temperature three-step-process is based on a cupric chloride etch. It is suitable for tenting as well as pattern plating applications and ideally suited for the conveyorised application of thin material handling,” explains Dr. Rami Haidar, Global Product Manager Surface Treatment Technology (STT), at Atotech Deutschland GmbH in Berlin, Germany.

CupraEtch SR has shown its compatibility with multiple copper types and can be used with a wide variety of soldermasks as well as dry and liquid photoresists. It can also be used with various selective finishes such as IMT (immersion tin) and ENIG (electroless nickel, immersion gold).

CupraEtch SR - The benefits

The superior adhesion performance leads to a lower defect rate and hence to better production yields. Additionally, the product has a high copper loading capacity of up to 40 g/L which results in reduced feed and bleed needs. This, in return, leads to lower waste water volumes and makes CupraEtch SR a sustainable and cost-saving process. The roughness creation can be finely balanced with etch depths, which makes this process adjustable to individual customer needs.

The cost-effective CupraEtch SR process is available in China, Taiwan, Korea, South East Asia and EU countries and is already successfully employed by several Atotech customers for both soldermask and photoresist pretreatment.

www.atotech.com

EIPC SPEeDNEWS The Weekly On-Line Newsletter from the European Institute of Printed

Circuits. Issue 29- October 2014

NEWS FROM THE UK

Collaborative Research Project Dissemination Conference Held at the Surface Engineering Association, Federation House,

Birmingham On Thursday 9th October 2014

Dave Elliott of the SEA welcomed the many delegates to the event which is being held to disseminate the results of a number of important IeMRC, InnovateUK (TSB) UK and European collaborative research and development projects. Dr Andy Cobley of Coventry University had the subject of SUSONENCE

as the first paper, which hinged around the topic of a sustainable ultrasonically enhanced chemical process, in which four applications had been looked at – barrel plating, plating for solderability, the chrome-free etching of polymers and PCB desmear. His paper dealt particularly with barrel plating. Barrel plating has advantages, it is good for large volumes, the barrels are easy to load

and unload, but electrolyte flow is not good in such volumes, leading to depletion of metal concentrate on the surface, reduced current density, and plating rates are therefore slow, with a variation in alloy composition, so the introduction of ultrasound was the immediate cure, as it brought about acoustic cavitation which enabled a more uniform surface coating via asymmetric collapse of the acoustically generated bubbles.

Andy illustrated the effect of ultrasound on limiting current density, and the results of the initial trials at Promet in France held to measure the effect of ultrasound on deposit thickness; it was clear that with low frequency ultrasound plating thickness can be controlled. The time/thickness ratio was measured, and at low frequency the plating rate remained constant. From the laboratory, the trials were scaled up to more realistic and commercially acceptable volumes with a 400 litre tank; the results obtained showed that with higher current densities a higher number of parts were coated within their specified composition range. The effect of the weight of the parts being coated has an effect, the more the better it seems. The implications for the automotive components industry were obvious. Professor Karl Ryder of the University of Leicester came to tell us that MACFEST would not super-size us, but would bring about the

manufacture of advanced coatings for future electronic systems. This project has not yet started; it was only recently funded in the last round of TSB applications and will kick off in January 2015. Partners also include Merlin Circuit Technology, MTG Research, Chestech, C-Tech Innovation and the ICT. The project will be using new kinds of ionic liquid systems in plating coatings such as ENIPIG etc. Based upon work done on ionic liquids, the outcome was deep eutectic solvents (DES). Ionic liquids enable

deposits with improved properties compared to those from aqueous solutions. They are expensive, and his work has been to produce more acceptably priced alternatives, which led in time to the production of low cost DES. These can be used in electroplating, electro-polishing, immersion coatings and metal recycling. MACFEST is rooted in an earlier project, ASPIS, which gave some interesting ideas on coatings based on metal salts. ASPIS was aimed at eliminating the black pad syndrome. Different salts give different coatings, gold chloride, gold cyanide and gold cyanate, a mixed cyanide and chlorate being the best mixture on a 50:50 basis, The aim is to provide a coating with improved solder joint reliability, with low

environmental impact, with no toxic components, and compatible with existing pcb manufacturing process. John Henderson of C-Tech Innovations Ltd. had the recovery of copper from the PCB manufacturing process using crab shell waste as his topic. The project is entitled STOWURC, with a background in the recovery of low levels of metals from manufacturing effluent. The idea of using waste to recover metal from waste is neat. The way in which this is done is not exactly tidy, but it works. Members of the project include the companies from the PCB industry supply chain plus the Kynance Cornish Crab Company. The waste from shellfish is considerable, about a million and a half tonnes worldwide annually. Shells contain a biopolymer called chitin – which can absorb metals including copper. For those of you who enjoy potted crab, the edible part of a crab is only 20% of the whole, the rest is waste. There is no shortage of crab waste. For millions of years nature had a way of disposing of it, and many a beach has high crab shell content. But the EU knows better, as always, and now charge £80 per ton for disposal through ‘the right channels’. Whilst chitin absorbs copper, chitosan is even better, and the conversion of chitin to chitosan is a simple matter. John described the process of obtaining the chitosan from the shells and how the material is used to take the copper out of waste plating solution. There is a cost factor of about 2.5x treated crab shell compared to conventional ion exchange reasons, and when each system is optimised at high copper concentrations, this is slightly less. The demineralised material might be better suited to an in-tank treatment process. Further work includes optimisation of the procedures and scaling up, with pilot in-house experience at Invotec being obtained Sustainable solder flux from novel ionic liquid solvents – greener cheaper and cheaper and cleaner. Thus ran the title of the very interesting paper from Dr. Andrew Ballantine from the University of Leicester. In effect he and his colleagues have produced a band new PCB surface finish called HASLEN. Andrew described how a flux works and how the present fluxes are not so nice – they use strong acids, and

so using DES (deep eutectic solvents) as a solder flux means that you have, with choline chloride and glycol, low toxicity and lower environmental impact. They have looked at fluxes using standard test methods – wetting tests, solder wetting, continuation testing, and studied three surface finishes and with ENIG it solders beautifully, uniformly, is pore free, with no clear intermetallic formation. It is the intermetallic formation which can cause brittleness in solder joints, which in turn leads to reliability problems. This will put an end to the ‘black pad’ phenomenon. HASLEN is perfectly suited for hot air solder levelling with electroless nickel, and commercially is compatible in cost with normal electromechanical techniques. But it wets copper quicker than conventional solders, and much more effectively. Bob Willis and the SMART Group will be holding a seminar on the subject, but this new material looks very exciting and of great importance in the field of assembled PCB reliability. HardAlt is close to the heart of Dave Elliott from the Surface Engineering Association and is a new generation of coatings for the replacement of chromium plating. Corrosion costs the world 3.1% of its GDP. To obviate corrosion, chromium is the plating of choice, as it can withstand wear corrosion and abrasion and will retain oil and grease. However, Hexavalent chromium is restricted under the wonders of ReacH so there is a need to find an alternative, and here is the seriously European group comprising Brunel University, SEA, Milan Polytechnic, Setve, a group of companies in Northern Greece, CETRI, (investigating nickel-phosphorous composite coatings along with pulse plating). Agpyme in Spain, the University of Southampton, Falex Technology NV, The Netherlands, AIFM from Italy, Group Kampakas, CERTH, also in Greece, and SSPU from Slovakia.

Dave said that they are pursuing the application of new coatings by pulse plating, as it is 3x faster than conventional plating systems, and uses 70% less energy; the main scope is for drop-in replacement for hard chromium plating, a new coating with wide range of properties, which can sit comfortably in the production systems in the same manner as chromium, but safely within the constraints of REACH. MESMOPROC was the subject of the presentation from Professor

Sudipta Roy from Newcastle University. This is a maskless process for pattern transfer, and resolution of 5 µm is achievable. She went through the tedious standard process currently in employment for primary imaging, which uses a lot of chemicals, it’s a subtractive process in multiple stages, and for prototypes it’s a slow haul. Can we improve on this process? Yes, with a pattern

transfer process called EnFace, in which the image is placed on an anode, and this is placed close to the substrate, initiated by a cathode, and thereby a patterning of the image takes place on the substrate. Using ultrasonics for enhanced mass transfer was another topic for a detailed presentation. They have produced a novel tank for PCB plating and will be increasing the resolution of pattern plating, and trialling pulse deposition. The project is nearing the end of its term, and thus far the results look most encouraging. Environmental footprints will be the subject of work by Dr. Emma Goosey. RECONIF is another project, this time the bandleader is Dr Rod Kellner of Env-Aqua Ltd. Rod went back to 2007 when the price of nickel was sky high, and the recovery of nickel from filter cake evolved in response. Now that nickel is down to $11,500 per tonne from $25,000 per tonne, and now that there not many electroplaters producing filter cake, the

demand has changed. But by incorporating an ionic liquid it is possible to extract nickel from batteries, which have 35% nickel content, whereas filter cake has considerably less. The work done in this project has proved conclusively that 99.999% pure nickel can be extracted, with labour costs of £2000 per ton to recover this metal. Rod showed the Reconif rig which does digestion and complexation, and handles the huge variation in battery size and shape with ease. Also in the field of batteries, Stuart Dalrymple of C-Tech Innovations Ltd., in Capenhurst, Cheshire brought the conference to a close with an

interesting insight into the work they had done with acid leaching of precious metals out of batteries, with a 100% recovery rate of nickel hydrate from shredded batteries. This is 3-year project being funded under FP7 to the tune of € 4.5 million and was known as CoLaBats. The aim was to use new ionic liquid based processes to recover valuable materials, such as cobalt and the lanthanides, from end of life batteries.

A most informative day, the time was well spent by those attending in gaining an appreciation of the innovative technologies and beneficial products that are emerging from joint academic and industry research projects. Behind it all are some very dedicated and knowledgeable people, and we are lucky to have them. John Ling Editor – EIPC Speednews

EuroTech appointed Phillip Connor as Sales Manager for Ireland and Phil Price, Sales Manager for eastern and central England UK PCB manufacturer, The EuroTech Group plc, have recently made three personnel appointments. David Douglas, Managing Director, commented “Having been manufacturing PCBs in Exmouth, Devon since 1991, and with many long serving employees, we already had a great deal of knowledge and expertise within the company but the invaluable experience our 3 new colleagues will enable us to continue to improve the technologies, service and quality we offer our customers.” Steven Roy has worked in the PCB and related industries for over 30 years. Steven will be responsible for the technical aspects of the company’s production and, as part of its continuous improvement policy, will be looking into alternative processes that can enhance EuroTech’s product offering or increase their technology capabilities. He will also be responsible for health and safety and for ensuring that they comply with all chemical regulations. His experience includes 6 years at Prestwick Circuits and time at Brent Chemicals as European Technical Service Manage. EuroTech have also expanded its field sales team with the recruitment of two new personnel. Their roles will involve working with the company’s current customers as well as finding and developing new customers. Phillip Connor has joined as Sales Manager for Ireland, covering both the North and South. Phil Price will be covering parts of eastern and central England including East Anglia, Oxfordshire, north and east London, Essex, Hertfordshire and parts of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Kent.

Huntsman Advanced Materials optimises auto composites series applications

In the on-going commitment to reduce weight even further in automotive structures, many OEMs and suppliers are focusing on implementing the best and most cost-effective processing techniques to manufacture mass-produced, epoxy composite vehicle parts. Here, Klaus Ritter, Head of the Centre of Excellence for Composites at Huntsman Advanced Materials, looks at how the company is helping to optimise the latest out-of-autoclave manufacturing techniques, working to match demands for excellent component properties with shorter production cycles in mass production. Huntsman Advanced Materials has a long heritage of pioneering technologically advanced epoxy systems. In the automotive sector, the company’s unrivalled legacy of technical innovation and epoxy composite applications spans from the super car market to structural applications on luxury marques and more recently, mass-produced vehicle parts. Evolving processes Standard, low pressure RTM has been used to meet the quality and functional standards set for highly complex parts on performance cars for many years. However, in mass vehicle production, where affordable processing solutions and the delivery of parts in minutes with minimal waste are a must, this technique is not suitable. Complementary technologies Meeting demands for reduced production cycles in high volume automotive manufacturing, Huntsman continues to develop epoxy resin systems for high pressure resin transfer moulding (HP-RTM) and wet compression moulding. These two technologies complement each other well, with HP-RTM enabling fast production for highly complex parts and wet compression moulding facilitating even faster production, but for low complexity parts. HP-RTM offers a relatively new concept as well as an appropriate processing system for manufacturing lightweight high-performance parts. By comparison to low pressure RTM, which is characterised by long process times due to the number of manual processes involved, HP-

RTM scores highly on the level of automation provided. Accelerated chemical reactions and extremely short cycle times are made possible due to the high pressure injection, mixing and use of highly reactive epoxy systems that HP-RTM facilitates. In order to reduce parts production costs, the compression moulding process is ideal for less complex components. The faster production it offers, coupled with a lower investment cost than HP-RTM, results in significant cost reductions, where the manufacture of low complexity structural parts is applicable. With compression moulding there are relatively lower tooling costs and capital investment. Preforming is not mandatory, due to the vertical impregnation of the epoxy system which takes place outside the mould during the ‘liquid lay down’ process. This eliminates the need for the injection process, allowing the mould to operate at a higher temperature for faster curing. The use of simple moulds for simple parts also contributes to tooling cost reductions. Moving from classical compression moulding to the latest compression moulding processes where vacuum assisted options are available, manufacturers can benefit from void free parts produced to the highest quality, alongside even greater design flexibility and less material waste. Fast and flexible epoxy systems Huntsman is the first company to have developed epoxy resin systems that are qualified for the mass production of structural parts. These systems are proven in offering advanced properties and significant production timesaving for out-of-autoclave processes such as RTM and compression moulding. Supporting the development of fast and flexible epoxy systems with superior properties that meet the sector’s demands for continuous improvements, within its state-of-the-art laboratories, the company uses computer simulation technologies to speed-up identification of the best processing parameters. One of Huntsman’s latest epoxy systems, Araldite® LY 3585 / Aradur® 3475 allows HP-RTM parts to be made within four minutes, enabling further reductions by compression moulding, at just two minutes. With HP-RTM, for example, this includes preform set, injection, curing and de-moulding and equates to a 40%

part production time reduction when compared with first generation HP-RTM. Optimising automotive composites Over the past four years, working with global performance and mass-market vehicle manufacturers, Huntsman’s involvement in various innovative projects has seen the industry make considerable strides in optimising automotive composites using the latest process techniques. For example, Huntsman has a long and successful history with the BMW Group, currently involving the supply of an Araldite® binder and epoxy for manufacturing the composite parts on the BMW i3 and i8 in volume production. Prior to this, Huntsman also provided an epoxy resin system (Araldite® XB 3523 / XB 3458) used to develop roof parts for the BMW M3 - the first carbon fibre reinforced part to be produced on high-pressure equipment for the series application of carbon look parts. Araldite® XB 3523 / XB 3458 offers low shrinkage during curing to enable the production of high surface quality components that meet the automotive A-Class surface standard. The process also significantly reduces finishing and other preparatory work before painting. These advantages demonstrate how epoxy systems for out-of-autoclave processes can help to reduce cost, deliver excellent properties and increase the design options in carbon composites. Leading in auto composites series-production In the five years since BMW decided to manufacture an all-electric vehicle with a composite passenger cell, the BMW i3 has now become the first series-produced car to make extensive use of composites in primary structural components. BMW describes the architecture of the BMW i3 as having two main elements. The aluminium Drive module, which incorporates the powertrain, chassis, battery and structural crash functions – and the Life module (or passenger cell), made from carbon fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP). The LifeDrive concept and CFRP usage allows production time to be cut by half compared to those required for an equivalent car built along conventional lines. The process is less investment-intensive as the high costs needed for a conventional press shop and paint shop are no

longer an issue and the Life and Drive modules can be manufactured alongside one another. This is all supported by what can best be described as the largest and most sustainable composites material and fabrication supply chain ever established for a production vehicle. For example, once the PAN precursor for the carbon fibre is manufactured in Otake, Japan it is transported to Moses Lake, Washington to benefit from the relatively inexpensive hydroelectric power provided by the BMW dedicated facility run by SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers (SGL ACF). From here, the carbon fibre roving is sent to another SGL ACF facility in Wackersdorf, Germany, where different forms of fabric, including unidirectional tapes and multiaxial weaves, are produced and prepared for RTM. The high-pressure RTM parts for the BMW i3 passenger cell are produced in volume production at two of BMW’s facilities in Leipzig and Landshut, Germany, which use the same processes and equipment. Within these facilities, Huntsman’s materials are used to produce the side frame and other composite parts of the i3 passenger cell in volume. Firstly, Araldite® LT 3366 is used as a binder to help maintain correct fibre alignment and geometry during the automated manipulation and positioning of the dry preform in the mould. Araldite® LY 3585 / Hardener XB 3458, an epoxy RTM system, is then injected at high pressure into the mould. Its low viscosity is essential to the entire process, from the dosing and mixing right through to implementation and good fibre wet-out in the mould. Providing good thermo-mechanical performance, including a high elongation at break, this Araldite® RTM system is particularly beneficial for automotive structural parts and for meeting crash test criterion. With its ability to cure in just five minutes at 100°C, Araldite® LY 3585 / Hardener XB 3458 allows BMW to effectively utilise HP-RTM and meet its rate production requirements in a quick and cost-effective way. This system is also well suited to compression moulding and the production of low complexity structural parts. The use of carbon composites on the scale required for the mass production of the BMW i models is without parallel in the automotive industry. As regards to its role, Araldite® LY 3585 / Hardener XB 3458

enables large composite components for consumer vehicles to be made under mass-market conditions for the first time ever. Looking to the future Huntsman recently established four new Centres of Excellence, developing new technology platforms that support the company’s regional development teams. One of these centres, the Centre of Excellence for Composites, is building up simulation capabilities to provide consultancy on automotive composites projects. The developed simulation technology supports Huntsman’s customers in helping them to select the most ideal product and process parameters, supporting the best tooling geometries in order to ensure the most efficient processes are in place. Demands for even faster production rates, coupled with requirements for higher mechanical properties and greater design freedom, show how the market for automotive composites has developed into a creative and fast-moving sector. In this context, the Centre of Excellence for Composites is set to play a pivotal role in actively supporting Huntsman’s on-going investigations into faster curing epoxies. www.huntsman.com/advanced_materials

Ventec International Group supports ESA proposal for Appendix A to IPC4101D Ventec International Group has declared its support for the proposal led by ESA, the European Space Agency, to define supplemental requirements to the IPC4101D specification for base materials for rigid and multilayer printed circuit boards. The proposed Appendix A, originally drafted in February 2013 and revised in September 2014, aims to define an enhanced quality standard for base materials used in high reliability PCBs for critical applications, with particular reference to the prevention and detection of foreign material inclusions early in the supply chain. "The ESA people are driving-up cleanliness standards because they want risk-free product. In Ventec International Group we already have the capability to inspect, test and release materials to the proposed new

standard and we are committed to supporting ESA's proposal to IPC to get Appendix A formally adopted. Our substantial ongoing investments in clean-room pre-preg fabrication equipment and environment further demonstrate our principle of continuous improvement and consistently achieving the highest delivered quality to our military and aerospace customers."

www. ventec-europe.com

Institute of Circuit Technology Hayling Island Seminar, September 23rd 2014

Goodwood, in West Sussex on the south coast of England, is legendary in its association with horse racing, motor racing and the factory of Rolls Royce Motor Cars. Steve Driver, MD of Spirit Circuits has become legendary for providing memorable extracurricular experiences for the benefit of delegates to the Institute of Circuit Technology’s annual Hayling Island Seminar. This year, his colleague Peter Dobromylski had organised a conducted tour of Rolls Royce’s assembly plant, to observe at first hand the engineering and quality assurance procedures involved in creating motor vehicles to the ultimate standards of luxury, performance and reliability. The factory was characterised by calm and purposeful activity, combining the latest in mechanical and electronic engineering technology with traditional craftsmanship in custom woodwork and leatherwork. Mightily impressed with what they had seen in the assembly area and learned from the knowledgeable engineers who had conducted the tour, delegates took a short bus ride to Hayling Island to attend the technical seminar, on a theme of “Manufactured in the UK” The proceedings were introduced by ICT Chairman Professor Martin Goosey, who reported progress on the TSB-funded STOWURC project, using crab-shell bio-absorbent to remove trace metals from PCB manufacturing effluent and now approaching the end of its first year.

Professor Goosey also announced the awards for the “Best Young Person’s Paper” won by Tom Jones from Merlin Circuit Technology, with a report on applications of ultrasonics. The opening presentation came from Steve Driver, flying the flag for UK manufacturing, reminding the audience that the UK is the eleventh largest manufacturer in the world, and the second largest in the global aerospace industry. The UK had a huge manufacturing heritage, with numerous UK manufacturing industries continuing to thrive. He listed many internationally recognised brand names, in sectors ranging from aerospace and defence, automotive and electronics to plastics, furniture, pharmaceuticals, food and drink. But heritage and tradition aside, British engineers continued to be globally recognised for their inventions and the quality of their innovation, and those attributes were inherent in a whole new generation of systems and products. The UK electronics industry was worth £78 billion and employed 850,000 people. The origins of the printed circuit and modern electronics could be traced back to one UK company, Technograph, who developed the ideas of Dr Paul Eisler “perhaps the world’s most unsung inventor of the 20th Century” Reviewing recent developments in his own group of companies, strategic acquisitions, shrewd investment and positive, often lateral, thinking had built one of the UK’s most innovative PCB manufacturers with a unique suite of services. Always conscious of the need to encourage young people into the industry by engaging them as early as possible in STEM skills, the latest initiative was an educational programme aimed at teaching PCB technology in schools to 7-10 year-olds, under the name Ragworm Education. Specially developed and researched workbooks were focused on the fundamental science behind the PCB, with cartoon-style illustrations and friendly characters based on ground-breaking scientists of the modern era. Driver’s summing-up message was to be proud of heritage and brand, to innovate and educate, to be different and be first, to think global and partner for the greater good, to listen to the customer and to create new standards. The second presentation came from Mark Loader of Viking, UK equipment distributor and manufacturer of ink-jet printers, with an

overview of the history and development of ink-jet printing and its applications. The concept of ink-jet printing was established in 1867, when a patent was registered by Lord Kelvin for a recorder for telegraph signals. Commercial devices were introduced in the early 1950s, as medical strip-chart recorders, but it was not until the late 1970s that printers were developed that could reproduce digital images generated by computers. Loader explained the principles of continuous and drop-on-demand technologies. The continuous technique was the most widely used in industry, particularly for batch-coding, bar-coding and date-coding of products and packages, whereas the drop-on-demand technique, as used in document printing, presented opportunities in electronics manufacturing. He listed a range of jettable materials and gave examples of applications developed for PCB and printed electronics fabrication. In PCB manufacture, ink-jet offered a digital alternative to screen print for etch resist and legend printing. In printed electronics, ink-jet offered a precise means of depositing polymer thick film conductor, semiconductor and dielectric materials, with the possibility to perform multiple operations on the same machine. Optoelectronics and displays was a rapidly growing market sector where ink-jetted thin-film silver nanoparticle inks were increasingly used, and significant progress was being made in roll-to-roll processing of flexible substrates. “Innovative Thermal Management – Made in UK” was the title of the presentation by Ralph Weir, CEO of Nanotherm, who claim to produce the world’s highest performance thermal management substrates for electronics. Their nano-ceramic dielectric coatings, applied on to the surface of aluminium by an undisclosed electrolytic process, were 4-10 times thinner than conventional resin-based materials, and conducted heat 2-3 times better. This enabled extremely efficient heat dissipation and allowed LED manufacturers to reduce costs, improve the lifetime of their LED products by up to four times, and to generate greater luminosity within the same physical footprint. “Most engineers do not understand thermal management –‘I want a 2 Watt material’ – and that naivety pushed their costs up, and their jobs out of Europe” was the bold statement against which background Weir quoted examples: “UK lighthouses use Nanotherm – 2.5X increase in light, 16X increase in reliability”, “UV cured digital inks use Nanotherm –

double throughput from printer”, “Consumer light bulbs use Nanotherm – halve the cost to manufacture” and “Thermo electric generators – 36% more power output”. The smartphone market was a current target for development, and thermoelectric generators presented a substantial future opportunity. Enough excitement! Calm was restored as Chris Wall, ICT Treasurer and Technical Director of Electra Polymers gave a cool and informative insight into how a privately-owned UK company, celebrating its 30th anniversary, had established an outstanding reputation for delivering reliable and innovative products with world-class technical support to all customers irrespective of size or location. With 25% of its UK workforce focused on R&D, Electra was recognised as specialist in the development of solder masks, and Wall described the evolution of solder resist materials from screen-printed heat-cured two-component epoxy-polyamine adducts, through single-component UV-cured products to present-day liquid photo-imageable formulations rheologically optimised for screen or spray application, with photoinitiator systems optimised for traditional UV exposure or specifically formulated for fixed transmission laser or LED wavelengths. There was an increasing demand for solder masks for high-brightness LED lighting circuits with particular attributes such as rapid tack-drying on high heat-conductivity substrates, high opacity, tailored reflectivity and resistance to thermal and UV ageing. Summarising the current market expectation of solder mask performance, over and above its original purpose of enabling mass soldering techniques, Wall indicated that it was required to prevent corrosion of underlying circuitry, to act as a plating resist for surface finishes, to prevent growth of metal whiskers, to insulate substrates from debris and environment, to assist with component placement and to reflect light from LED backplanes, whilst being able to be applied by every known method, impossible to over-dry, cheap, fast-exposing using any imaging process, easy to develop out of small holes, able to coat or tent large holes, cheap, rapid curing, resist all known chemical processes yet easy to remove if required, cheap, and available in every colour and surface finish under the sun….!

The day had started with Rolls Royce Motor Cars; it was appropriate the seminar concluded with Rolls Royce Motor Cars – what better example of high quality, low volume, bespoke manufacturing in the UK? David Monks, Manager of Drive Train, Chassis and Electronics, described the quality assurance procedures employed at the Goodwood plant that delegates had visited earlier. He began by quoting Sir Henry Royce: “Strive for perfection in everything you do. Take the best that exists and make it better. When it does not exist, design it”, Albert Einstein: “Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them” and Lord Kelvin: “I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind: it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely, in your thoughts, advance to the stage of science, whatever the matter may be”. These were guiding principles in the Rolls Royce operation. Monks briefly introduced the model range, from the driver-focused Ghost (base price around £220,000) to the passenger-focused Phantom (base price around £450,000) and explained that, with few exceptions, each car was commissioned specific to an individual customer’s personal needs and preferences, with certain customers prepared to spend enormous sums on customised woodwork, leatherwork, paintwork and electronics. Whatever the specification, customers demanded the best and Rolls Royce’s quality assurance systems had been developed to ensure that the best was consistently delivered. In particular, there had been heavy investment in employee training. There were automated measurement and testing systems in place at several stages along the assembly line, and every completed car was subjected comprehensive testing including full dynamometer analysis, calibration and alignment of on-board cameras and radars, and measurement of the effects of severe vibration and monsoon rain. Finally each car was meticulously hand-polished before delivery.

ICT Technical Director Bill Wilkie brought proceedings to a close, thanking delegates for their attention and presenters for sharing their knowledge and experience, with particular acknowledgments to Rolls Royce for their hospitality, to Peter Dobromylski for arranging the factory visit, and to Steve Driver for his continuing support of the Hayling Island seminar. Who knows what surprise he may have in store for next year’s event….? Pete Starkey, I-Connect007, September 2014

EIPC SPEeDNEWS The Weekly On-Line Newsletter from the European Institute of Printed

Circuits. Issue 29 - October 2014

NEWS FROM THE USA

Hunter Technology Earns Certification as Qualified Manufacturer to IPC J-STD-001 and IPC-A-610

First EMS Company on U.S. West Coast Recognized as an IPC Trusted Source and QML Listed

IPC’s Validation Services Program has awarded an IPC J-STD-001 and IPC-A-610 Qualified Manufacturers Listing (QML) to Hunter Technology Corp., an electronics design and manufacturing services firm based in Milpitas, Calif. The facility successfully completed an intensive audit based on two of IPC’s foremost standards: IPC J-STD-001,Requirements for Soldered Electrical and Electronic Assemblies and IPC-A-610, Acceptability of Electronic Assemblies.

Hunter Technology met or exceeded the requirements for the electronics industry’s most rigorous classification, Class 3, which is intended for high-performance electronics assemblies. As a result, the firm is now listed as an IPC-trusted source capable of manufacturing in accordance with industry best practices. Hunter Technology and other trusted sources of supply can be found on IPC’s QML/QPL (Qualified Product Listing) database at www.ipcvalidation.org. “IPC’s Validation Services program gives Hunter the opportunity to become part of a network of trusted sources that industry will look to first and foremost when evaluating existing and potential business

partners,” said Hunter Technology President Joseph O’Neil. “Being listed as a Qualified Manufacturer also demonstrates our dedication to current industry standards and consistent high quality, and positions us for growth.” IPC’s Validations Services QPL/QML Program was developed to promote supply chain verification and provides auditing and certification of electronics companies’ products and processes which conform to IPC standards. “Hunter Technology has differentiated itself from the competition by becoming part of IPC’s global network of trusted industry sources,” said Randy Cherry, IPC director of Validation Services. “We are pleased to recognize Hunter Technology as the newest member of trusted QML suppliers.” For more information about IPC’s Validation Services QPL/QML Program, visit www.ipcvalidation.org or contact Randy Cherry atRandyCherry@ipc.org or +1 847-597-2806.

EIPC SPEeDNEWS The Weekly On-Line Newsletter from the European Institute of Printed

Circuits. Issue 29 – October 2014

PRINTED ELECTRONICS NEWS

Printed, Organic and Flexible Electronics Markets: High Growth but Mixed Fortunes - IDTechEx By Raghu Das, CEO, IDTechEx IDTechEx, the global market research, technology scouting and events firm, finds that in 2014 three technologies - OLED displays, sensors and conductive ink - make up 99% of the $23.97 billion market for printed, organic and flexible electronics. A snapshot of the market size in 2014, based on research conducted for the new IDTechEx report “Printed, Organic and Flexible Electronics 2014-2024” is shown below, highlighting that the range of enabling technologies involved are at very different points of maturity and profitability.

Source: IDTechEx report “Printed, Organic and Flexible Electronics 2014-2024” www.IDTechEx.com/pe Three Biggest sectors: OLEDs, Sensors, Conductive Ink The largest segment so far is OLED displays, commercial now in cellphones, tablets and TVs, made using vacuum (non-printed) processes. The business has been growing strongly over the last few years due to the onslaught of competition in the LCD industry and therefore the need to differentiate. However, OLED TVs have failed to become a commercial success so far due to their high price but there is strong forward momentum. Curved and eventually flexible OLEDs are key areas of development focus. Sensors comprise almost exclusively of glucose test strips, where the electrodes are printed. The glucose test strip market will experience growth in numbers but revenue growth is less certain as US Medicare intends to pressure suppliers to reduce cost. Still, the margins until now have been excellent. Meanwhile many are developing other sensing solutions, from hybrid organic and CMOS inorganic image sensors to temperature sensors. The mainstay application of conductive ink has been PV bus bars and fingers, and despite the consolidated PV supplier base the volume growth in terms of PV wafers produced offsets the progress in reducing the ink consumption through better structures and process efficiencies. Secondly, as the touch panel market grows in consumer electronics it is driving demand for more conductive ink for the edge bezel electrodes. Hot Sectors IDTechEx note that in particular, hot sectors are transparent conductive films targeted to larger area touch panels, with metal mesh and nanowire solutions in the lead so far. 2014 has seen sluggish adoption of ITO alternatives as laptop touch screen demand uptake has been slower than anticipated, but capacity is now beginning to fill up. However, most importantly, the industry is now becoming much better placed to serve customers - strong ecosystems have been developed by some suppliers to move the focus to complete solution based offerings rather than a technology component offering. Government investments around the world are also rightly focussing on reducing capex risks for

companies wishing to get products off the ground, and are indeed helping companies make products. Additionally, the progress of wearable technology is of increasing interest and focus of developers. It requires the new form factors that printed, organic and flexible electronics can offer for products that can be priced to have reasonable margin. Latest Printed Electronics Assessment IDTechEx saves clients time and money and helps them to make the best decisions by providing impartial assessment of emerging technologies. We have served clients in 80 countries from our bases in the UK, US Germany and Japan. The latest report “Printed, Organic and Flexible Electronics 2014-2024” provides granular market forecasts by technology type over a ten year period, based on conducting hundreds of interviews. Critically, we interview end users to find out what they need. It covers the trends, market place and technology developments and roadmaps versus end user needs. For those looking to gain the latest insights and exploit the unmet opportunities, see www.IDTechEx.com/pe. Meeting Customers IDTechEx hosts the world’s largest event on the topic - Printed Electronics USA - Printed Electronics USA - in Santa Clara on November 19-20. With 200 exhibitors and 2,500 attendees expected, this event showcases the applications and emerging technologies. Critically, it focusses on bringing the technology to market by focussing the event around applications. Companies such as Jaguar Land Rover, Samsung, Hallmark, Adidas, Lockheed Martin, Osram and many others will discuss their needs and experiences with the technology. For more information see www.PrintedElectronicsUSA.com. About IDTechEx IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its Research and Events services, helping you profit from emerging technologies. We provide independent research, business intelligence and advice to companies across the value chain based on research activities and methodologies which provide data sought by business leaders, strategists and technology scouts to aid their critical business decisions. For more information see www.IDTechEx.com.

Electrically conductive plastics promising for batteries, solar cells An emerging class of electrically conductive plastics called "radical polymers" may bring low-cost, transparent solar cells, flexible and lightweight batteries, and ultrathin antistatic coatings for consumer electronics and aircraft. Researchers have established the solid-state electrical properties of one such polymer, called PTMA, which is about 10 times more electrically conductive than common semiconducting polymers. "It's a polymer glass that conducts charge, which seems like a contradiction because glasses are usually insulators," said Bryan Boudouris, an assistant professor of chemical engineering at Purdue University. The polymer is easy to manufacture, resembling Plexiglas, an inexpensive transparent plastic found in numerous products. However, unlike Plexiglas it conducts electricity. "We make billions of tons of plastic every year," Boudouris said. "So imagine if you could produce that same kind of material at that same scale but now it has electronic properties." The PTMA is in a class of electrically active polymers that could bring inexpensive transparent solar cells; antistatic and antiglare coatings for cellphone displays; antistatic coverings for aircraft to protect against lightning strikes; flexible flash drives; and thermoelectric devices, which generate electricity from heat. The polymers have seen commercial use in new types of batteries. However, finding widespread practical applications for the polymers will require increasing the conductivity another 100 to 1,000 times, Boudouris said. Polymers are strings of molecules with a central backbone and may contain side chains called "pendant groups" that dangle from the central structure. In radical polymers, it's these pendant groups that allow charge to be transported, conducting current. To create the radical polymer, the researchers used a procedure called deprotection, which involves replacing a specific hydrogen atom in the pendant group with an oxygen atom, converting it into a so-called radical group. "We just

finally studied deprotection in a way others had not to learn how it affects the electronic properties of the radical polymers," Boudouris said. Electrons surround an atom's nucleus in "shells," and these electrons are usually paired. The oxygen atom in PTMA, however, has one unpaired electron in its outer shell, making it amendable to transporting charge. "You have to control the deprotection process very well because it makes the conductivity vary by orders of magnitude," he said. The researchers have determined that the deprotection step can lead to four distinct chemical functionalities of the radical polymer, two of which are promising for increasing the conductivity of the polymer. "So manipulating the reaction conditions for this deprotection step, and monitoring closely the resultant chemical functionalities, is critical in tuning the electrical properties of radical polymers," Boudouris said. The research is ongoing and has been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Read more at: http://www.printedelectronicsworld.com/articles/electrically-conductive-plastics-promising-for-batteries-solar-cells-00006969.asp?sessionid=1

EIPC SPEeDNEWS The Weekly On-Line Newsletter from the European Institute of Printed

Circuits. Issue 29– October 2014

INTERNATIONAL DIARY 2014/15

IPC Training @ Somacis Italy 20-22 October 2014, Castelfidardo, Italy www.eipc.org ELECTRONICA Messe München, Germany 11th – 14th November 2014 www.electronica.de Visit EIPC & Co-exhibitors at stand A2-665 HKPCA International Printed Circuit & APEX South China Fair Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Centre, Shenzhen, China. 3rd-5th December 2014 www.hkpca-ipc-org EIPC-EFRA-CEFIC Workshop 4th February 2015, Munich, Germany www.eipc.org EIPC Winter Conference Munich, Germany 5 & 6 February 2015, Munich, Germany www.eipc.org IPC APEX EXPO San Diego Convention Centre, California 24th – 26th February 2015 www.ipc.org CPCA SHOW Shanghai, China 17th – 19th March 2015 www.cpca.org.cn

KPCA SHOW Kintex Exhibition Centre, Kyunggi-do, Korea 22nd – 24th April 2015 www.kpcashow.org IPC APEX India Bangalore, India TBA www.ipc.org SMT HYBRID PACKAGING Nurnberg, Germany 5th – 7th May 2015 www.mesago.de JPCA SHOW Tokyo International Exhibition Centre 3rd – 5th June 2015 www.jpcashow.org PRODUCTRONICA Messe Munchen 10th – 13th November 2015 www.productronica.com