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The Sky is Just the Beginning
In This Issue
Organic Photovoltaics (OPV)
Wet Chemistry for
Silicon Solar Cells
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Organic Photovoltaics Offer
Promise for Future Development
Jim Handy and Alain Harrus
There are several new technologies
in development, any of which
16 22 may ultimately displace today’s
conventional technologies. Perhaps
one of the most promising is
organic PV (OPV).
columns 27
BPA Growth Curves
14 Mark Hutton
Web Exclusive:
Tapping Into PCBs
Tech Talk Where Are We on the Business Cycle?
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Karl Dietz
Zulki Khan
Fine Lines in High Yield (Part CLXVI) - 28
Read it at
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15 On the Use of Blind and Buried Vias.
Flexible Thinking
Joe Fjelstad 29 departments
Bending and Flexing Design Concerns III - Environmentally Speaking
Back to Basics, Part 25. Fern Abrams 5 Lead Wire
Change in Climate for Climate 6 The Wire
26 Change Regulation.
Ask the Flexperts 34 Technical Product
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India Editor • Muniswamy Anil Kumar o say that photovoltaics (PV) is a hot topic could very well be an under-
statement.
Editorial Advisor • Happy Holden While it started as a practical way to power satellites and other spacecraft, a
majority of PV modules are used for power-grid energy production. In fact,
Global Sales Manager • Christopher Wilson
(248) 244-8264, wilson@circuitree.com
according to statistics for sustainable investing (socialfunds.com), photovoltaic produc-
tion has doubled every two years since 2002 and is currently the fastest growing energy
Inside Sales Manager • Vito Laudati technology in the world.
(630) 694-4018, laudativ@bnpmedia.com Moreover, PVs and solar energy are actively talked about as part of the solution to a
wide array of political and economic concerns—the environment, developing countries,
Art Director • Mike Holmes
(412) 306-4358, holmesj@bnpmedia.com trade, terrorism, war, and, of course, energy—all for one big reason: it will reduce the
world’s dependence on oil for its energy needs.
Cover Image • Courtesy of NASA
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For subscription information or service, please contact The new White House Administration has stated many times that it believes the future
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Some of these challenges, particularly with solar energy and PVs, are grid parity and the
Contact Info for List Rental Customers: efficiency of the technology. Grid parity is the point at which photovoltaics can provide
POSTAL: Robert Liska, List Manager energy equal to or cheaper than the traditional power grids that commonly run on fossil
800-223-2194 • robert.liska@edithroman.com fuels or nuclear power. Some of the largest users of photovoltaics—Germany, Japan, and
EMAIL: Shawn Kingston, Account Manager
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Back Issues – Ann Kalb – (248) 244-6499, down to is improving the technology. And that’s where the PCB industry comes in.
kalba@bnpmedia.com Read this month’s features, dedicated entirely to the topic of photovoltaics, and find
out how.
Corporate Directors Discover the environmental and technological benefits of organic PVs in “Organic
Publishing: Timothy A. Fausch
Publishing: David M. Lurie Photovoltaics Offer Promise for Future Development,” and get “An Overview of Wet
Publishing: John R. Schrei Chemistry Processing for the Manufacture of Silicon Solar Cells.”
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Custom Media: Steve M. Beyer exclusive article, “Tapping Into PCBs for PV Thermal Issues.”
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Production: Vincent M. Miconi Enjoy and thanks for reading!
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• James Huntsman Vice President, ment of Dr. Moe S. Nozari, executive vice dent and general manager, Electronics
Am ericas president, Consumer and Office Business, Markets Materials Division.
• Steen Weien Hansen Vice President, Asia effective July 1. Nozari, 67, has been with
Pacific 3M since 1971. Bare Board Group is Supplier of the
• Tu Pham Vice President, Strategy and Joe E. Harlan has been elected executive Year for National Instruments
Business Development vice president, Consumer and Office Busi- Largo, Fla. — Bare Board Group, Inc. (BBG),
• Christophe Struyvelt Vice President, ness, effective July 1. Harlan came to 3M a U.S. supplier of quality printed circuit
Finance from GE in 2001 and in that time has served boards, has earned top honors as Supplier
as vice president, Financial Planning and of the Year for National Instruments, an
Rehm Thermal Systems Signs Distribu- Analysis; president and chairman of the internationally known company with more
tion Agreement with Altus Group board, Sumitomo 3M Limited; and, since than 5,000 employees. The award recog-
Rehm Thermal Systems continued their 2004, as executive vice president, Electro nizes BBG as the supplier that consistently
global expansion program with the and Communications Business. performs beyond expectations throughout
announcement of a new partnership Joaquin Delgado has been elected the year, delivering world-class perfor-
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the distribution of Rehm’s diverse line of Communications Business, effective July BBG has demonstrated the commitment,
soldering products in the United Kingdom 1. Delgado, who holds a Ph.D. in Polymer innovation and results that set it apart
and Ireland. Science and Engineering, joined 3M in from the rest of the industry, according to
1987 and served in numerous technical Christman, who congratulated BBG for its
3M Announces capacities before being named managing “outstanding accomplishments.”
Management Changes director, 3M Korea, in 2003. He was named For the second year in a row, BBG was
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T
he Tech Talk column, now in its after back-grinding (wafer thinning), but we An etch-mask defines the positions where
15th year, has mainly focused on shall adhere to the first definition. the TSVs are to be etched. A portion of the
circuit board fabrication issues. The TSVs can be formed by laser drilling hole is then etched. Since etching is not
But over the years, related topics or dry etching. RIE, reactive ion etching, perfectly anisotropic, i.e. selective down-
from first-level packaging and other inter- is one form of dry etch, typically done in a etching, the etched hole sidewall needs to
connect technologies have also been increas- diode-type reactor. The aggressive ion bom- be protected from excessive lateral etching,
ingly covered. Discussing through-silicon-via bardment of the surface results in a high which is done by depositing a protective
(TSV) technology in this column is a bit of etch rate, but care needs to be taken to avoid polymer on the hole sidewall. Etching and
a stretch. But it might be of interest to look damage to the substrate. The DRIE pro- polymer deposition steps alternate until the
at processes such as hole formation, insula- cess (deep reactive ion etching) is a dry etch TSV formation is complete. The result is a
tion, metallization, and etching and check process that either uses inductively couples hole sidewall that has a scalloped appear-
for similarities and differences between plasma (ICP) or ECR (electron cyclotron ance. The process is slow, but achieves high
TSV processing and first- and second-level resonance). Compared to RIE, this process aspect ratio holes. C4F8- plasma is used to
packaging. Part A of this two part series is has a slower etch rate, can achieve higher form the protective fluoropolymer. SF6-
focusing on via formation, while Part B will aspect ratio holes, but requires high initial plasma is used in the etch cycle. The pro-
deal with metallization processes. investment. tective polymer needs to be removed after
The motivation to create conductive the hole formation is complete.
paths through chips comes, in part, from The plasma can be formed in the same
the fact that there are applications that chamber in which the wafer is placed or it
require a lot of memory in close proximity may be formed in a separate chamber (“de-
to a logic chip, such as multi-core proces- coupled” system, Ref. 1) from where it dif-
sors, and this, in turn, requires that memory fuses in the wafer chamber.
chips are stacked on top of each other and P. Garrou (Ref. 2) describes the TSV for-
interconnected. There is also a form factor mation with lasers: the laser is typically a
that plays a role: there may not be enough 355nm UV, Q-switched, diode-pumped
room in small, high-end, hand-held devices solid-state (DPSS) source. The laser via
to allow the arrangement of memory chips can be as close as 2 microns from the active
in one plane. Furthermore, in a single device with no degradation of the device.
Fig 1 Etched TSVs Before Plating
plane interconnect platform, the connec- The sidewall natural slope is 1.3 to 1.6
(Source: STS)
tions between chips will be longer, which degrees and controllable. There is a question
is undesirable for high-speed applications. if laser drilling can yield TSVs with smaller
Given the options for interconnecting than 25 micron diameters.
stacked chips, the TSV option is the best
one from an electrical performance view Acknowledgment
point because it offers lower loop induc- Illustrations and technical information pro-
tance and impedance than wire bonding or vided by my colleague, Toshiaki Itabashi, are
a combination of wire bonding and solder gratefully acknowledged. ■
joints. Through-chip-vias are also found in
CMOS imagers. References
Fig 2 Principle of Bosch Etching Process
One distinguishes between “via-first” and Via Hole Formation by Precision DRIE for Through Wafer
“via-last” TSV processes. In most cases, “first” Figure 1 shows the high aspect ratio DRIE Interconnects, Leslie Lea, Surface Technology Systems, Pro-
and “last” makes reference to the chronology etched blind TSVs. ceedings, 3D/SiP Advanced Packaging Symposium, May 9-10,
of semiconductor formation and TSV for- One special version of the DRIE process 2007, Research Triangle Park, NC
mation. “Via-first” means the TSV is formed is the Bosch etching process, named after Wafer Level 3D Integration: a Status Report, P. Garrou, Pro-
before the semiconductors are formed on the the German automotive electronics com- ceedings, 3D/SiP Advanced Packaging Symposium, May 9-10,
silicon, and conversely, “via-last” means TSV pany that holds the patents for this tech- 2007, Research Triangle Park, NC
formation after semiconductor formation. nology (see Figure 2). Part of the process is
Occasionally, the “first” and “last” is used to the deposition of a polymer on the etched Karl H. Dietz is CircuiTree’s technical editor.
denote that TSVs are formed either before or side wall to protect it from over-etching. Email karl.h.dietz@USA.dupont.com
T
he last installment of this review For normal bending of different flexible
of design issues related to bending circuit constructions, those guidelines are as
and flexing addressed the I-Beam follows: for single metal layer, the minimum
effect and looked at some of the bend radius is 3 to 6 times circuit thickness;
many ways that a flexible circuit can be for double-sided flex, the minimum bend
flexed, folded, and shaped. This installment radius is 6 to10 times circuit thickness; for
will provide some simple “rules of thumb” multilayer flex, the general rule is a radius
for flexing, both statically and dynamically. Fig 1 Small Diameter Bend Radii Demand greater than 10 to15 times circuit thickness
A first recommendation is to design flex Greater Elongation From the Materials or more. For dynamic applications, only a
dynamic areas with the copper grain direc- Used in Flex Circuit Construction, single metal layer is recommended, especially
Especially Copper Foil
tion. The orientation of the grain of the for high cycle applications and the minimum
copper foil has a definite effect on flex- radius should be 20 to 40 times circuit thick-
ural life of a design and it has been proven ness or more. Two metal layer circuits can be
many times in testing. However, grain direc- flexed dynamically, but there is a need to look
tion is of greatest importance for flex circuit closely at the application. For very high flex
designs that are fabricated using rolled and life dynamic flex circuit designs, fabrication
annealed (RA) or traditional electrodeposited and testing of prototype circuits remains the
(ED) copper foil. Both of these types of foil preferred method of design verification for a
have historically shown a marked difference great many applications.
in flexural endurance between machine and In spite of these guidelines, rules are
transverse or cross directions. In contrast, Fig 2 Very Small Bends in the Flex Circuit often bent (both literally and figurative). For
are Possible as Demonstrated by This Disc
grain refined electroplated copper on sput- example, creasing and hard folding of flex,
Drive Application
tered film does not appear to have any partic- while not a preferred practice, can be suc-
ular or specific grain direction, thus laminate fore endure millions, or even billions, of low cessfully accomplished with some attention
orientation for processing is not as critical. amplitude, high frequency flexing cycles. to certain details. When required or desired,
When it comes to bending, it is best to When it comes to bending design, finite the circuit should be permanently bonded to
keep any flexural arc as small as practical element modeling can be extremely useful itself to prevent it from bending back at the
for maximum flex life. In disc drive flex cir- and the method is recommended as it can crease or fold line. A small dowel pin might
cuit design, it has been demonstrated that a provide excellent predictive data for sug- be advisable to hold a small radius, or a sepa-
smaller flexural arc or total angle of flexure gesting limits for bending. On the other rating base, such as shown in Figure 2, can
of the circuit in dynamic designs will pro- hand, there are some long standing and be used. The ideal copper for such high strain
vide the best performance as small as possible commonly accepted guidelines that have bending applications will be a low strength,
(that is, flex the circuit over the smallest pos- served the industry over the years to keep high elongation copper. Fully annealed soft
sible distance). This is a key technique used the design inside the limits. For a rough, copper is normally a good choice for applica-
in later model disk drive applications to allow first order approximation of where the limits tions requiring a small radius bend.
them to achieve the high flex life cycling they are, the industry has a long standing practice In summary, the flexing and bending of
presently obtain that are more than one order of looking at the application and predeter- flexible circuits is fundamental to the tech-
of magnitude greater than earlier designs. mining how much strain will be induced on nology and there is a need to understand
The next concern is the bend radius, the circuit during bending. some of the basic rules and practices to
which should be kept as large as possible. This is determined by the radius and the assure design quality. This topic will con-
The designer has always been advised to distance to the outer surface of the copper tinue in the next installment. ■
always provide the largest practical radius foil. Figure 1 and its simple equation will
through bend areas. This design approach help to determine the need. As, can be con- Joseph Fjelstad, founder and president of
or attribute is especially important, even cluded by calculation, the elongation require- Verdant Electronics and co-founder of Silicon-
critical, for dynamic flex. And as pointed ments for the copper foil rise significantly as Pipe, is an author and innovator in electronic
out in the previous installment, it can also bend radii decrease. Beyond this simplistic interconnection and packaging technologies.
be important in flex applications that are but instructional analysis, there are a few Download his flex circuit book free at
designed for static applications, but which commonly used guidelines that have served www.flexiblecircuittechnology.com.
can potentially be subjected and must there- well for many years. E-mail: jfjelstad@siliconpipe.com
T
he solar cell industry has been predicting module prices will decrease from the growth wisely over the past years should
truly remarkable to observe $3.80/watt to between $2.50 and $3.00/watt be able to weather the storm and are likely to
over the past ten years. During during 2009.2 emerge even stronger than before.
this time, the industry has sus- Despite these troubled times, the PV One of the key factors for any solar cell
tained a CAGR of more than 40 industry remains one of the few indus- manufacturer to survive during such dif-
percent in cell production. Silicon consump- tries with sustainable long-term growth ficult times is the ability to achieve high
tion is currently twice that of the much more opportunity. Macroeconomic drivers such device performance at a low cost. Wet
mature semiconductor industry.1 Up until the as concerns over imported oil dependence chemical processing has been adopted from
first half of 2008, attractive operating mar- and global warming remain strong even other more mature industries such as the
gins were sustained throughout most of the during the current economic situation. Oil semiconductor and printed circuit board
supply chain. However, since the second half prices appear to have hit bottom and will industries and plays a key role in solar cell
of 2008, like most other industries, the Pho- likely increase again as the world economy manufacturing. The purpose of this article
tovoltaic (PV) industry is experiencing signif- recovers. Although some countries like is to highlight the areas where wet chemical
icant challenges. The current credit crisis has Spain are reducing government subsidies, processing is being utilized in the solar cell
impacted initiation of new PV projects and other countries like the United States, Japan, manufacturing process while giving some
module supply is currently exceeding that of and South Korea are showing indications of insight of how it can further improve cell
demand. New manufacturing capacity, which increasing incentives to create future demand efficiency and overall costs.
was being added to meet the growth frenzy for solar energy. The anticipated sharp drop
during the first half of 2008, is making a bad in the $/watt is a necessary and positive Overview
situation worse. Companies that entered into step for the industry to achieve grid parity, Simplistically stated, a solar cell is a semicon-
long term silicon contracts at the peak of last which will make solar generated power com- ductor device that creates electricity from the
year are scrambling to renegotiate their con- petitive with power received from the grid sun by utilizing the photovoltaic effect (see
tracts to more accurately reflect the signifi- independent of government subsidies. As a Figure 1). Photons are absorbed from the sun
cant drop in silicon prices. Some sources are result, those companies that have managed by the silicon layer and excite nearby elec-
30
< 10oC range. Figure 7 shows the resulting
25 topography of a multi-crystalline wafer after
20 being texturized with HNO3/HF process.
15 Equipment configuration with the acidic
10
texturing process is typically in the hori-
zontal mode. Volatile organic species are
5
less of a concern, but generation of nitrogen
0 oxide gases and safe handling of the acids
5% Dow Acid Precleaner, 5% Dow
Bare Wafer 5% Dow alkaline detergent cleaner
alkaline detergent cleaner (especially the hydrofluoric) needs to be
Copper 35.5 1.26 0.22 considered carefully. Alternative wet chem-
Iron 8.27 1.53 0.6 istries that can minimize or even replace the
Lead 0.5 0.32 0 use of hydrofluoric acid are currently being
Zinc 2.41 1.77 0.53 researched.
For either alkaline or acidic processes,
Fig 5 Metal Ion Contamination as a Function of Different Cleaning Chemistries a final hydrochloric rinse step is used to
Web-only articles.
P
hotovoltaic (PV) cells are expected are now increasingly used to meet com- as shown in Table 1.
to be a large part of the solution mercial, industrial, and household energy Today, two fundamental technologies
to wean developed countries from needs. While PV technology presently are utilized to produce most photovoltaic
their dependence on fossil fuels. supplies a relatively small fraction of total cells — crystalline silicon, which accounts
Once used primarily for power generation energy production, it is a rapidly growing for roughly 90 percent of all solar cells pro-
in space and other remote locations, they source of renewable and sustainable energy, duced, and thin films, which include amor-
phous silicon (aSi or a-Si), cadmium tellu-
Sunlight ride (CdTe), and copper indium gallium
(di)selenide (CIGS). The commercial PV
industry is rapidly evolving, however, and it
is difficult to predict which technology may
Holes to
Anode ultimately prevail. There are several new
Sunlight Absorbed
Conclusion
Organic PV has many technical hurdles to
Light overcome. Improving cell efficiency and life-
time are the keys to expanding the range of
potential products that can use the tech-
Plastic Substrate nology. Most leading developers are concen-
trating on these issues. Applications are cur-
ITO Electrode rently aligned with opportunities where the
Phthalocyanine Evap Film use of a flexible cell offsets its lack of effi-
ciency. The first wave of applications is for
Fullerene Evaporated Film
Cathode consumer-type products such as battery char-
Anode LiF Layer gers and integration of PV cells into textiles
Aluminum Electrode and clothing. In time, technology improve-
ments will open up new applications. ■
Hermetic Seal
References
Fig 2 The AIST Organic Photovoltaic Cell (Source: Objective Analysis, 2008) 1) Organic Photovoltaic Solar Cells: Recent Advancements in
Efficiency. Christopher J. Musto. Literature Seminar, November
significantly improve performance and lower cations lies outside of consumer applications, 15, 2007. www.chemistry.illinois.edu/research/materials/sem-
processing costs. In the meantime, there are a with the greatest opportunities being the gen- inar_abstracts/2007-2008/Musto.pdf
number of options being pursued to increase eration of electricity for domestic and indus-
OPV efficiency. These include nanomaterials trial purposes (grid electricity), and these Jim Handy is a director at market research firm
to improve light collection, more transparent applications have a required lifetime of 20 Objective Analysis and is co-chair of the Photo-
thin films, improved light-trapping schemes, to 30 years. Organic materials degrade more voltaics chapter for the 2009 iNEMI Roadmap.
and multijunction topologies. rapidly over time than inorganic materials. http://objective-analysis.com/Contact_
The use of nanostructured material cells The high levels of exposure to sun that solar Us.html#Jim_Handy
has led to more efficient charge separation cells must endure not only cause degrada- Alain Harrus is a partner with Crosslink Capital
and efficiencies are currently in the 3 to 5 tion but — in the case of dye-sensitized cells and co-chair of the Photovoltaics chapter for the
percent range. Work in this area is still pri- — fading. There are also concerns about the 2009 iNEMI Roadmap.
marily a research-based focus for universities effects of sunlight and heat on lightweight E-mail: aharrus@crosslinkcapital.com
and institutes, and for some companies, such flexible substrates, especially plastics. For more information about the 2009 iNEMI
as Cambridge Display Technology (CDT). Roadmap, visit http://www.inemi.org/cms/road-
A wide variety of materials and struc- Applications mapping/2009_Roadmap.html.
tures is being studied. For example, Konarka Military and remote services are expected to
Additional resources for information on PV technology:
and Sustainable Technologies International be initial key drivers for the development and http://www.doe.gov/energysources/solar.htm
(STI) are working on Gratzel cells, which deployment of OPV devices. Lightweight, roll- http://www.solarbuzz.com/
http://www.jema-net.or.jp/English/07eij2002.html
use a dye-sensitized nanostructured titanium up power sources would be ideal for people
http://www.greentechmedia.com/
oxide. In Japan, the National Institute of requiring electricity in remote locations, such http://www.epia.org/
W
e hear plenty about the disas-
50%
trous situation “sub primes”
Semis
got us into and we have felt 40%
PCB
the effect very severely in our 30%
industry. The downturn is into its second
20%
year, the really crucial questions are, “Where
% Growth
are we on the cycle?” and “When will things 10%
pick up?”
0%
At BPA, we have been facing these issues head
on for the last thirty years. We have been moni- -10%
1993
1996
1999
2002
2005
2008
2011
Let’s take a look. Comparing the World
PCB forecast with the Semiconductor fore-
cast in Figure 1, it can be seen that, indeed, Fig 1 Comparison of PCB and Semiconductor Growth 12/12
where the PCB trough falls to -20 percent, the
Semiconductor trough has fallen further to -25 Responses to BPA’s quarterly survey1 indicate that output from many Asian and Euro-
percent. pean fabricators has declined by more than 40 percent in Q109. North America has been
We can also see that this decline in growth in slow decline for more than a year and its first quarter revenues have not been hit quite
started from a peak that was lower than the 2001 as badly. High-volume manufacturing has disappeared from North America and Europe,
decline. At that time, inventory levels were at an with the exception of the latter case for automotive PCBs, which have still been made in
all-time high in anticipation of orders for com- mid-sized volumes in Germany. Indeed, it is estimated that between 40 and 50 percent of
puters and networking infrastructure equipment the country’s output is in this sector, compared to a worldwide sector figure of approxi-
that never came. You will remember the dotcom mately 4 percent of total PCB shipments.
boom that did not materialize. Surplus inventory is now all but used up, with laminators in particular reporting a slight
The circumstances are not the same this time increase in demand. However, this is coming from a level that is only half of what it was a
around. As can be seen from Figure 1, we believe year ago. The quarterly results indicate that there has been no significant overall increase
the contraction will not be as great as it was in in the order books for the second quarter (where some companies have won, others have
2001. Why? Three major reasons, lost) and so Q2 is expected to remain dampened to the same level as Q1. From such a low
base, even with recovery in Q3 and Q4, it will be impossible for the industry to stage a full
• The growth rates did not reach the extraordi- recovery in 2009 and only low growth is expected for 2010.
nary high peak as those in 2001 To further compound the fabricators misery, the competitive marketplace has put
• The levels of inventory are not of the same intense pressure on prices, which have been forced down by 5-10 percent at a time when
magnitude most fabricators were hoping to push prices up a bit to compensate for the higher raw
• The slowdown was seen over a longer period material costs experienced in 2008 as fuel prices surged. This has resulted in BPA reducing
of time before demand went negative its value forecast made in November 2008 for 2009 from just under -10 percent to around
-16 percent for this year. A small percent growth is predicted in 2010 as the trend line
On the demand side, semiconductor manu- emerges past the 0 line by the end of the first half of 2010. By 2012, BPA’s Forecast PCB
facturers late in the first quarter reported minor demand will be back to 2007’s level of just over USD49 billion.
improvements in order rates and capacity utiliza- 1. The PCB service includes a regular quarterly survey of the PCB Industry and the
tion rising above the 50 percent levels, the first supply industries worldwide. ■
quarter-on-quarter increase since the second
quarter of 2008. Typical utilization rates are
85 percent or above during a normal growth Mark Hutton is managing director and senior consultant, BPA Consulting Ltd. His areas of expertise
phase (e.g. UMCs utilization rate for Q308 was include IC packaging, advanced substrates, assembly materials, and processes.
reported to be 85 percent). Email: m.hutton@bpaconsulting.com
I
n recent months, I have encountered the PCB. From practical experience, this has fine to allow through-hole vias. As a result,
a number of high-layer-count PCB turned out not to be true. tiny, blind vias are used to penetrate to layer
designs with high-pin-count BGAs, There are places where combining blind two and three of the package where very fine
such as FPGAs with 1 mm pitch con- and buried via technology serves a very traces fan out to the 1mm or 50 mil pitch
tacts, designed with blind and buried via important role. Among these are cell phone balls on the bottom of the package that
technology. Using this technology, these PCBs and high-pin-count BGA packages. finally interfaces with the main PCB.
PCBs have been difficult to design, diffi- In these cases, the motivation isn’t to save In neither of these cases was the moti-
cult to manufacture, more expensive than layers. Rather, it is to make possible designs vation to save layers, save design time, or
their through-hole counterparts, and diffi- that would otherwise have no solution. Cell improve testability. In fact, the opposite is
cult to test and troubleshoot. At the same phones, due to their compact size, have fine usually true. The use of blind and buried
time, PCBs of similar complexity and den- pitch components mounted on both sides of vias was to make the product possible at all!
sity were being done in the same number a single PCB. If standard through-hole tech- Testability is compromised in the case of the
of layers using standard through-hole tech- nology were employed, component holes cell phone PCB due to the fact that few, if
nology with none of these drawbacks, and at from components mounted on one side of any, of the component pins are accessible for
lower overall cost. the PCB would penetrate mounting pads of conventional in-circuit testing. As a result,
the components used in such a design must
contain special test circuits such as boundary
scan or JTAG that allow testing from a few
test pins that access each IC from a special
test connector. When a design is done with
through-hole technology, all device pins are
accessible from the back side of the PCB
making it easy to do in-circuit test, as well
as allowing easy attachment of oscilloscope
probes during troubleshooting.
After much review, I have determined
Two specific cases were eighteen-layer components mounted on the other side. In that those giving the advice to use blind and
PCBs used in networking products. The order to avoid this problem, blind vias are buried via technology on PCBs where it is
same basic circuit was being manufactured used to reach into the second or third layer not the best solution are well intentioned.
using standard through-hole technology of the PCB where connections are made to However, those who follow this misplaced
with all of the advantages of low cost, ease other circuit pins or power rails. This is done advice are paying a very high price. When
of layout, and ease of test. The fabrication on both sides of the PCB connecting to a a technology that works in one area is trans-
drawing consisted of only one page and had common core in the center that contains the ferred without adequate qualification, the
a single drill file. At the same time, a second power distribution networks. The result is a results can be mixed at the very least and
PCB using the blind and buried via approach core with four or more layers built with con- disappointing at the worst. Those giving
cost 20 percent more to build, took twice as ventional through-hole technology that has the advice owe it to their audience to make
long to layout, was very difficult to test, and built-up layers on both sides, which are con- sure that, in their enthusiasm to promote
had an eight-page fabrication drawing, four nected to the core using blind vias. This is a concept, it fits where it is being offered.
drill files, and still required eighteen layers. often referred to as build-up technology. It Not doing so can result in some very bad
I was curious as to why these designs is easy to see that this process will cost more end results that are not cost competitive or
were being done this way when it was not than a like number of layers using standard timely. ■
an improvement over the standard through- through-hole technology. This is the price
hole method normally used for such designs. paid for miniaturization. Lee W. Ritchey is currently president of Speeding
Upon investigation, I discovered that there Dense, high-pin-count BGA packages use Edge, a leading training and consulting company
are presentations being made at conferences blind and buried vias in a build-up process specializing in the design of high speed PCBs
and some classes being taught that claim much like that used for cell phone PCBs, and systems. He has spent his 40-year career
that combining blind and buried vias on this but for another reason. The balls or bumps designing high-speed PCBs for supercomputers
class of design saves layers by allowing many on the BGA die are usually placed on an 8 and high-performance Internet products.
of the signals to be routed on layer two of mil (.203 mm) pitch. This pitch is far too Email: leeritchey@earthlink.net
A
new wind has blown into town California (CA) is not waiting for Con- groups, recently assessed 11 industry sectors,
and it is hot. Already the new gress or the EPA to act. Under the CA Global including technology and semiconductors,
administration (100 days old Warming Solutions Act (AB 32) that was on a range of climate change related perfor-
when I wrote this) and Demo- enacted in 2006, California will cut GHG mance measures. Of the sixty-three compa-
cratic Congress have signaled their intent to emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Current nies assessed, IBM Corp., Tesco plc, Dell Inc.,
take action on climate change and the regu- emission levels need to be cut by 15 percent Intel Corp., and Johnson & Johnson ranked
lation of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Before in order to reach 1990 levels. Under a plan the highest in terms of a sustained commit-
you think to yourself that the electronics approved earlier this year, California plans to ment to controlling GHG emissions.
industry doesn’t have a stake in climate reduce GHGs requiring vehicles, businesses, As I write this column in early May, many
change, think again. and households to be more energy effi- things remain up in the air. One thing is clear
At the end of April, the House Energy cient, relying on more renewable energy and though — it’s going to be a busy spring and
and Commerce Committee held hearings implementing a multi-sector cap-and-trade
on the Waxman-Markey discussion draft program. One of the draft measures requires
of “The American Clean Energy and Secu- the reduction of GHG emissions from Cali-
rity Act of 2009.” Environmental Protection fornia semiconductors operations that emit
Agency (EPA) analysis of the draft estimates fluorinated gases equivalent to 800 metric
that implementation of the bill would cost tons of carbon dioxide per year. Smaller
households less than $150 a year, while esti- semiconductor operations must monitor
mates produced by the Republican leader- and report their emissions.
ship in the House of Representatives indicate In the meantime, the EPA has a draft regu-
a cost to families of about $3,000 a year. If lation to require the reporting of GHG emis-
that’s what the bill would cost a household, sions by major sources, “Regulation to Estab-
imagine what it would cost your business! lish Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse
A committee markup of the bill scheduled Gases from Upstream Fuel and Chemical
for the last week of April was abruptly can- Producers and Importers and Downstream
celed amidst rumors that the conservative Emitters.” The draft regulation proposes
Democrats on the committee could not sup- to implement a national, mandatory GHG
port the bill. If you think this is clearly good emissions reporting system. Facilities that
news, think again and keep reading. emit GHGs, including carbon dioxide, in
After a thorough scientific review ordered excess of 25,000 metric tons per year would
in 2007 by the U.S. Supreme Court, on be required to monitor, document and report.
April 17, the EPA issued a proposed finding Policymakers consider GHG reporting and
that GHGs contribute to air pollution that inventory as critical components to eventu- summer here in Washington. The electronics
may endanger public health or welfare. The ally developing a federal cap-and-trade pro- industry, along with all manufacturing
proposed endangerment finding, which now gram. The inventory will provide policy- industries and the American public, has a lot
moves to a public comment period, identi- makers with the necessary data to determine at stake. Whether or not you believe in cli-
fied six GHGs that pose a potential threat. the feasibility of emissions reductions. mate change and the human ability to affect
Supporters of the House bill said the EPA Even in the absence of regulation, leading it, you will be affected by the legislation and
endangerment finding has increased pres- manufacturers are increasing pressure on their regulations currently being debated.
sure on Congress to act. If Congress does supply chain to quantify and reduce their For more information on climate change,
not pass climate change legislation, the EPA emissions of carbon dioxide, a major GHG. visit www.epa.gov; www.house.gov; and
will have to regulate greenhouse gases using The most recent annual report from the www.ipc.gov/ehs. ■
its authority under the Clean Air Act (CAA). Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) concluded
Because the CAA is designed to address local that of the top 500 companies worldwide, 74
and regional levels of air pollutants, it is ill- percent have set emission reduction targets Fern Abrams is IPC’s director of government
suited to manage GHG regulation. Regula- and 65 percent have an executive body with relations and environmental policy. She is based
tion of GHGs under the CAA would likely overall responsibility for climate change. A in Washington, D.C. Fern can be reached by
require more than 100 separate regulations report by Ceres Inc., a coalition of investors, phone at 703-522-0225 or by email at
covering various parts of the economy. environmental groups, and public interest FernAbrams@ipc.org.
T
he U.S. economic outlook continues to brighten (modestly). From a regional PCB growth perspective (Chart 4) SE Asia, and
Stock prices, consumer and business confidence, the ISM “Pur- more recently Japan, now have 3/12 growth rates heading “north”
chasing Managers” index, and even auto sales were up as we wrote toward their “breakeven” values of 1.0. Unfortunately, N America and
this column in early June. Although we are clearly still in a reces- Europe have yet to reach the low points of this current cycle.
sion, a more optimistic tone is emerging. The Wall Street Journal’s panel of Looking forward, we still see about a 25 percent global decline in
“Blue Chip” economists recently modified its U.S. GDP growth forecast - PCB shipments this year vs. 2008. Per Chart 5, we entered 2009 in a
with Q209 still projected to decline (but at a lesser amount than forecasted deep trough and it will take time to “dig ourselves out.” The forecasted
earlier) and then growth resuming in the third quarter (Chart 1). “recovery path” (red line in Chart 5) that we published in December 2008
Globally, we appear to have passed the bottom of this current elec- seems to be holding true as we log each month of 2009’s actual data.
tronics business cycle (Chart 2). Although actual Q/Q growth won’t Chart 6 is our colleague Ed Henderson’s most recent forecast for global
resume until the 3/12 growth rates exceed 1.0, we are clearly seeing an electronic equipment production growth by region. 2009 still looks like
improved outlook. the “bottom,” with recovery in all major geographic areas likely in 2010
For PCBs, SE Asia, of course, dominates world production. Per and 2011. See www.hendersonventures.com for more details.
Chart 3, Europe and N America continue to experience eroding sales.
Japan took “a large hit” beginning in late 2008 (but recently resumed PCB fabrication
growth). In total, world PCB production is again expanding based ALR Services began PCB prototype service.
upon SE Asia’s huge monthly revenues. AT&S launched a new Online Ordering System at www.ats.net.
Chart 1
Chart 2
Chart 3
Chart 4
Chart 6
Bare Board Group received Supplier of the Year award from National enhance sales in Scandinavia.
Instruments. Teknoflex received AS9100 certification.
Career Technology and Merry settled an FPCB shipment lawsuit. Ulf Andersson Electronics began marketing PCBs with up to 500
Cicor Technologies appointed Roland Küpfer CEO. micron copper layers from Zot.
Coretec CFO Andre Kern left the company; CEO Paul Langston
assumed interim (added) responsibilities of CFO. Materials and process equipment
Dynamic acquired 59.93 percent of touch panel maker Alpha - Cookson Electronics Assembly Materials opened a new SMT
Abon Touch. Print Technology center in Woking, Surrey.
Elprinta implemented Polar Instruments’ “Speedstack” software. Atotech & SEMATECH partnered on process solutions for
Eltek received a USD1.2 million order from a U.S. medical equip- 3D ICs.
ment manufacturer. Balver Zinn Group:
Endicott Interconnect Technologies eliminated 240 jobs. • appointed Tim Lawrence, Ph.D., to Product Development
Eurocircuits added a second European production plant in Aachen, Manager.
Germany. • named EMS Partners as its representative for Minnesota and North
Fundação CERTI (Florianopolis, Brazil) purchased and imple- and South Dakota and Luff Tool and IMK as North American rep-
mented Valor’s Trilogy DFM, vPlan, vManage, and solutions. resentatives.
Hapro added a Teknek SMT-Cleaner for its PCB ID-marking line. Bliss Industries reduced prices by 30 percent (the first price reduc-
Harbor Electronics (Santa Clara, Calif.) added a Bacher OptiFlex tion in company history).
Post-Etch Punch for its innerlayer registration process. BTU International appointed Jan-Paul van Maaren, Ph.D., to VP
Hi-Tech installed Höllmüller and Schmid horizontal copper plating Marketing.
lines in Skopje, Macedonia. Cadence Design Systems introduced a “scalable FPGA-PCB co-
K&F Electronics acquired Ultima Circuits (Sacramento, Calif.). design solution.”
Kyoden postponed opening its automobile multilayer circuit board Camtek acquired Printar Ltd.
plant in Thailand. China-Kinwa High Tech is building a RMB 3 billion electronic
Lenthor Engineering installed an ESI Flex5530 UV Laser Drilling material base in Qinghai Province, Northwest China.
system. Columbus Chemical Company had a chemical plant fire in
Merix: Elba, Wisc.
• extended its Bank of America credit availability to USD8 million. CyberOptics:
• strengthened its defense and aerospace capabilities. • opened a new sales, service, and training center in Shanghai.
Murrieta Circuits integrated “SolidWorks” 3D mechanical CAD • promoted Dennis Rutherford to VP of Global Sales & Marketing.
(MCAD) software. Danutek appointed Istvan Nagy Sales Manager.
PNC added a new quickturn prototyping division. Data I/O named:
Printca separated from GPV and become an independent company • West Tech as its sales representative in Colorado, Utah, and
called Printca ApS. Wyoming.
Richter Elektronik installed a Strip-Etch-Strip line and a solder- • Process Automation & Tool, LLC, its sales representative in Georgia,
mask developer from HMS Höllmüller. Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi electronics assembly market.
Saturn Electronics added two Mania T8T AOI machines. DEK launched its Verification & Traceability Software Suite.
Schweizer Electronic suspended “short work” in June. DfR Solutions was selected by the Korea Testing Laboratory to
Somacis pcb industries and Graphic appointed Jukka Risto to develop PCB plating QC standards.
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flying probe
1 or 2 Hitachi ND-4P250E 100,000 1 of 4 Orbotech Blaser OEM press hot and cold with auto load 6
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EXPOSURE (3) Olec Accuprint AP30, Olec titan 6 KW, Olec Accuprint 8KW, ORC 201B 5K, Optibeam OB7120 6 KW, (2) Teknek film
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LPI / SCREENING / PHOTO (2) Circuit Automation DP-10, 4 screening tables, PQ and proheco ovens, (2) DuPont ASL cut sheet
laminator, Maintek 30” 2001 Spartanic 83 VM
MULTILAYER Layup station, Burkle 4 opening hot and cold press 24X30 vacuum, PHI 4 opening 24X30 hot and cold, OEM 140-6-E 6 24X30
hot and cold press vacuum, TMP 4 opening 24X24 hot and cold, TMP 4 opening 24x30 hot and cold separate press vacuum, J&J spot facer
DRILLER / ROUTER (2) power shears Wysong, Hitachi drill router, Hitachi ND-SP1805E mark 10D, Hitachi ND-4K180E, Mark VI drill
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QC & TEST CMI PTH-100 thickness machine, CMI RX Series-SD, Acu Gauge, Alpen inspection system (2) Orbotech VRS-4i, (4) Orbtech
Blaser 309 VO and VI, LIoyd Doyle Excalibur 4000XM AOI, Fuji FT-303 3 laser plotter, ATG tester A2- 12 head and 16 head flying probe
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WET PROCESS VCM Vertical developer, Circuit Chemistry vertical developer, Customer made Oxide system 12 tanks and hoist, Customer
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Fab tech strip etch strip system, IS stripmaster 30”, IS pumiflex and Alumina oxide in one never installed, FSL etcher, FSL DES system,
Ishi Hyoki Alumina oxide system, Technic mini tab platter, chemcut etcher 547xl 30” conveyor system consisting of input etcher FRM
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FACILITIES Air compressor Kaiser DS 140 100 HP and BS60 50 hp Atlas copco 25 HP, Forklift Mitsubishi FBC15 3000 LBs, Spencer
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38 July 2009 • circuitree.com
[ Classif eds ]
The
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representin acquiring
a large shops with
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BRANFORD Group TM
W W W. C I R C U I T- S E A R C H . C O M
KEVIN M. STACK, President - kstack@circuit-search.com Eva Chen - echen@circuit-search.com
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