September 1, 2017
Mike Carano, RBP Vice President of Technology and Business Development leads a webinar to provide an overview of key technical issues driving changes in circuit board design and fabrication, including board thickness and HDI; line width and spaces, via structure and other measurements being driven by the trend toward miniaturization; trends in materials; printed electronics; and today’s biggest technical challenges.
April 19, 2017
Reliability Fundamentals: Failure Mechanisms and Success Through Process Modifications
March 22, 2016
Michael Carano
RBP Chemical Technology
Article summary
The photoimaging process is one of the first steps in the PCB fabrication process. In order to insure that the image of the circuitry conforms as close to the desired design as possible (i.e. lines and spaces), surface preparation of the copper foil surface is one of the critical success factors. Employing the optimum mix of surface cleaners and microetchants will provide a clean surface with sufficient surface area to promote dry film adhesion. The fabricator has numerous options and should determine the optimum process by accounting for the type of copper foil used as well as the classes of soils to be removed.
Introduction
There are several options available. In addition to pumice and aluminum oxide surface preparation, chemical cleaning as a means to insure optimum photoresist adhesion has gained significant popularity. In this ca
July 30, 2013
As a supplier of HAL fluxes to the circuit board industry, RBP Chemical Technology® researchers were very aware of the drawbacks of conventional, halide-based products. High corrosivity, frequent equipment maintenance, time-consuming solder skimming, deficiencies in solder coverage, dull solder and environmental issues all led our product development team to find a better, more reliable product for the HAL process.
June 30, 2013
More and more board shops are interested in running the tin stripper on a feed and bleed system. This method gives more consistent performance and reduces the downtime for dumping and changing the solution. The system can be controlled either by specific gravity or panel count as illustrated in the charts below.
May 30, 2013
Imaging fine lines is easy; developing fine spaces is hard.
With the standard circuit resolution quickly moving below 5 mil lines and spaces, pressure mounts on the developing process, challenging manufacturers to find new ways to keep consistent quality and high yields.
March 30, 2013
My outer layer resist stripper process works fine until I run jobs with very fine lines and spaces. The dry film sometimes gets trapped between circuits causing etching problems. How can this situation be avoided?
February 28, 2013
Hey Rob, with all of the different selling prices and different concentrations used from one resist strip supplier to the next, how do I know whether I am getting the lowest operating cost?
February 4, 2013
The trend to finer lines and spaces continues to challenge processors of innerlayer material. With thinner core laminate and thinner copper foil, mechanical cleaning — the cleaning method of choice for years — is no longer an option.
January 21, 2013
Antifoam is unfortunately a necessary evil for developing and resist stripping spray processes. I say unfortunate because antifoams are typically petroleum- based products that we do not want on the panel.
However, the surfactants which are in the resist are dissolved into the developer or resist stripper bath and must be controlled. If this foaming isn’t controlled, it can lead to not only a mess, but a loss of spray pressure, due to pump cavitation.
January 13, 2013
Hey Rob, my tin stripper works great most of the time. However, when I run high aspect ratio boards greater than 8:1, I am seeing tin in the hole. What’s wrong?