Circuitree - 07 Jul 2009

July 2009

Photovoltaics The Sky is Just the Beginning

In This Issue ‹ ‹

Organic Photovoltaics (OPV) Wet Chemistry for Silicon Solar Cells circuitree.com

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July 2009 • Vol. 22, No. 7 • www.circuitree.com

features 16

An Overview of Wet Chemistry Processing for the Manufacture of Silicon Solar Cells Matt Moynihan The PV industry remains one of the few industries with sustainable longterm growth opportunity because drivers such as concerns over imported oil dependence and global warming remain strong even during the current economic situation.

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16 columns 14

Tech Talk Karl Dietz Fine Lines in High Yield (Part CLXVI) Through-Silicon-Via Technology — Part A.

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Flexible Thinking Joe Fjelstad Bending and Flexing Design Concerns III Back to Basics, Part 25.

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Ask the Flexperts Mark Verbrugge Treat Me Gently…Treat Me Kind.

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BPA Growth Curves Mark Hutton Where Are We on the Business Cycle?

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Intelligent Design Lee W. Ritchey On the Use of Blind and Buried Vias.

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Environmentally Speaking Fern Abrams Change in Climate for Climate Change Regulation.

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Market Outlook Walt Custer and Jonathan Custer-Topai Ever Increasing (But Still Restrained) Optimism.

Organic Photovoltaics Offer Promise for Future Development Jim Handy and Alain Harrus There are several new technologies in development, any of which may ultimately displace today’s conventional technologies. Perhaps one of the most promising is organic PV (OPV).

Web Exclusive: Tapping Into PCBs for PV Thermal Issues Zulki Khan Read it at

www.circuitree.com/CDA/Articles

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www.circuitree.com • Circuitree July Issue, 2009, Volume 22, Number 7 CIRCUITREE (ISSN 1059-843X) is published 12 times annually, monthly, by BNP Media II, L.L.C., 2401 W. Big Beaver Rd., Suite 700, Troy, MI 48084-3333. Telephone: (248) 362-3700, Fax: (248) 362-0317. No charge for subscriptions to qualified individuals. Annual rate for subscriptions to nonqualified individuals in the U.S.A.: $104.00 USD. Annual rate for subscriptions to nonqualified individuals in Canada: $137.00.00 USD (includes GST & postage); all other countries: $154.00 (int’l mail) payable in U.S. funds. Printed in the U.S.A. Copyright 2009, by BNP Media II, L.L.C. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the consent of the publisher. The publisher is not responsible for product claims and representations. Periodicals Postage Paid at Troy, MI and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: CIRCUITREE, P.O. Box 2147, Skokie, IL 60076. Change of address: Send old address label along with new address to CIRCUITREE, P.O. Box 2147, Skokie, IL 60076. Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement #40612608. GST account: 131263923. Send returns (Canada) to Bleuchip International, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON, N6C 6B2. For single copies or back issues: contact Ann Kalb at (248) 244-6499 or [email protected].

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Hot, Hot, Hot

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By Dar ryl Seland

o say that photovoltaics (PV) is a hot topic could very well be an understatement. 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, according to statistics for sustainable investing (socialfunds.com), photovoltaic production has doubled every two years since 2002 and is currently the fastest growing energy technology in the world. 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, 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.

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The new White House Administration has stated many times that it believes the future of our economy and national security relies heavily on the challenges of developing new, cleaner forms of energy. Some of these challenges, particularly with solar energy and PVs, are grid parity and the efficiency of the technology. Grid parity is the point at which photovoltaics can provide energy equal to or cheaper than the traditional power grids that commonly run on fossil fuels or nuclear power. Some of the largest users of photovoltaics—Germany, Japan, and the U.S.—offer financial incentives to help spark investment and usage, but what it comes down to is improving the technology. And that’s where the PCB industry comes in. Read this month’s features, dedicated entirely to the topic of photovoltaics, and find out how. Discover the environmental and technological benefits of organic PVs in “Organic Photovoltaics Offer Promise for Future Development,” and get “An Overview of Wet Chemistry Processing for the Manufacture of Silicon Solar Cells.” Also, learn how PCB technology can help tackle heat dissipation in CircuiTree’s Webexclusive article, “Tapping Into PCBs for PV Thermal Issues.” Enjoy and thanks for reading!

circuitree.com • July 2009

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Ningbo Solar Extends Manufacturing Capability With DEK Metallization Lines Ningbo Solar has purchased eight metallization lines from DEK Solar in a bid to extend its capacity to deliver high quality

solar cells to the global marketplace. One of the world’s leading photovoltaic manufacturers, Ningbo Solar decided to implement the DEK PV1200 lines following an extensive evaluation period which yielded impressive results.

Ningbo Solar purchased its first PV1200 line in Q2 2008 for installation in Q3. In fact, led by DEK’s China Service Manager Speed Yan with the backing of the company’s global engineering team, installation was so efficient that DEK was able to hand over the line in the second week. Soon after the first line installation, Ningbo Solar placed an order for a further seven lines which were delivered later in the year.

Calumet Electronics Announces Acquisition of Laser Direct Imaging Capability Laser Direct Imaging (LDI) of printed circuit boards uses a laser to image a pattern directly onto a photoresist-coated panel, completely eliminating the production and use of a traditional photo tool. The most obvious benefits of LDI are the time and handling defects associated with the creation, use, handling and storage of photo tools.

Calumet is now operating an Orbotech DP-100 Direct Imaging System and offers a video presentation on the application on its Web site. For more information, visit http://www.calumetelectronics.com/PCB_ University.htm.

Richter Elektronik Awards Orders to Höllmüller Equipment Herrenberg — Richter Elektronik GmbH’s requirement for a new SES machine (for stripping-etching-stripping) and a Soldermask Developer has been met by HMS Höllmüller with its new ComTech EVOLUTION designs. Based on results with thin laminate transport and the ability to produce extremely fine pattern structures, the design features of the newly developed ComPlate and ComTech EVOLUTION modules were critical factors for the awarding of the contract. The customer became convinced of the advantages of this technology during a visit

circuitree.com • July 2009

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to the HMS Roth facility. The completed machines will be delivered to Richter´s facilities in Summer 2009.

Digi-Key Corporation, EnerSys Ink Distribution Deal Thief River Falls, Minn. — Electronic components distributor Digi-Key Corporation announced the companies have entered into a global distribution agreement. Digi-

Key is stocking EnerSys’ 2-, 4-, and 6-volt Cyclon® batteries. These products, slated to be featured in future print and online catalogs, are now available for purchase on Digi-Key’s global web sites.

Ucamco Launches New PCB CAM Productivity Enhancement Service Ucamco (formerly Barco ETS) reports that their new online PCB CAM productivity

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service is increasing front-end engineering throughput up to 30 percent. The new service is based around advanced remote-access software. This gives Ucamco’s software support engineers in Ghent, Belgium, secure access to a customer’s workstation anywhere in the world. The Ucamco engineer observes and records the complete data preparation process for two to three jobs. Working offline, he can then prepare a free report, based on his knowledge of UCAM software and industry best practice, recommending changes to the customer’s process and itemizing the time savings which can be gained. If the customer agrees, the Ucamco engineer will prepare offline new set-ups, new software modules, targeted scripts, and/or a customer-specific training program. At a time convenient to the customer he will use the remote-access software to download the new features and provide the training fully online. For more information contact Filip at [email protected].

Koh Young Europe Celebrates Grand Opening Seoul, South Korea – 3D inspection leader Koh Young Technology Inc. celebrated the official Grand Opening of its European offices on May 14 with an ‘open house’ and program for customers, distributors, and staff. The event, complete with a ribbon-

cutting ceremony at the Alzenau, Germany facility, marked the official opening of two Koh Young Europe offices in Germany and Ireland, respectively. The new offices are strategically intended to serve the needs of customers in continental Europe as well as in the UK and Ireland and to facilitate sales and support in this growing area of Koh Young’s global reach. Koh Young Europe

Ltd. in Dublin, Ireland functions as the technical service and support and administration office. Koh Young Europe GmbH in Alzenau, Germany is the European demo and training center. The German office is located in close proximity to Frankfurt Airport and features an equipment demonstration and sales center, plus seminar and training facilities in the same building. A screen printer in the facility allows hands-on process training with customers. Harald Eppinger, European Sales Manager, has been appointed Managing Director for the German office, while Thorsten Niermeyer, Global Sales Director, has been appointed Managing Director for the Dublin office.

Insulectro Launches New Website Lake Forest, Calif. — Insulectro, a leading North American supplier of materials used to manufacture printed circuit boards, announced the launch of a new website

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designed with the latest technological capabilities and tools. The new site can be found on the Internet at www.insulectro.com.

Henkel Appoints Wise to Lead Global Sales Efforts for Electronics Business ect o cs Assembly s In a move designed to further expand the company’s market and sales leadership, Henkel Corporation has selected Mr. Jim Wise to direct the global sales effort for its electronics assembly business. With over 23 years of chemical industry experience, the last 20 of which have been spent with Henkel businesses, Wise brings unique perspective and expertise to his new role. Providing a rare combination of both scientific understanding and management skill, Wise’s background includes positions in chemistry R&D,

technical service, applications, manufacturing, sales and new business development. Wise formerly held top-level positions with Nacan, Acheson and Emerson & Cuming and was an asset gained through Henkel’s acquisition of National Starch and Chemical’s Adhesives and Electronics Materials business. As manager of the global sales effor t, Wise has several business development priorities, the first of which is to address current and emerging customer requirements, delivering robust, yet cost-effective materials solutions that enable competitiveness for today’s and tomorrow’s assembly technologies. In addition, effectively communicating the breadth of the organization to customers is top on Wise’s list, as Henkel now successfully delivers materials solutions and an unmatched depth of knowledge for numerous product classes that include solder materials, conductive adhesives, circuit board protection materials, inks

and coatings, underfills and thermally conductive materials, just to name a few. A native of Canada, Wise is a graduate of McMaster University in Hamilton Ontario, Canada, where he received a Bachelors of Science in Chemistry, minored in Physics and Mathematics and graduated with honors. As leader of Henkel’s global sales initiatives, Wise will be based in the company’s Billerica, Massachusetts facility and will report to Henkel’s electronics assembly group Senior Vice-President and General Manager, Joseph DeBiase.

Huntsman Advanced Materials Announces New Global Management Team Basel, Switzerland – Advanced Materials, a division of Huntsman Corporation, announces a new leadership team, effective immediately. Reporting to André Genton, President of Advanced Materials are: • Harald Wiedemann Vice President, Europe Middle-East & Indian subcontinent

what’s new

• James Huntsman Vice President, Am ericas • Steen Weien Hansen Vice President, Asia Pacific • Tu Pham Vice President, Strategy and Business Development • Christophe Struyvelt Vice President, Finance Rehm Thermal Systems Signs Distribution Agreement with Altus Group Rehm Thermal Systems continued their global expansion program with the announcement of a new partnership agreement. Altus Group will now handle the distribution of Rehm’s diverse line of soldering products in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

3M Announces Management Changes St. Paul, Minn.— (Business Wire) — 3M announced changes to its senior management team following the retire-

ment of Dr. Moe S. Nozari, executive vice president, Consumer and Office Business, effective July 1. Nozari, 67, has been with 3M since 1971. Joe E. Harlan has been elected executive vice president, Consumer and Office Business, effective July 1. Harlan came to 3M from GE in 2001 and in that time has served as vice president, Financial Planning and Analysis; president and chairman of the board, Sumitomo 3M Limited; and, since 2004, as executive vice president, Electro and Communications Business. Joaquin Delgado has been elected executive vice president, Electro and Communications Business, effective July 1. Delgado, who holds a Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering, joined 3M in 1987 and served in numerous technical capacities before being named managing director, 3M Korea, in 2003. He was named vice president, Research and New Business Ventures, Consumer and Office Business in 2005 and in 2007 was named vice presi-

dent and general manager, Electronics Markets Materials Division.

Bare Board Group is Supplier of the Year for National Instruments Largo, Fla. — Bare Board Group, Inc. (BBG), a U.S. supplier of quality printed circuit boards, has earned top honors as Supplier of the Year for National Instruments, an internationally known company with more than 5,000 employees. The award recognizes BBG as the supplier that consistently performs beyond expectations throughout the year, delivering world-class performance within NI’s global supply chain. BBG has demonstrated the commitment, innovation and results that set it apart from the rest of the industry, according to Christman, who congratulated BBG for its “outstanding accomplishments.” For the second year in a row, BBG was recently named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies in the United States, as well as to the Tampa Bay Business

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Whether Whether wafer wafer production, production, organic organic solar-cell solar-cell producproduction, tion,cell celland andmodule modulemanufacturing manufacturing or or measuring measuring and andtesting testingtechnology: technology: the the diverse diverse range range of of highly highly efficient, efficient, state-of-the-art state-of-the-art process process technologies technologies covercovering ing production production in in itsits entirety: entirety: new new impetus impetus forfor photophotovoltaic voltaic production. production.

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Journal’s Fast 50 list. An ISO-9001 certified company, BBG was named Tampa Bay International Business of the Year in 2007.

Cobar BV Appoints Accomplished New Chemist p The Balver Zinn Group announces the appointment of Tim Lawrence PhD, a Product Development Manager with a consistent track record of process and product innovation, as well as prod patent coverage and commercialization. Dr. Lawrence received his PhD in Physical Chemistry from Leicester University, UK. In 1992, having worked as a Senior Colloid Chemist for 10 years at the BP Research Centre in Sunbury on methods of exploiting crude oil reserves, Dr. Lawrence joined Multicore Solders Ltd, Hemel Hempstead as a Product Development Manager. In this role, he worked on all types of sol-

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dering consumables, liquid flux, cored wire, solder paste and tacky flux.

N Amer Semiconductor Equipment Industry Posts April 09 Book-to-Bill Ratio of 0.65 San Jose, Calif. — North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $253 million in orders in April 2009 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.65 according to the April 2009 Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 0.65 means that $65 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month. The three-month average of worldwide bookings in April 2009 was $253 million. The bookings figure is three percent greater than the final March 2009 level of $245.6 million, and about 77 percent less than the $1.09 billion in orders posted in April 2008.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in April 2009 was $389.9 million. The billings figure is 11 percent less than the final March 2009 level of $438.3 million, and about 71 percent less than the April 2008 billings level of $1.34 billion.

Isola Grants Square Weave Patent License to Sanmina – SCI Corp Chandler, Ariz. – Isola Group, SARL, a leading designer, developer and manufacturer of high performance base materials for the printed circuit board industry, today announced they have entered into a non-exclusive license agreement with Sanmina – SCI Corp (Sanmina) that grants Sanmina the right to practice under US Patent Nos. 5,350,621 and 5,464,658 for the terms of the patents. These patents are directed generally to laminates and printed circuit boards that incorporate square weave fabric materials.

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STI Celebrates “Take Your Child to Work Day” with Three Generations of Rabys Madison, Ala. — STI Electronics Inc., a full service organization providing training, electronic and industrial product distribution, consulting, laboratory analysis, prototyping, and small- to mediumvolume PCB assembly, announces that three generations of Rabys — Jim, David, and Ashley — gathered at the new facility at the end of April to celebrate “Take Your Child to Work Day.”

Jim Raby, founder of STI, has more than 50 years of experience in the industry, including development of the NASA and Department of Defense Soldering Schools. He initiated the Zero Defect Program for Wave Soldering in addition to developing and implementing WS-6536D and the DoDStd-2000 Specification programs. Jim’s experience, expertise, and industry leadership are the foundation on which all STI products and services are developed and produced. David Raby, President and CEO of STI Electronics, Inc., is a key factor in the growth of the company. David has greatly expanded the services and products provided and continues to direct the overall focus of the company. Ashley Raby is 11 years old and will soon be making the transition from elementary school to middle school. Ashley is on her school’s Math team, competitively shows Tennessee Walking Horses and is in her ninth year of dance. ■

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Tech Talk

By Kar l Dietz

Fine Lines in High Y ield (P art CLXVI) Through-Silicon-Via (TSV) Technology – Part A

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he Tech Talk column, now in its 15th year, has mainly focused on circuit board fabrication issues. But over the years, related topics from first-level packaging and other interconnect technologies have also been increasingly covered. Discussing through-silicon-via (TSV) technology in this column is a bit of a stretch. But it might be of interest to look at processes such as hole formation, insulation, metallization, and etching and check for similarities and differences between TSV processing and first- and second-level packaging. Part A of this two part series is focusing on via formation, while Part B will deal with metallization processes. The motivation to create conductive paths through chips comes, in part, from the fact that there are applications that require a lot of memory in close proximity to a logic chip, such as multi-core processors, and this, in turn, requires that memory chips are stacked on top of each other and interconnected. There is also a form factor that plays a role: there may not be enough room in small, high-end, hand-held devices to allow the arrangement of memory chips in one plane. Furthermore, in a single plane interconnect platform, the connections between chips will be longer, which is undesirable for high-speed applications. Given the options for interconnecting stacked chips, the TSV option is the best one from an electrical performance view point because it offers lower loop inductance and impedance than wire bonding or a combination of wire bonding and solder joints. Through-chip-vias are also found in CMOS imagers. One distinguishes between “via-first” and “via-last” TSV processes. In most cases, “first” and “last” makes reference to the chronology of semiconductor formation and TSV formation. “Via-first” means the TSV is formed before the semiconductors are formed on the silicon, and conversely, “via-last” means TSV formation after semiconductor formation. Occasionally, the “first” and “last” is used to denote that TSVs are formed either before or

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July 2009 • circuitree.com

after back-grinding (wafer thinning), but we shall adhere to the first definition. The TSVs can be formed by laser drilling or dry etching. RIE, reactive ion etching, is one form of dry etch, typically done in a diode-type reactor. The aggressive ion bombardment of the surface results in a high etch rate, but care needs to be taken to avoid damage to the substrate. The DRIE process (deep reactive ion etching) is a dry etch process that either uses inductively couples plasma (ICP) or ECR (electron cyclotron resonance). Compared to RIE, this process has a slower etch rate, can achieve higher aspect ratio holes, but requires high initial investment.

Fig 1 Etched TSVs Before Plating (Source: STS)

An etch-mask defines the positions where the TSVs are to be etched. A portion of the hole is then etched. Since etching is not perfectly anisotropic, i.e. selective downetching, the etched hole sidewall needs to be protected from excessive lateral etching, which is done by depositing a protective polymer on the hole sidewall. Etching and polymer deposition steps alternate until the TSV formation is complete. The result is a hole sidewall that has a scalloped appearance. The process is slow, but achieves high aspect ratio holes. C4F8- plasma is used to form the protective fluoropolymer. SF6plasma is used in the etch cycle. The protective polymer needs to be removed after the hole formation is complete. The plasma can be formed in the same chamber in which the wafer is placed or it may be formed in a separate chamber (“decoupled” system, Ref. 1) from where it diffuses in the wafer chamber. P. Garrou (Ref. 2) describes the TSV formation with lasers: the laser is typically a 355nm UV, Q-switched, diode-pumped solid-state (DPSS) source. The laser via can be as close as 2 microns from the active device with no degradation of the device. The sidewall natural slope is 1.3 to 1.6 degrees and controllable. There is a question if laser drilling can yield TSVs with smaller than 25 micron diameters.

Acknowledgment Illustrations and technical information provided by my colleague, Toshiaki Itabashi, are gratefully acknowledged. ■ Fig 2 Principle of Bosch Etching Process

Figure 1 shows the high aspect ratio DRIE etched blind TSVs. One special version of the DRIE process is the Bosch etching process, named after the German automotive electronics company that holds the patents for this technology (see Figure 2). Part of the process is the deposition of a polymer on the etched side wall to protect it from over-etching.

References Via Hole Formation by Precision DRIE for Through Wafer Interconnects, Leslie Lea, Surface Technology Systems, Proceedings, 3D/SiP Advanced Packaging Symposium, May 9-10, 2007, Research Triangle Park, NC Wafer Level 3D Integration: a Status Report, P. Garrou, Proceedings, 3D/SiP Advanced Packaging Symposium, May 9-10, 2007, Research Triangle Park, NC

Karl H. Dietz is CircuiTree’s technical editor. Email [email protected]

Flexible Thinking

By Joe Fjelstad

Bending and Flexing Design Concerns III - Back to Basics, Part 25

T

he last installment of this review of design issues related to bending and flexing addressed the I-Beam effect and looked at some of the many ways that a flexible circuit can be flexed, folded, and shaped. This installment will provide some simple “rules of thumb” for flexing, both statically and dynamically. A first recommendation is to design flex dynamic areas with the copper grain direction. The orientation of the grain of the copper foil has a definite effect on flexural life of a design and it has been proven many times in testing. However, grain direction is of greatest importance for flex circuit designs that are fabricated using rolled and annealed (RA) or traditional electrodeposited (ED) copper foil. Both of these types of foil have historically shown a marked difference in flexural endurance between machine and transverse or cross directions. In contrast, grain refined electroplated copper on sputtered film does not appear to have any particular or specific grain direction, thus laminate orientation for processing is not as critical. When it comes to bending, it is best to keep any flexural arc as small as practical for maximum flex life. In disc drive flex circuit design, it has been demonstrated that a smaller flexural arc or total angle of flexure of the circuit in dynamic designs will provide the best performance as small as possible (that is, flex the circuit over the smallest possible distance). This is a key technique used in later model disk drive applications to allow them to achieve the high flex life cycling they presently obtain that are more than one order of magnitude greater than earlier designs. The next concern is the bend radius, which should be kept as large as possible. The designer has always been advised to always provide the largest practical radius through bend areas. This design approach or attribute is especially important, even critical, for dynamic flex. And as pointed out in the previous installment, it can also be important in flex applications that are designed for static applications, but which can potentially be subjected and must there-

Fig 1 Small Diameter Bend Radii Demand Greater Elongation From the Materials Used in Flex Circuit Construction, Especially Copper Foil

Fig 2 Very Small Bends in the Flex Circuit are Possible as Demonstrated by This Disc Drive Application

fore endure millions, or even billions, of low amplitude, high frequency flexing cycles. When it comes to bending design, finite element modeling can be extremely useful and the method is recommended as it can provide excellent predictive data for suggesting limits for bending. On the other hand, there are some long standing and commonly accepted guidelines that have served the industry over the years to keep the design inside the limits. For a rough, first order approximation of where the limits are, the industry has a long standing practice of looking at the application and predetermining how much strain will be induced on the circuit during bending. This is determined by the radius and the distance to the outer surface of the copper foil. Figure 1 and its simple equation will help to determine the need. As, can be concluded by calculation, the elongation requirements for the copper foil rise significantly as bend radii decrease. Beyond this simplistic but instructional analysis, there are a few commonly used guidelines that have served well for many years.

For normal bending of different flexible circuit constructions, those guidelines are as follows: for single metal layer, the minimum bend radius is 3 to 6 times circuit thickness; for double-sided flex, the minimum bend radius is 6 to10 times circuit thickness; for multilayer flex, the general rule is a radius greater than 10 to15 times circuit thickness or more. For dynamic applications, only a single metal layer is recommended, especially for high cycle applications and the minimum radius should be 20 to 40 times circuit thickness or more. Two metal layer circuits can be flexed dynamically, but there is a need to look closely at the application. For very high flex life dynamic flex circuit designs, fabrication and testing of prototype circuits remains the preferred method of design verification for a great many applications. In spite of these guidelines, rules are often bent (both literally and figurative). For example, creasing and hard folding of flex, while not a preferred practice, can be successfully accomplished with some attention to certain details. When required or desired, the circuit should be permanently bonded to itself to prevent it from bending back at the crease or fold line. A small dowel pin might be advisable to hold a small radius, or a separating base, such as shown in Figure 2, can be used. The ideal copper for such high strain bending applications will be a low strength, high elongation copper. Fully annealed soft copper is normally a good choice for applications requiring a small radius bend. In summary, the flexing and bending of flexible circuits is fundamental to the technology and there is a need to understand some of the basic rules and practices to assure design quality. This topic will continue in the next installment. ■ Joseph Fjelstad, founder and president of Verdant Electronics and co-founder of SiliconPipe, is an author and innovator in electronic interconnection and packaging technologies. Download his flex circuit book free at www.flexiblecircuittechnology.com. E-mail: [email protected] circuitree.com • July 2009

15

Image Courtesy of NASA

An Overview of Wet Chemistry Processing for the Manufacture of Silicon Solar Cells

Matt Moynihan

T

he solar cell industry has been truly remarkable to observe over the past ten years. During this time, the industry has sustained a CAGR of more than 40 percent in cell production. Silicon consumption is currently twice that of the much more mature semiconductor industry.1 Up until the first half of 2008, attractive operating margins were sustained throughout most of the supply chain. However, since the second half of 2008, like most other industries, the Photovoltaic (PV) industry is experiencing significant challenges. The current credit crisis has impacted initiation of new PV projects and module supply is currently exceeding that of demand. New manufacturing capacity, which was being added to meet the growth frenzy during the first half of 2008, is making a bad situation worse. Companies that entered into long term silicon contracts at the peak of last year are scrambling to renegotiate their contracts to more accurately reflect the significant drop in silicon prices. Some sources are

16

July 2009 • circuitree.com

predicting module prices will decrease from $3.80/watt to between $2.50 and $3.00/watt during 2009.2 Despite these troubled times, the PV industry remains one of the few industries with sustainable long-term growth opportunity. Macroeconomic drivers such as concerns over imported oil dependence and global warming remain strong even during the current economic situation. Oil prices appear to have hit bottom and will likely increase again as the world economy recovers. Although some countries like Spain are reducing government subsidies, other countries like the United States, Japan, and South Korea are showing indications of increasing incentives to create future demand for solar energy. The anticipated sharp drop in the $/watt is a necessary and positive step for the industry to achieve grid parity, which will make solar generated power competitive with power received from the grid independent of government subsidies. As a result, those companies that have managed

the growth wisely over the past years should be able to weather the storm and are likely to emerge even stronger than before. One of the key factors for any solar cell manufacturer to survive during such difficult times is the ability to achieve high device performance at a low cost. Wet chemical processing has been adopted from other more mature industries such as the semiconductor and printed circuit board industries and plays a key role in solar cell manufacturing. The purpose of this article is to highlight the areas where wet chemical processing is being utilized in the solar cell manufacturing process while giving some insight of how it can further improve cell efficiency and overall costs.

Overview Simplistically stated, a solar cell is a semiconductor device that creates electricity from the sun by utilizing the photovoltaic effect (see Figure 1). Photons are absorbed from the sun by the silicon layer and excite nearby elec-

trons sufficiently enough to create a current in an electrical circuit. The most common metric to quantify performance is cell efficiency, which represents the ability of the solar cell to convert sunlight into electricity. An increase in cell efficiency yields more power per device. Depending upon the technology, cell efficiencies can range anywhere from 8 percent to as much as 22 percent in production settings. At the highest level, the solar market can be split into two segments: crystalline silicon and thin film. Within each of these segments, there are numerous sub-segments, which are described in more detail in Table 1. The focus of this article will be on the crystalline Si market segment as this comprises over 80 percent of the total PV market. Figure 2 shows a generic process flow for the manufacture of a silicon solar cell. The key steps that currently utilize wet chemistry processing include: post-wafering cleaning, texturing, edge isolation, phosphor silicate glass (PSG) remove/clean, and plated metallization. Table 2 outlines some of the main market drivers for each of these process steps. Depending upon the process line configuration, production throughput for any one of these steps can be in the range of 1500-2800 wafers per hour. Wafers can be loaded into cassettes for batch/vertical processing or loaded onto a conveyor belt for continuous/horizontal processing. Both equipment configurations are currently commercially available on the market from a number of vendors. Segment Silicon

Thin Film

Wafer cleaning Most silicon used for the solar cell industry is grown and/or machined to produce blocks called ingots. Due to the different growth processes used, multi-crystalline ingots are square, while mono-crystalline ingots are square with rounded corners. They are typically about 0.54 m. long and have x-y dimensions of 15.6cm x 15.6cm. The wafering process is accomplished by use of a wire saw,

Fig 1 Basic Solar Cell Operating Principle

Fig 2 Overview of Wet Chemistry Processing Steps Used in c-Si Solar Cell Manufacturing

Table 1 PV Market Segmentation Technology Typical Efficiency % Multi-Crystalline 14-17 Mono-Crystalline 17-22 Ribbon 13-16 Cd-Te 10-15 CIGS 10-15 a-Si/u-Si 8-12

2008 Market Share3 38.30% 47.70% 1.50% 6.40% 1.00% 5.10%

Table 2 c-Silicon Market Drivers and Associated Technology Development Areas Driver How Material Play Improved Efficiency Improved conductivity Electroplated contacts Value Proposition: Improved ohmic contact Metallization directly on silcon 0.1% efficiency Improved reflectivity Micro texturing improvement = Finer feature resolution and ~$550K for 50MWp New cell designs backside contacts production Lower Costs Value Proposition: 0.5% reduction in breakage/yield = ~$670K for 50MWp production line

Replace Ag

Cu shows similar electrical properties and is 10-20x less

Higher Yields

Cleaners can repaire grain boundary damage

Higher Throughput

Process developed for horizontal inline production processes

which is comprised of a series of very thin stainless steel wires (0.12-0.15mm in diameter) that are wound on two spools. Glycol, oil, or water based lubricants dispersed with silicon carbide abrasives provide the primary cutting action as the wire passes through the ingot. Typical wafer thickness after sawing is about 180-200µm, although thinner wafers have been demonstrated. After the wafering step, the sliced ingot is placed into a spray chamber to remove the bulk of the silicon carbide slurry. The sliced ingot is then placed in a dip tank with a solvent that can loosen the adhesive (typically an organic acid) and releases the wafers from the mounting plate. Wafers are then loaded into cassettes for vertical/batch mode cleaning or arranged on a conveyor belt for horizontal/continuous processing. A successful cleaning process, regardless of whether it is in the vertical or horizontal configuration, should have the following attributes: 1. Ability to produce wafers visually free of any lubricant, abrasive, or metal ion residues 2. Ability to work on mono-crystalline and multi-crystalline wafers 3. Wide process latitudes to handle significant variation of incoming wafer cleanliness quality 4. Provide a uniform surface compatible with subsequent texturing/saw damage removal 5. Meet demanding waste stream regulations Many types of chemistries are used for the cleaning process and include water, surfactants, solvents, acids, and alkalis. However, not all materials clean with the same degree of effectiveness. Figure 3 shows a comparison of how long it takes to clean off pencil lead from a silicon substrate using three different alternatives. It is also quite common to see varying degrees of contamination on the wafers prior to cleaning. Contamination can range from excessive dried SiC slurry to residual metal and metal oxides from the wire during wafering. Contamination from metal oxides can be enhanced visually if they are not removed prior to any silicon etching/removal. Figure 4 shows wafers with different contamination levels pre- and post-cleaning. As a result, it’s important to understand the origin of the incoming wafer contamination so that the proper cleaning process can be optimized to produce a uniform appearance. circuitree.com • July 2009

17

An Overview of Wet Chemistry Processing for the Manufacture of Silicon Solar Cells As advanced solar cell designs emerge, more cell producers are concerned about residual metal contamination. As a result, wafers need to emerge from the cleaning process with very low trace metal contaminant levels. Figure 5 shows typical metal levels through various parts of the cleaning process.

potassium hydroxide (KOH) and isopropanol (IPA) are typically used to achieve the purposes described above.4 Concentrations of each component can vary depending

Texturing The next step after cleaning is wafer texturing. The texturing step has two primary purposes: 1. Etch the wafer to remove any residual saw damage 2. Provide a matte surface to minimize light reflection For mono-crystalline wafers, a blend of

Fig 4 Various Wafer Appearances Before and After Clean

Cleaning Time Required (sec)

1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0

PV C ustomized Dow D etergent + Etch

PV C ustomiz ed Dow Detergent Only

General Purpose Cleaner

Water Only

12 ml/l

30

82

420

1200

25 ml/l

24

70

420

1200

50ml/l

18

57

420

1200

Fig 3 Comparisons of Time to Remove Graphite from Silicon Surface. All Chemistries Shown Were Processed at 50ºC

40 Metal Residues (ppb)

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Bare Wafer

5% Dow alkaline detergent cleaner

5% Dow Acid Precleaner, 5% Dow alkaline detergent cleaner

Copper

35.5

1.26

0.22

Iron

8.27

1.53

0.6

Lead

0.5

0.32

0

Zinc

2.41

1.77

0.53

Fig 5 Metal Ion Contamination as a Function of Different Cleaning Chemistries 18

July 2009 • circuitree.com

upon the process but are typically less than 10 percent for each. Process temperatures are between 80oC to 90oC. The KOH provides the anisotropic etching along the <100> plane of the silicon crystal, which exposes the <111> plane. The role of the IPA is to help control KOH etch rate (~1-2 µm/min) and selectivity to the <111> crystal plane, which leads to the random pyramid structure as shown in Figure 6. Balancing the etch rate with pyramid formation is important to ensure that enough silicon is removed to optimize saw damage removal (typically >6µm per side), while maintaining the correct peak density to minimize reflection. Figure 6 also shows how the substrate can be polished etched if the KOH concentration is not kept within the desired range. Due to the volatility of the IPA, alkaline texturing is typically conducted in vertically configured wet chemical equipment to allow for lower processing temperatures (typically 80oC) while accommodating longer process times (typically 20-30 minutes). However, novel processes are being developed, which can replace the IPA and will enable higher operational temperatures and shorter process times. Such systems also are compatible with inline horizontal equipment configurations. To achieve uniform texturing across a multi-crystalline wafer, an etching solution that provides an isotropic etch to the different silicon crystal orientations must be used. Typically a blend of nitric acid (HNO3) and hydrofluoric acids (HF) are used to texturize multi-crystalline wafers. The role of the nitric acid is to oxidize the silicon while the hydrofluoric acid is responsible for the bulk etching. Silicon etch rates for acidic texturing are usually in the range of 2-4 µm/ min. Due to the exothermic nature of this reaction, process temperatures are typically < 10oC range. Figure 7 shows the resulting topography of a multi-crystalline wafer after being texturized with HNO3/HF process. Equipment configuration with the acidic texturing process is typically in the horizontal mode. Volatile organic species are less of a concern, but generation of nitrogen oxide gases and safe handling of the acids (especially the hydrofluoric) needs to be considered carefully. Alternative wet chemistries that can minimize or even replace the use of hydrofluoric acid are currently being researched. For either alkaline or acidic processes, a final hydrochloric rinse step is used to

remove any metal ion contamination prior to the p-n junction formation step.

Doping/PSG etch/ edge isolation The next step in the manufacturing process is to create the p-n junction through a doping step. Dopant chemistry is deposited and diffused into the solar cell to create a thin layer called an emitter layer. Most of today’s crystalline silicon solar cells start off as a p-type doped wafer and the emitter layer is n-type doped. The most common n-type source is phosphorous, which can be applied

Fig 7 Resulting Wafer Topography After Acidic Texturing Step on Multi Crystalline Wafer

Fig 6 Pyramid Formation as a Function of KOH Concentration. All Conditions Were Etched for 10 minutes @ 90ºC

using chemical vapor deposition or by use of spray/mist application. Phosphoric acid based solutions are used as the doping source for spray applications. The wafers are then fired to peak temperatures of over 850oC to diffuse the phosphorus into the silicon. The resistance of the emitter layer can be adjusted by varying the amount of material sprayed onto the wafers and/or by changing the firing temperature/time. During the diffusion step, a phosphor silicate glass (PSG) is formed on the surface and must be removed. Typically this step is achieved using a glass etch step, which is comprised of a dilute hydrofluoric acid solu-

Fig 8 Examples of Front and Rear Side Metallization on Two Types of Wafers Used in PV Industry

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19

4/30/08 11:36:06 AM

An Overview of Wet Chemistry Processing for the Manufacture of Silicon Solar Cells Power Supply

Contact Roller Al Back Contact

+

P

Silicon Nitride

Ag Paste Seed Ag +

Light Source

Ag Anode

Fig 9 Schematic of Basic Operating Theory for Light Induced Plating

tion.5 Unlike the texturing step, the PSG etch step does not contain any oxidizers so that the selectivity of the HF to the underlying emitter layer is quite good. Subsequent cleaning of the wafers surface may be followed to ensure the surface is completely removed of any residual PSG. The emitter layer is now present on both sides (and/or on edges) of the wafer and must be isolated to prevent short circuiting the solar cell. Edge isolation can be accomplished using laser ablation, plasma etching, or wet chemical etching. Wet chemistry isolation is accomplished by immersing the rear side and edges of the wafer in an HF-based chemistry. Due to surface tension effects between the substrate and chemistry, the emitter layer on the front side is not exposed to the etchant. Wafers are then coated with a thin layer of silicon nitride, which improves device reliability and serves as an anti reflection layer.

2. Creates a back surface field that improves the electron migration properties within the bulk silicon 3. Creates a mirror on the backside of the wafer to reflect light back into the wafer 4. Provides a means for connecting numerous cells to create a working module Figure 8 shows some examples of multicrystalline and mono-crystalline silicon solar cells that have been metallized on the front side and rear side, respectively. Traditionally, the front side grid (FSG) metallization is accomplished by using fritted silver pastes

Metallization The purpose of metallization on solar cells includes the following: 1. Provides a means of collecting electrons from the front side of the cell

Fig 10 Micrograph Showing LIP Plated Ag Metal Deposited Onto a Silver Paste Grid Line Seed Layer

Fig 11 Solar Cell Performance Improvement Due to LIP Ag Plating Process 20

July 2009 • circuitree.com

while the backside of the wafer is metallized with a combination of silver and aluminum fritted pastes. In order to make contact through the silicon nitride layer to the underlying silicon layer, the pastes are first dried at temperatures around 150oC and then fired at temperatures over 850oC for a few seconds. Recently, plating of wafers in combination with, and/or in replacement of, screen printed metallization has been getting increased attention. Plating of solar cells can be done with electro-less or electrolytic techniques. For some applications, such as depositing a thin seed layer that is less than 1µm thick, electro-less plating can provide sufficient plating rates to fit into production requirements. Electro-plating is used to build thicker deposits, but making contact to the front side of the wafer can be challenging as the wafers are only 180-200 µm thick and can break easily. An alternative method called Light Induced Plating (LIP) has been developed that takes advantage of the current generation properties of the solar cells.6 As Figure 9 shows, the wafers are placed faced down and travel across a series of lights, which creates a localized electric field on the front side of the wafer. Contact is made on the backside of the wafer with specially designed contact rollers. The voltage of the roller can be controlled to minimize anodic dissolution and attach on the backside of the wafer, thereby creating preferential plating of the desired metal on the front side. One of the primary improvements wafer plating offers over existing paste technology is through improved deposit conductivity. Figure 10 shows a picture of a silver plated deposit over screen printed silver paste. Note the porosity in the paste deposit as compared to the plated deposit. This porosity decreases the overall conductivity of the deposit, which in turn creates a collection finger that is higher in resistance as compared to a plated feature that is solid. The data in Figure 11 shows the decrease in series resistance and corresponding increase in cell efficiency as a result of the LIP silver plating process (Enlight 620) versus using paste alone. As with most plating processes, the deposition process is isotropic in nature, which means that the line width is increasing as thickness increases. Although this effect can have a small impact on increasing the degree of shadowing, it also can help to improve yield distributions by mending discontinuous

seed layers that result from wetting problems/ defects from the screen print process. New cell designs are emerging that utilize much thinner finger designs to improve the overall electron collection efficiency and to reduce shadowing effects. Unfortunately, screen print technology has limited resolution below 80µm. Recent advancements with inkjet and aerosol deposition technology are allowing for seed layers to be deposited with resolution in the 30-40µm range. Plating is required because these seed layers are typically quite thin and would result in very high resistance values of the final collection finger. Recent cost pressures have created the demand for lower cost materials that can be used for metallization such as copper. It is well published that copper has the ability to migrate through bulk silicon, which can compromise the p-n junction and ruin cell performance. If copper is to be used for metallization purposes, then a barrier layer such as nickel must be used. It is important to note that the silicon nitride layer should be sufficiently dense enough so as to not expose the underlying silicon layer, which would

result in background plating and increased copper migration. Screen print technology is not conducive to depositing nickel or copper deposits and, therefore, most of the attention is being placed on using plating technology to realize copper metallization.

Acknowledgements The author would like to thank Tony Ridler, George Allardyce, Bob Barr, and Yili Guo for thoughtful feedback and discussions on the content of this article. ■ Matt Moynihan is R&D Director, Photovoltaic

Summary

Business Interconnect Technologies, for Dow

Despite going through some growing pains, the photovoltaic industry is well positioned to continue growing over the long term. Wet chemical processing technology from the semiconductor and printed circuit board industries have successfully been adopted in most crystalline silicon manufacturing lines. The technology is being used in a number of different process steps with various equipment configurations and process chemistries. In order to meet future demand for improved cell performance at lower costs, continued improvement in the process capabilities will be required. As new processes are introduced, it will be important to consider the impact they may have on subsequent processing steps and overall cell performance.

Electronic Materials. E-mail: [email protected] References 1. Photon International, March 2009, p 88 2. Solar Market: Dip in 2008, Rise by 2011, Retrieved on 4/13/2009 from http://www.redherring.com 3. Photon International, March 2009, p 190 4. Sparber et al, Comparison of Texturing Methods for Monocrystalline Silicon Solar Cells Using KOH and Na2CO3, Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, 2003 5. Wet Chemical Edge Isolation for Solar Cells, Euro-Asia Magazine, September 2007, Retrieved on 4/12/2009 from http://www.euroasiasemiconductor.com/euroasia-magazine/ online-midseptember2007 6. Allardyce et al, The Commercial Application of Light Induced Electroplating for Improving the Efficiency of Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells, 22nd EU PVSEC, Milano, Section 2-2.2

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21

4/22/08 10:05:34 AM

ORGANIC PHOTOVOLTAICS Offer Promise for Future Development

Jim Handy and Alain Harrus

P

are now increasingly used to meet commercial, industrial, and household energy needs. While PV technology presently supplies a relatively small fraction of total energy production, it is a rapidly growing source of renewable and sustainable energy,

hotovoltaic (PV) cells are expected to be a large part of the solution to wean developed countries from their dependence on fossil fuels. Once used primarily for power generation in space and other remote locations, they

Holes to Anode

+ Hole Transport

+

Sunlight Absorbed

Sunlight

Transparent Substrate Transparent Anode Hole Transport Layer (HTL) Photoactive Layer (PL)

Charge Separation

Cathode

-

as shown in Table 1. Today, two fundamental technologies are utilized to produce most photovoltaic cells — crystalline silicon, which accounts for roughly 90 percent of all solar cells produced, and thin films, which include amorphous silicon (aSi or a-Si), cadmium telluride (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 ultimately prevail. There are several new technologies in development, any of which may ultimately displace today’s conventional technologies. Perhaps one of the most promising is organic PV (OPV). There are three “major classes” of PV materials: (1) inorganic semiconductors; (2) organic semiconductors; and (3) hybrid solar cells, which are a combination of Fig 1 OPV Cell Structure (Source: Plextronics)

Electronics to Cathode

Table 1 Global Installed Capacity of PV Generated Energy Gigawatts of production

2003 1.65

2004 2.40

2005 3.78

2006 5.25

2007 7.42

2008 10.50

CAGR 45%

(Source: Objective Analysis) 22

July 2009 • circuitree.com

organic and inorganic systems. The inorganic PV cells are comprised of the previously mentioned crystalline silicon wafers and thin film (a-Si, CdTe and CIGS) materials, while the OPV devices encompass the two families of small molecule and polymer semiconductors. Since the organic semiconducting materials can be formulated as inks, a major advantage of OPV cells is that they can be manufactured via printing technologies. Polymer PV cells have a structure similar to polymer organic light emitting displays (OLEDs), and use similar materials. The active polymer layer is sandwiched between two conducting electrodes. One of the electrodes is transparent to let the light in (for PV operations) or out (for display applications), depending on the required function. In the case of a PV cell, light absorbed in the polymer layers creates a pair of negative (electrons) and positive (holes) electric charges. These charges are collected by the electrodes, forming an electric current, which can be used to drive an electronic device. An example of an OPV cell construction is depicted in Figure 1. The hole transport layer (HTL) and the photoactive layer (PL) perform the same functions as the inorganic semiconducting materials do to transform sunlight into electrical energy. The transparent substrate, which can be fabricated from glass or transparent polymeric materials, and the transparent anode permit sunlight to impact upon the HTL and PL semiconducting structures. The transparent anode — for example, indiumtin-oxide (as is used in conventional PV cells) — also lets sunlight through and collects holes generated in the photoactive layer. The cathode, which can be a metal (e.g. alu-

Since the organic semiconducting materials can be for mulated as inks, a major advantage of OPV cells is that the y can be manufactured via printing technologies. minum), is used to collect electrons generated in the photoactive layer. There are three basic types of OPV cells: (1) standard organic cells, typically made from semiconducting small molecules or polymers (e.g. pentacene); (2) cells that harness nanostructures to achieve higher efficiencies than standard cells (as illustrated in Figure 2); and (3) dye-sensitized solar cells (e.g. Gratzel cells), which use dyes to enable absorption of a broader set of light wavelengths (much like photosynthesis in plants).

Cell efficiency OPV technology had a slow start because the first materials showed efficiencies below 0.1 percent. Organic compounds have a relatively narrow absorption spectra, which has been (to date) a significant limiting factor for OPV performance. A more efficient cell can produce more power from a given area of active material and the efficiency of the cell is tied to the material from which it is manufactured. Today, silicon cells typically deliver the greatest efficiency, as shown in Table 2. Inorganic thin films still lag behind, the excep-

Table 2 Efficiency of PV Cell Technologies Crystalline silicon

Thin film

Organic

Technology Monocrystalline silicon Polycrystalline or multicrystalline silicon

Efficiency 16-23% 15-20%

Amorphous silicon Cadmium telluride CIGS Multijunction

5-12% 8-12% 10-14% 6-30%

Standard organic cells Nanostructured material cells

~ 5% 3-5% 2005 2%

Dye-sensitized

2010 5%

2020 15%

(Sources: Objective Analysis (2008), PIRA/BPA, Science Daily)

tion being multijunction cells. These cells use multiple junctions to generate electricity from different wavelengths of light. (This technology could also be used with organic materials to boost efficiency.)

Cost and flexibility Efficiency, however, is not the whole story. More important is cost per watt, which improves with increasing efficiency and declining manufacturing costs (materials and processes). This is where OPVs offer a significant advantage. Despite the fact that the efficiency of OPV cells still lags behind silicon devices, their cost, flexibility, and weight make them attractive and worth pursuing. For example: • They can be manufactured using conventional screen printing processes or even inkjet printers. These processes, used for high-volume printing applications, have been highly refined and are relatively low in cost. • Organic materials can be printed onto flexible substrates. This allows the use of very inexpensive substrates, simplifies handling, and enables reel-to-reel processing. It also allows a flexible solar cell to be integrated into a device’s packaging or case. • Organics can be used to make a lightweight power source for portable products. Mobile phones, laptop computers, and the information appliances of the future may all have solar cells to supplement their batteries. One source1 estimates that, with a power conversion efficiency of only 10 percent, the cost per watt for OPVs could beat both thin film and crystalline silicon. Since organic PV technology is still very new, there is reason to hope that efficiencies will continue to increase and costs to drop. circuitree.com • July 2009

23

Materials One of the attractive aspects of OPVs is that they do not compete with the semiconductor market for materials. To date, the vast majority of photovoltaic devices employ some sort of silicon-based technology, putting the market on a collision course with the semiconductor industry since both markets demand large quantities of silicon. However, market forces can change this situation, as recent increases in silicon production and the depressed business climate have resulted in a significant drop in silicon wafer prices for PV applications. Organic materials are abundant and provide a broad range of materials for potential OPV solutions. There is always the possibility that some new material will be developed that will

Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Mitsubishi Corp., and Tokki Corp. have jointly developed an organic thin-film solar cell, shown in Figure 2, based on a plastic substrate. The active elements consist of three layers — phthalocyanine, fullerenes (a nanomaterial), and lithium fluoride — between two electrodes. In addition to efficiency and manufacturing process optimization, there are other issues to address in order to develop a sustainable OPV industry. A key issue is the establishment of viable supply chains to supply the raw materials used to manufacture OPVs with the purity required by such systems. Presently, OPV devices have shorter operational lifetimes than do conventional PV devices. The majority of near-term PV appli-

as field researchers, mountaineers, and military personnel. For example, tents made from large-area, flexible solar panels could be used by aid agencies to power vaccine refrigerators or other vital medical equipment. The technology’s promise of low cost also makes organic PV cells well-suited as power sources in a range of toys, novelties, greeting cards, and small portable products such as electronic calculators. This market is already established and can use a product that has a relatively short lifetime, especially if the cells are printable, inexpensive, lightweight, and flexible. A key high-volume application is as a supplemental power source for point-of-sale displays, both as packaging and at a shelf level. On the other hand, the economics of such a system rely heavily on the efficiency of the OPV cells.

Conclusion

Light

Plastic Substrate ITO Electrode Phthalocyanine Evap Film Fullerene Evaporated Film Anode

LiF Layer

Cathode

Aluminum Electrode Hermetic Seal

Organic PV has many technical hurdles to overcome. Improving cell efficiency and lifetime are the keys to expanding the range of potential products that can use the technology. Most leading developers are concentrating on these issues. Applications are currently aligned with opportunities where the use of a flexible cell offsets its lack of efficiency. The first wave of applications is for consumer-type products such as battery chargers and integration of PV cells into textiles and clothing. In time, technology improvements will open up new applications. ■ 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 processing costs. In the meantime, there are a number of options being pursued to increase OPV efficiency. These include nanomaterials to improve light collection, more transparent thin films, improved light-trapping schemes, and multijunction topologies. The use of nanostructured material cells has led to more efficient charge separation and efficiencies are currently in the 3 to 5 percent range. Work in this area is still primarily a research-based focus for universities and institutes, and for some companies, such as Cambridge Display Technology (CDT). A wide variety of materials and structures is being studied. For example, Konarka and Sustainable Technologies International (STI) are working on Gratzel cells, which use a dye-sensitized nanostructured titanium oxide. In Japan, the National Institute of 24

July 2009 • circuitree.com

cations lies outside of consumer applications, with the greatest opportunities being the generation of electricity for domestic and industrial purposes (grid electricity), and these applications have a required lifetime of 20 to 30 years. Organic materials degrade more rapidly over time than inorganic materials. The high levels of exposure to sun that solar cells must endure not only cause degradation but — in the case of dye-sensitized cells — fading. There are also concerns about the effects of sunlight and heat on lightweight flexible substrates, especially plastics.

15, 2007. www.chemistry.illinois.edu/research/materials/seminar_abstracts/2007-2008/Musto.pdf

Jim Handy is a director at market research firm Objective Analysis and is co-chair of the Photovoltaics chapter for the 2009 iNEMI Roadmap. http://objective-analysis.com/Contact_ Us.html#Jim_Handy Alain Harrus is a partner with Crosslink Capital and co-chair of the Photovoltaics chapter for the 2009 iNEMI Roadmap. E-mail: [email protected] For more information about the 2009 iNEMI Roadmap, visit http://www.inemi.org/cms/road-

Applications Military and remote services are expected to be initial key drivers for the development and deployment of OPV devices. Lightweight, rollup power sources would be ideal for people requiring electricity in remote locations, such

mapping/2009_Roadmap.html. Additional resources for information on PV technology: http://www.doe.gov/energysources/solar.htm http://www.solarbuzz.com/ http://www.jema-net.or.jp/English/07eij2002.html http://www.greentechmedia.com/ http://www.epia.org/

Ask the Flexper ts

By Mark Verbrugge

Treat Me Gently…T reat Me Kind We are losing a fair number of our flex assemblies during assembly. How can we prevent the heavy connectors from damaging circuits leaving deep scratches?

Proper circuit handling is a big issue, both for the manufacturer during the build process and for the end user at assembly. Damage due to improper transport and assembly is an issue for the PCB “hardboard” industry, but is magnified when handling a “softer” flex-circuit. Polyimide and Mylar are easily damaged when they come in contact with a sharp connector pin or other metal component. Sometimes the best efforts to handle circuits in a “one up” configuration go awry during the many processing steps involved in final assembly. It has been my experience that damage to the flex is most likely to occur during pre-heating and cleaning operations. Note the glass transition temperature of acrylic adhesive is 103°F (39.4°C). When pre-heating a flex for component assembly (typically around 225°F/107.2°C), the circuit softens making it extremely prone to surface damage from poor handling. Often, I see that the “common” practice during degreasing operations is to “dump” circuits en masse for ultrasonic cleaning, a clear foul leading to severe cover scratches and gouging. The most common method of shipping a flex circuit to an end user is in a heat sealed bag. The bags are then grouped in larger numbers and placed into a secondary bag prior to boxing. For smaller robust circuits, this method provides adequate protection while keeping shipping and handling costs low. As circuit size and complexity rise, this method becomes less effective. Here is where the proverbial “ounce of protection” can indeed provide a “pound of cure.” Custom packaging is the answer. When my own company experienced increasing returns for “damaged circuits,” we quickly realized most were due to followup processing at our customers facility. No one wants to point a finger at their customer, so we looked for an answer that would benefit both parties. By designing custom trays for handling raw flex circuits and follow-up assembly we can gain significant reductions in scrap. A custom tray not only protects better during transit but we also find our customers really like them on the production floor. A properly designed tray should be able to support both shipping and assembly needs. Space considerations should not only be made for the flat circuit, but also allow for components that may be installed after arrival at the customer’s facility. Trays can be manufactured from a variety of plastics, each offering unique advantages. Figure 1 shows a “stackable” tray utilizing a static preventative coating, critical for circuits with active components. The clear tray allows for individual inspection without the need for circuit removal. This cuts down on inspection handling. Figure 2 shows a more typical “black plastic,” anti-static tray with an integral cover. This can be a good solution for 26

July 2009 • circuitree.com

larger, heavier parts. In summary, while a custom shipping tray can add a significant layer of protection, proper handling during assembly cannot be understated. Protection from damage falls to both the flex manufacture and the end user. A careful review of incoming inspection and assembly procedures can significantly reduce scrap from poor handling. Packaging of raw PCBs is often over looked, but can be an important step in assuring a quality part reaches your end customer. ■

The Flexperts are Mark Finstad and Mark Verbrugge of Minco. Email: [email protected]

BPA Growth Cur ves

By Mar k Hutton

Where Are W e on the Business Cycle? Headline

W

• The growth rates did not reach the extraordinary high peak as those in 2001 • The levels of inventory are not of the same magnitude • The slowdown was seen over a longer period of time before demand went negative On the demand side, semiconductor manufacturers late in the first quarter reported minor improvements in order rates and capacity utilization rising above the 50 percent levels, the first quarter-on-quarter increase since the second quarter of 2008. Typical utilization rates are 85 percent or above during a normal growth phase (e.g. UMCs utilization rate for Q308 was reported to be 85 percent).

50% Semis

40%

PCB 30% 20%

% Growth

10% 0% -10% -20% -30%

2011

2008

2005

2002

1999

1996

1993

-40%

1990

e hear plenty about the disastrous situation “sub primes” got us into and we have felt the effect very severely in our industry. The downturn is into its second year, the really crucial questions are, “Where are we on the cycle?” and “When will things pick up?” At BPA, we have been facing these issues head on for the last thirty years. We have been monitoring the industry cycles for electronics equipment, semiconductors, and PCBs, and making some pretty accurate forecasts. (Download a companion article on the accuracy of BPA’s forecasts at www.bpaconsulting.com.) Let’s take a look. Comparing the World PCB forecast with the Semiconductor forecast in Figure 1, it can be seen that, indeed, where the PCB trough falls to -20 percent, the Semiconductor trough has fallen further to -25 percent. We can also see that this decline in growth started from a peak that was lower than the 2001 decline. At that time, inventory levels were at an all-time high in anticipation of orders for computers and networking infrastructure equipment that never came. You will remember the dotcom boom that did not materialize. The circumstances are not the same this time around. As can be seen from Figure 1, we believe the contraction will not be as great as it was in 2001. Why? Three major reasons,

Fig 1 Comparison of PCB and Semiconductor Growth 12/12

Responses to BPA’s quarterly survey1 indicate that output from many Asian and European fabricators has declined by more than 40 percent in Q109. North America has been in slow decline for more than a year and its first quarter revenues have not been hit quite as badly. High-volume manufacturing has disappeared from North America and Europe, with the exception of the latter case for automotive PCBs, which have still been made in mid-sized volumes in Germany. Indeed, it is estimated that between 40 and 50 percent of the country’s output is in this sector, compared to a worldwide sector figure of approximately 4 percent of total PCB shipments. Surplus inventory is now all but used up, with laminators in particular reporting a slight increase in demand. However, this is coming from a level that is only half of what it was a year ago. The quarterly results indicate that there has been no significant overall increase in the order books for the second quarter (where some companies have won, others have 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 recovery in 2009 and only low growth is expected for 2010. To further compound the fabricators misery, the competitive marketplace has put intense pressure on prices, which have been forced down by 5-10 percent at a time when most fabricators were hoping to push prices up a bit to compensate for the higher raw material costs experienced in 2008 as fuel prices surged. This has resulted in BPA reducing 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 emerges past the 0 line by the end of the first half of 2010. By 2012, BPA’s Forecast PCB demand will be back to 2007’s level of just over USD49 billion. 1. The PCB service includes a regular quarterly survey of the PCB Industry and the supply industries worldwide. ■

Mark Hutton is managing director and senior consultant, BPA Consulting Ltd. His areas of expertise include IC packaging, advanced substrates, assembly materials, and processes. Email: [email protected] circuitree.com • July 2009

27

Intelligent Design

By Lee W . Ritche y

On the Use of Blind and Buried V ias

I

28

n recent months, I have encountered a number of high-layer-count PCB designs with high-pin-count BGAs, such as FPGAs with 1 mm pitch contacts, designed with blind and buried via technology. Using this technology, these PCBs have been difficult to design, difficult to manufacture, more expensive than their through-hole counterparts, and difficult to test and troubleshoot. At the same time, PCBs of similar complexity and density were being done in the same number of layers using standard through-hole technology with none of these drawbacks, and at lower overall cost.

the PCB. From practical experience, this has turned out not to be true. There are places where combining blind and buried via technology serves a very important role. Among these are cell phone PCBs and high-pin-count BGA packages. In these cases, the motivation isn’t to save layers. Rather, it is to make possible designs that would otherwise have no solution. Cell phones, due to their compact size, have fine pitch components mounted on both sides of a single PCB. If standard through-hole technology were employed, component holes from components mounted on one side of the PCB would penetrate mounting pads of

Two specific cases were eighteen-layer PCBs used in networking products. The same basic circuit was being manufactured using standard through-hole technology with all of the advantages of low cost, ease of layout, and ease of test. The fabrication drawing consisted of only one page and had a single drill file. At the same time, a second PCB using the blind and buried via approach cost 20 percent more to build, took twice as long to layout, was very difficult to test, and had an eight-page fabrication drawing, four drill files, and still required eighteen layers. I was curious as to why these designs were being done this way when it was not an improvement over the standard throughhole method normally used for such designs. Upon investigation, I discovered that there are presentations being made at conferences and some classes being taught that claim that combining blind and buried vias on this class of design saves layers by allowing many of the signals to be routed on layer two of

components mounted on the other side. In order to avoid this problem, blind vias are used to reach into the second or third layer of the PCB where connections are made to other circuit pins or power rails. This is done on both sides of the PCB connecting to a common core in the center that contains the power distribution networks. The result is a core with four or more layers built with conventional through-hole technology that has built-up layers on both sides, which are connected to the core using blind vias. This is often referred to as build-up technology. It is easy to see that this process will cost more than a like number of layers using standard through-hole technology. This is the price paid for miniaturization. Dense, high-pin-count BGA packages use blind and buried vias in a build-up process much like that used for cell phone PCBs, but for another reason. The balls or bumps on the BGA die are usually placed on an 8 mil (.203 mm) pitch. This pitch is far too

July 2009 • circuitree.com

fine to allow through-hole vias. As a result, tiny, blind vias are used to penetrate to layer two and three of the package where very fine traces fan out to the 1mm or 50 mil pitch balls on the bottom of the package that finally interfaces with the main PCB. In neither of these cases was the motivation to save layers, save design time, or improve testability. In fact, the opposite is usually true. The use of blind and buried vias was to make the product possible at all! Testability is compromised in the case of the cell phone PCB due to the fact that few, if any, of the component pins are accessible for 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 that those giving the advice to use blind and buried via technology on PCBs where it is not the best solution are well intentioned. However, those who follow this misplaced advice are paying a very high price. When a technology that works in one area is transferred without adequate qualification, the results can be mixed at the very least and disappointing at the worst. Those giving the advice owe it to their audience to make sure that, in their enthusiasm to promote a concept, it fits where it is being offered. Not doing so can result in some very bad end results that are not cost competitive or timely. ■ Lee W. Ritchey is currently president of Speeding Edge, a leading training and consulting company specializing in the design of high speed PCBs and systems. He has spent his 40-year career designing high-speed PCBs for supercomputers and high-performance Internet products. Email: [email protected]

Environmentally Speaking

By Fern Abrams

Change in Climate for Climate Change Regulation

A

new wind has blown into town and it is hot. Already the new administration (100 days old when I wrote this) and Democratic Congress have signaled their intent to take action on climate change and the regulation of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Before you think to yourself that the electronics industry doesn’t have a stake in climate change, think again. At the end of April, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held hearings on the Waxman-Markey discussion draft of “The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009.” Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) analysis of the draft estimates that implementation of the bill would cost households less than $150 a year, while estimates produced by the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives indicate a cost to families of about $3,000 a year. If that’s what the bill would cost a household, imagine what it would cost your business! A committee markup of the bill scheduled for the last week of April was abruptly canceled amidst rumors that the conservative Democrats on the committee could not support the bill. If you think this is clearly good news, think again and keep reading. After a thorough scientific review ordered in 2007 by the U.S. Supreme Court, on April 17, the EPA issued a proposed finding that GHGs contribute to air pollution that may endanger public health or welfare. The proposed endangerment finding, which now moves to a public comment period, identified six GHGs that pose a potential threat. Supporters of the House bill said the EPA endangerment finding has increased pressure on Congress to act. If Congress does not pass climate change legislation, the EPA will have to regulate greenhouse gases using its authority under the Clean Air Act (CAA). Because the CAA is designed to address local and regional levels of air pollutants, it is illsuited to manage GHG regulation. Regulation of GHGs under the CAA would likely require more than 100 separate regulations covering various parts of the economy.

California (CA) is not waiting for Congress or the EPA to act. Under the CA Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32) that was enacted in 2006, California will cut GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Current emission levels need to be cut by 15 percent in order to reach 1990 levels. Under a plan approved earlier this year, California plans to reduce GHGs requiring vehicles, businesses, and households to be more energy efficient, relying on more renewable energy and implementing a multi-sector cap-and-trade program. One of the draft measures requires the reduction of GHG emissions from California semiconductors operations that emit fluorinated gases equivalent to 800 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. Smaller semiconductor operations must monitor and report their emissions. In the meantime, the EPA has a draft regulation to require the reporting of GHG emissions by major sources, “Regulation to Establish Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases from Upstream Fuel and Chemical Producers and Importers and Downstream Emitters.” The draft regulation proposes to implement a national, mandatory GHG emissions reporting system. Facilities that emit GHGs, including carbon dioxide, in excess of 25,000 metric tons per year would be required to monitor, document and report. Policymakers consider GHG reporting and inventory as critical components to eventually developing a federal cap-and-trade program. The inventory will provide policymakers with the necessary data to determine the feasibility of emissions reductions. Even in the absence of regulation, leading manufacturers are increasing pressure on their supply chain to quantify and reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide, a major GHG. The most recent annual report from the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) concluded that of the top 500 companies worldwide, 74 percent have set emission reduction targets and 65 percent have an executive body with overall responsibility for climate change. A report by Ceres Inc., a coalition of investors, environmental groups, and public interest

groups, recently assessed 11 industry sectors, including technology and semiconductors, on a range of climate change related performance measures. Of the sixty-three companies assessed, IBM Corp., Tesco plc, Dell Inc., Intel Corp., and Johnson & Johnson ranked the highest in terms of a sustained commitment to controlling GHG emissions. As I write this column in early May, many things remain up in the air. One thing is clear though — it’s going to be a busy spring and

summer here in Washington. The electronics industry, along with all manufacturing industries and the American public, has a lot at stake. Whether or not you believe in climate change and the human ability to affect it, you will be affected by the legislation and regulations currently being debated. For more information on climate change, visit www.epa.gov; www.house.gov; and www.ipc.gov/ehs. ■

Fern Abrams is IPC’s director of government relations and environmental policy. She is based in Washington, D.C. Fern can be reached by phone at 703-522-0225 or by email at [email protected]. circuitree.com • July 2009

29

By Walt Custer and Jonathan Custer-T opai

Ever Increasing (But Still Restrained) Optimism

T

he U.S. economic outlook continues to brighten (modestly). Stock prices, consumer and business confidence, the ISM “Purchasing Managers” index, and even auto sales were up as we wrote this column in early June. Although we are clearly still in a recession, a more optimistic tone is emerging. The Wall Street Journal’s panel of “Blue Chip” economists recently modified its U.S. GDP growth forecast with Q209 still projected to decline (but at a lesser amount than forecasted earlier) and then growth resuming in the third quarter (Chart 1). Globally, we appear to have passed the bottom of this current electronics business cycle (Chart 2). Although actual Q/Q growth won’t resume until the 3/12 growth rates exceed 1.0, we are clearly seeing an improved outlook. For PCBs, SE Asia, of course, dominates world production. Per Chart 3, Europe and N America continue to experience eroding sales. Japan took “a large hit” beginning in late 2008 (but recently resumed growth). In total, world PCB production is again expanding based upon SE Asia’s huge monthly revenues.

ALR Services began PCB prototype service. AT&S launched a new Online Ordering System at www.ats.net. Chart 2

Chart 3

Chart 4

July 2009 • circuitree.com

PCB fabrication

Chart 1

30

From a regional PCB growth perspective (Chart 4) SE Asia, and more recently Japan, now have 3/12 growth rates heading “north” toward their “breakeven” values of 1.0. Unfortunately, N America and Europe have yet to reach the low points of this current cycle. Looking forward, we still see about a 25 percent global decline in PCB shipments this year vs. 2008. Per Chart 5, we entered 2009 in a deep trough and it will take time to “dig ourselves out.” The forecasted “recovery path” (red line in Chart 5) that we published in December 2008 seems to be holding true as we log each month of 2009’s actual data. Chart 6 is our colleague Ed Henderson’s most recent forecast for global electronic equipment production growth by region. 2009 still looks like the “bottom,” with recovery in all major geographic areas likely in 2010 and 2011. See www.hendersonventures.com for more details.

Chart 6

Chart 5 Bare Board Group received Supplier of the Year award from National Instruments. Career Technology and Merry settled an FPCB shipment lawsuit. Cicor Technologies appointed Roland Küpfer CEO. Coretec CFO Andre Kern left the company; CEO Paul Langston assumed interim (added) responsibilities of CFO. Dynamic acquired 59.93 percent of touch panel maker Abon Touch. Elprinta implemented Polar Instruments’ “Speedstack” software. Eltek received a USD1.2 million order from a U.S. medical equipment manufacturer. Endicott Interconnect Technologies eliminated 240 jobs. Eurocircuits added a second European production plant in Aachen, Germany. Fundação CERTI (Florianopolis, Brazil) purchased and implemented Valor’s Trilogy DFM, vPlan, vManage, and solutions. Hapro added a Teknek SMT-Cleaner for its PCB ID-marking line. Harbor Electronics (Santa Clara, Calif.) added a Bacher OptiFlex Post-Etch Punch for its innerlayer registration process. Hi-Tech installed Höllmüller and Schmid horizontal copper plating lines in Skopje, Macedonia. K&F Electronics acquired Ultima Circuits (Sacramento, Calif.). Kyoden postponed opening its automobile multilayer circuit board plant in Thailand. Lenthor Engineering installed an ESI Flex5530 UV Laser Drilling system. Merix: • extended its Bank of America credit availability to USD8 million. • strengthened its defense and aerospace capabilities. Murrieta Circuits integrated “SolidWorks” 3D mechanical CAD (MCAD) software. PNC added a new quickturn prototyping division. Printca separated from GPV and become an independent company called Printca ApS. Richter Elektronik installed a Strip-Etch-Strip line and a soldermask developer from HMS Höllmüller. Saturn Electronics added two Mania T8T AOI machines. Schweizer Electronic suspended “short work” in June. Somacis pcb industries and Graphic appointed Jukka Risto to

enhance sales in Scandinavia. Teknoflex received AS9100 certification. Ulf Andersson Electronics began marketing PCBs with up to 500 micron copper layers from Zot.

Materials and process equipment Alpha - Cookson Electronics Assembly Materials opened a new SMT Print Technology center in Woking, Surrey. Atotech & SEMATECH partnered on process solutions for 3D ICs. Balver Zinn Group: • appointed Tim Lawrence, Ph.D., to Product Development Manager. • named EMS Partners as its representative for Minnesota and North and South Dakota and Luff Tool and IMK as North American representatives. Bliss Industries reduced prices by 30 percent (the first price reduction in company history). BTU International appointed Jan-Paul van Maaren, Ph.D., to VP Marketing. Cadence Design Systems introduced a “scalable FPGA-PCB codesign solution.” Camtek acquired Printar Ltd. China-Kinwa High Tech is building a RMB 3 billion electronic material base in Qinghai Province, Northwest China. Columbus Chemical Company had a chemical plant fire in Elba, Wisc. CyberOptics: • opened a new sales, service, and training center in Shanghai. • promoted Dennis Rutherford to VP of Global Sales & Marketing. Danutek appointed Istvan Nagy Sales Manager. Data I/O named: • West Tech as its sales representative in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. • Process Automation & Tool, LLC, its sales representative in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi electronics assembly market. DEK launched its Verification & Traceability Software Suite. DfR Solutions was selected by the Korea Testing Laboratory to develop PCB plating QC standards. circuitree.com • July 2009

31

DMRPCB.COM released a new additive printed electronics technology, Silver Bullet, for Green PCB manufacturing. ESI purchased all intellectual property rights and certain hardware and software components from XSiL (Dublin, Ireland). Essemtec and Promass Assembly Systems began jointly developing board handling systems for SMT, AOl, marking, coating, reflow, wave solder, and final assembly lines. Essemtec Benelux began supplying stencils and accessories produced by Christian Koenen. Goepel and iSystem formed a test and measurement partnership. Helmut Fischer Institute developed a new X-Ray technique for coating thickness analysis. Henkel: • appointed Jim Wise to lead global sales for Electronics Assembly Business. • was recognized as one of “World’s Most Ethical Companies” by the Ethisphere Institute and Forbes Magazine. • is investing more than USD23.7 million to expand its Salisbury, NC, operations over the next three years. Honeywell opened a USD50 million R&D centre in Bangalore. Indium appointed Ostec Enterprises as its sales channel partner in Russia, Belarus, and the Ukraine. Indium VP of Technology Dr. Ning-Cheng Lee: • selected by SMTA International Technical Committee as a Distinguished Author and Distinguished Lecturer. • IEEE’s Components, Packaging, and Manufacturing Technology Society approved Dr. Lee to be a CPMT Distinguished Lecturer. Indium Applications Development Program Manager Dave Sbiroli received IPC’s Distinguished Committee Service award. Insulectro launched its new information web site at www.insulectro.com. Isola: • European president Augusto Meozzi resigned. • granted a “square weave” patent license to Sanmina-SCI. Koh Young Technology opened its Alzenau, Germany, facility. Lincoln International was named “International M&A Advisory Firm of the Year” by ACQ Finance Magazine. Micronic Laser Systems AB acquired MYDATA automation AB. MIRTEC Europe formed distribution partnership with pb tec for Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Multiline International Europa and mie GmbH’s General Manager Dr. Konrad Wundt retired. Neways received a cable loom systems order from VDL Groep. Oxford Advanced Surfaces Group developed a 1nm thick, environmentally friendly Onto coating to protect silver against tarnishing. Photo Stencil celebrated its 30th anniversary. Rehm Thermal Systems: • hired and appointed Robert Mihalyi Sales Manager for Central Eastern Europe (CEE). • signed a soldering product distribution agreement with Altus Group in UK and Ireland. Rogers acquired MTI Global’s silicones business assets. Savcor Group acquired a majority shareholding in Cencorp. Siemens Electronics Assembly Systems introduced a placement machine with rail-mounted gantries that can be moved into use in 32

July 2009 • circuitree.com

only minutes. Teradyne and OptimalTest agreed to jointly market-test operations optimization solutions. ThreeBond began marketing its 3373E screen-printed anisotropic conductive adhesive with low halogen content for film substrate bonding. Tridak launched a new information web site for dispensing and filling equipment. Valor appointed Hitech Eletronica its exclusive representative in Brazil. Ventec Electronics (Suzhou): • and TMT formed a strategic partnership agreement for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland markets. • appointed Pietro Cucciati its representative for the Italian market. Vi Technology appointed iNETest Technologies its distributor in India.

EMS and assembly Eastern Europe had EMS revenues of USD10.0 billion in 2008 and is expected to reach USD21.1 billion in 2013. - Frost & Sullivan EMS sector’s M&A activities declined in 1Q09 to six transactions. – Lincoln International Hungary is largest electronics manufacturing market in CEE with 60 percent market share. Russian electronics manufacturing market will grow from $1.85 billion in 2008 to $4.91 billion in 2015. - Frost & Sullivan Applied Kilovolts added a MYDATA MY15 pick-and-place machine in Worthing, West Sussex. Asteel laid-off 44 employees in Douarnenez, France. AU Optronics added a TV assembly line in China. AVerMedia Technologies began construction of a NT 1.1 billion (USD33 million) TV tuner card factory in northern Taiwan. Benchmark Electronics named CEO Cary Fu Chairman of the Board. Celestica’s former Outsourcing Director Rajeev Thakur was ordered to pay more than $1 million in restitution for insider trading. Chemigraphic installed a second Juki SMT line. China Great Wall Computer and Algerian broadband network operator EEPAD are jointly investing USD 4 million to set up a manufacturing joint venture in Algeria. CIL installed a DEK Horizon 02i screen printer. Cirtronics: • celebrated its 30 year anniversary. • is expanding its Milford, NH, manufacturing facility by 75,000 sq. ft. Corvalent opened its new 24,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Cedar Park, Texas. CTS was awarded four production programs for electronic throttle control accelerator pedal modules and a production contract for a precision oven-controlled crystal oscillator. Delta Group Electronics achieved ISO 13485 medical product assembly certification. Deutsche Mechatronics received a 5-year manufacturing contract from Proton Motor for fuel cell hybrid systems. EC moved its Romanian operations to a new 12,000 sq. ft. manu-

facturing plant in Petrasani, UK. Elcoteq: • Beijing obtained satellite television reception equipment manufacturing license from Ministry of Commerce of China. • renewed its membership in the Kempen/SNS Smaller SRI (Socially Responsible Investment) Europe Index. Enics: • became a preferred supplier for Danfoss. • terminated 101 workers in Finland. • plans to close its Vaasa operations in 2009. Exception EMS laid-off 50 employees in Calne, UK. Flextronics: • partnered with Freescale Semiconductor on a reference design for the Enterprise WLAN access point market. • installed RedPrairie’s warehouse management and transportation management systems across its global network of facilities. • received a manufacturing contract from Oerlikon for thin-film PV equipment. • became a global manufacturing partner for Enphase Energy for solar microinverter systems. Foxconn/Hon Hai: • increased staff in 1Q by 5 percent (25,000 workers). • plans to transform itself into an IDM (Integrated Device Manufacturer) in 5-10 years. • Chairman Terry Guo is investing 30 billion Yuan (USD4.4 billion) to build an optoelectronics business industrial park in Xiamen, China. • is spending NT 1.9 billion (USD58 million) to build a R&D center in the Kaohsiung Software Park (Taiwan). • delayed its final $45 million investment in its new Juarez, Mexico, facility. • affiliate Advanced Optoelectronic Technology (AOT) withdrew an application to list on the local emerging stock market after profit failed to reach listing requirements. • Quellan entered a low power active interconnect strategic alliance for consumer, desktop, and data center markets. Globetronics plans to invest RM30 million in CAPEX and hire 400 people in 2009. Incap completed construction of its new building in Tumkur, India. Jabil will establish a €16 million production center for solar panels in Kwidzyn, Poland. Kimball Electronics: • Jasper, Indiana, facility received a 3-year manufacturing contract for automotive Bluetooth hands-free radio devices. • received lead free automotive order from Eldor. Kitron cut 120 workers in Norway. LG Electronics closed its mobile handset manufacturing facility in Mexico and transferred production to Brazil. LST électronique entered liquidation. Microdis Poland added a fully-automated Schleuniger CrimpCentre 63 at its harness production facility in Suchy Dwór. Mikroelektronika installed a PillarHouse Orissa 600 fully automated selective soldering line. NexLogic Technologies installed a MyData MY15, Fuji XPF, and a

Speedline MPM125 stencil printer. PartnerTech received a manufacturing contract for Hydra ink supply system from Xaar. PKC laid-off 87 workers in Kempele, Finland, and expects to cut an additional 41 by October. Plexus: • received a contract from QIAGEN to develop a next generation automated screening system for the pre-processing of human papillomavirus DNA samples. • pushed back occupancy for its global headquarters in Neenah, Wisconsin, to summer 2010. Quanta and Pou Chen Group jv, Techview International, relocated its LCD factory in Huangjiang, China, to Changshu. S and Y Industries purchased 12,000 sq. ft. of additional space to expand engineering and manufacturing activities. Samsung moved its flat screen TV manufacturing from Slovakia to Hungary. Sanmina-SCI: • cut 155 workers in Haukipudas, Finland. • Newark, California, facility received AS9100 aerospace certification. Scanfil EMS cut 31 workers and transferred part of electronics production in Sievi to Parnu, Estonia. Seidel Electronics laid-off 48 workers in Deutschlandsberg, Austria. Sibex Electronics began construction of its 52,500 sq. ft. contract manufacturing facility in Homosassa, Florida. SiMS added a JUKI FX-3 high-speed chip shooter. Soyo filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection. Sparton: • appointed Drew Richmond deputy general director of Spartronics Vietnam. • closed its Jackson, Mich., plant and transferred work to Vietnam and Brooksville, Fla. Stadium Electronics appointed Tony Inskip Sales Director for its EMS business. Sumitomo Electric Wiring Systems Polska plans to close its wire harness facility in Rawicz in October 2009 and transfer all production to Romania. Teac increased floor space at Dongguan Teac Electronics by 60 percent in anticipation of beginning PC, Info equipment production in autumn 2009. TT electronics received a £2.5 million/year PCB manufacturing agreement with Crowcon Detection Instruments. Universal Electronics added SMT equipment from Universal and Automated Optical Inspection machines from YesTech. Vierling Production added a DEK Horizon 03i soldering paste printer and a DD500 dispenser in Ebermannstadt, Germany. ■ Walt Custer and Jonathan Custer-Topai’s column is sponsored by Dow Electronic Materials. Custer Consulting Group provides market research, business analysis, and forecasts for PCB fabrication and assembly, passive components, semiconductors, and the electronic equipment end markets. You can reach Walt by phone at 707-785-1777, email at walt@ custerconsulting.com, or visit his Web site: www.custerconsulting.com. circuitree.com • July 2009

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Technical Product Spotlights 3M LC, LC/APC No Polish Connectors Further expanding its No Polish Connector line, 3M has introduced the new No Polish LC Connector for both multimode and singlemode fiber ap plications an d th e N o Polish C onnector L C/APC f or sin glemode fiber applications. Both e nable fa st o n-site i nstallation of 250 micro n an d 9 00 micro n te rminations utilizing a one-piece, pre-assembled design. Like other members of the 3M No Polish Connector f amily, th e n ewest connectors are des igned t o s ave i nstallation technicians tim e w hile h elping to mini mize capital investment. The LC NPC is tested for FTTP and premises applications for both indoor and outdoor locations and is available in SM, 62.5 micron, 5 0 micron and also 5 0 micron LOMMF (laser optimized multimode fiber) for 10 Gb applications. More information, visit www.3mtelecommunications.com/.

frequency (RF) and electrostatic discharge (ESD) d etection. T he m odular d esign c an save manu facturers m oney by all owing them to p urchase th e f unctionality th ey need, when they need it. The EM Eye M eter ins tantly disp lays information on its color touch screen and logs data on an SD c ard. The 3M meter is the o nly k nown o ne of it s k ind cur rently on th e mar ket that offers a to uch s creen display, offering inc omparable c onvenience and ease of use. The meter’s handheld size p rovides p ortability an d all ows manufacturers to check their control plans more o ften, p otentially r educing p roduction disruptions.

Bliss Industries Rack to Support All Juki Feeders Bliss In dustries In c., p rovider of han dling carts an d r acks f or e lectronics ass embly, announces that it now provides a rack to support all Juki feeders.

Ucamco Integr8tor v4.1.2 Ucamco (formerly Barco ETS) have launched version 4.1.2 of th eir Inte gr8tor au tomatic data inp ut an d anal ysis to ol. Inte gr8tor is a powerful tool to e nhance customer relations and increase front-end throughput by up to 30 p ercent. Its automatic data input and d esign anal ysis c apability p rovides the j ob p arameters n eeded f or f ast, a ccurate quotations and for higher throughput through the front-end tooling process. The lates t re lease b rings a numb er of n ew inte resting f eatures an d o ffers improved p erformance and s tability. In tegr8tor runs equally well in a Ucamco UCAM or Frontline Genesis environment.For more information, visit www.ucamco.com.

3M EM Eye Meter Series for EMI, RF, ESD Detection 3M has re leased a n ew, universal test and measurement platform that offers a highly expandable, c ost-reducing sol ution t o manufacturers l ooking f or a ccurate e lectrical event detection. The new 3M EM Eye M eter from the 3M Electronic Solutions Division provides three devices in one unit. The meter consists of a base u nit a nd t hree sepa rate sen sors for electromagnetic in terference ( EMI), radio 34

July 2009 • circuitree.com

With J uki b eing th e numb er o ne p ickand-place ma chine c ompany in th e world, it w as o nly natur al f or B liss In dustries to ann ounce th e re lease of s everal new mo dels of fe eder rac ks t o s upport Juki’s 700 NF & FF, 2000 CTF feeders. Bliss’ engineering team designed a rack to support all t ypes of J uki feeders in o ne r ack. Bliss offers a setup rack, along with 22, 36 and 6 0” r acks. All of th ese r acks fit Bliss’ standard o pen s tyle c arts, al ong w ith two oth er f eeder r acks. B liss n ow sup ports all th e J uki an d p revious Zev atech feeders.For m ore inf ormation, v isit w ww. blissindustries.com.

Juki Introduces Feeder Refurbishment Program Juki C orporation ann ounces that , in a continuing e ffort t o offer th e Lowes t Cost of O wnership to it s customers, it has started a F eeder R efurbishment Pro gram

designed t o i nspect, r epair a nd ca librate existing feeders at minimal cost and quick turn around for its customers. As part of this program the company also will offer fully refurbished Juki feeders for s ale at a ve ry c ompetitive mar ket price. Top feeder performance is essential to running production at peak efficiency. Properly maintained feeders will improve line performance and reduce changeover time by increasing th e capability to gang pick parts, reducing the number of component misp icks, e liminating th e n eed to manually teach feeder pick positions, and c orrecting fe eder advanc ement problems. F or more i nformation, e -mail [email protected].

Harvard Apparatus PHD ULTR Syringe Pump The PHD ULTRA™ provides maximum versatility for configurations and applications. It c an han dle flow r ates f rom p icoliter to 220 ml /min w ith th e high est a ccuracy, precision and s moothness of flow. This pump c an b e s tood o n e nd to ma ximize performance for certain applications, and the s creen tur ns w ith th e p ump, s o yo u can always read it. Models are a vailable i n i nfusion only , infuse/withdraw, programmable and push pull. Multiple syringe holders can accommodate 2 to 1 0 s yringes f or multi chan nels or larger res ervoir c apacities. B oth standard and remot e mo dels are a vailable. R emote m odes ha ve th e p umping mechanism up to 30 ft away from the control unit . T hese f eatures an d m ore mak e the P HD U LTRA™ th e ultimate p roblem solver f or yo ur m ost d emanding fluidics applications. Fo r m ore inf ormation, v isit www.harvardapparatus.com.

SiSoft Support for Netronome’s NFP-32xx Signal Integrity Software, Inc. ™ announced support for the NFP-32xx from Netronome Systems, a l eading d eveloper of highl y programmable semic onductor pr oducts that p rovide inte lligent an d s ecure flow processing f or v irtualized s ervers an d network e quipment. Si Soft has wo rked closely w ith N etronome to anal yze an d ensure th e signal inte grity o n all th e

Technical Product Spotlights NFP-32xx high -speed net work i nterfaces including PCIe, 25Gbps Interlaken, SPI-4.2, 10Gbps X AUI, Q DR, an d D DR3. T he wo rk performed by Si Soft has resulte d in a s et of layout guidelines that can be used by NFP-32xx u sers t o ac celerate implemen tation. SiSoft can enable users to anal yze their des igns t hrough c ustomized NF P32xx k its f or Q uantum-SI™ an d Q uantum Channel D esigner™ as we ll as thro ugh consulting services. The N FP-32xx f amily of N etwork F low Processors™ i s t he i ndustry’s first merchant silic on to re move th e p erformance barriers i n u nified c omputing a rchitectures by inte grating high -performance networking, s ecurity p rocessing an d I /O virtualization wit h general -purpose computing. Ad ditionally, th e N FP-32xx is th e only l ine of pr ocessors bac kward-compatible w ith th e mar ket-leading Inte l® IXP28XX, protecting customers’ immense investment in field-proven and net workhardened software.

joints, delivers a high tack force to provide sta bility d uring h igh-speed c omponent plac ement and offers l ong p rinter abandon times of up to 4 hours even when printed o nto e xtremely fine-pitch 0.4mm CSP apertures. Process versatility is at th e foundation of Multicore LF700, as it offers excellent s olderability ove r a w ide r ange of reflow p rofiles in b oth air an d nitrogen and is effective on several surface finishes including Ni/Au, Immersion Sn, Immersion Ag an d OSP c opper. Fo r m ore inf ormation, visit www.henkel.com/electronics.

SPR-45VA SMTru Vision Assist Automated Stencil Printer

Henkel Multicore LF700 Solder Paste With th e majo rity of th e e lectronics industry fully on board with lead-free manufacturing, solder paste materials requirements are now moving beyond basic func-

tionality and toward more advanced, truly enabling c apabilities. Addressing these needs, He nkel h as e ngineered M ulticore® LF700™, a new lead-free, halide-free solder paste that has b een formulated to deliver a w ider range of b enefits and performance char acteristics than o lder-generation and competitive products. While conferring the necessary requirements f or hali de-free, n o cl ean, l eadfree p rocesses, Multic ore LF7 00 als o delivers uniq ue a ttributes t hat fur ther advance m odern manu facturing. T he material re duces vo iding in B GA s older

APS N ovastar, LL C, a gl obal l eader in th e design, d evelopment an d manu facture of O EM s olutions f or sh ort to m edium run S MT an d PCB ass embly is p leased to announce the availability of the SPR-45VA Automated Stencil Printer. With its SMTrue Vision A ssist alignm ent s ystem, n ew quick chan ge d ouble-sided n esting k it, and e nhanced a xial an d th eta alignm ent system, us ers w ill e njoy b enefits usually relegated t o much m ore e xpensive s ystems wit hout c ompromise t o pre cision and repeatability. The APS N ovastar SP R-45VA w ith it s SMTrue V ision A ssist alignm ent s ystem provides S MT an d PCB ass emblers w ith the speed, ease-of-use and reproducibility they re quire f or s older p aste p rinting applications down to 12 mil pitch components. T he SP R-45VA p rovides a xial stencil to b oard re gistration w ith dual o r single c amera assis t to all ow f or a ccurate printing of 0 201s, ultra micro B GAs, CSPs, and 1 5 mil p itch Q FPs w ith eas y a djustment f or b oard to lerance v ariation in X , Y an d T heta. T he SPR-45VA o perates in a

user-friendly en vironment addres sing a wide variety of screen printing alignment mark re gistrations. P neumatic c ontrol of p ressure, sp eed an d an gle-of-attack dual squeegee system delivers consistent results for the most ta xing production or prototyping printing applications.

Techcon Systems 700 Series Syringe Barrels Techcon S ystems, a p roduct gro up of O K International and a leading provider of fluid dispensing s ystems and pr oducts, debut s the 700 Series Premier Dispensing Syringe Barrels as ideal quality syringes that feature the same look, fit and function as a recently discontinued i ndustry sta ndard syr inge, with a substantial cost savings. Techcon S ystem’s 7 00 S eries s yringe barrels are silic one- an d chl oride-free, and are design ed t o work w ith indus try standard e quipment. T he s yringe b arrels are made f rom lo w f riction p olypropylene t o ensure ac curacy, rep eatability and p roductivity. T he 7 00 S eries b arrels feature a double Helix Luer lock for secure dispense tip at tachment, an d als o are available in thre e colors: natural for most generic ap plications, amb er to p rovide protection of UV/visible light block (up to 520 nm), but with the ability to see material inside the syringe barrel, and black for total light b lock. Fo r m ore inf ormation, visit www.techconsystems.com.

Aries Fine Pitch Bump Adapters Aries El ectronics has laun ched a n ew series of adapters that enable the use of virtually an y S MT I C d evice o n a p itch of 0.4 mm or higher to PC boards on 0.5 mm pitch. These are ideally suited to adapting an IC device to some of the more popular TSSOP and QFP packages on 0.5 mm pitch. The unique Fine Pitch Bump Adapters, an expansion to Aries’ line of Correct-A-Chip Adapters, sa ve d esigners s ignificant time and m oney by e liminating th e n eed f or costly engineering rework. This a dapter w ill e nable th e us er to solder a B GA or other SMT device to p ads on th e c omponent si de of th e a dapter, which w ill th en c onnect thro ugh th e adapter to th e 0. 5 mm p itch r aised c oncircuitree.com • July 2009

35

Technical Product Spotlights nection pads (up to 0.010”) on the bottom. The c onnection s cheme c omes s tandard in a p in 1-to-pin 1 ro uting, but can easily be c ustomized to a ccommodate vi rtually any c onnection re quirement. Fo r m ore information, visit www.arieselec.com,

KD Scientific EZFlow 2010 The EZFlow 2010 is a sin gle syringe pump designed to enhance quick effic ient operation while maintaining simplicity. It meets the CE 0 197 directive and is EC 9 3/42 EEC Annex II, Article 3. The E ZFlow 2010 c an b e us ed f or inf usions from 0.1 to 300 ml/hr with 2.5% accuracy. It has an easy to read LED display and is v isible f rom many an gles an d w ill continuously show the flow rate in ml/hr. The display c an als o b e to ggled to sh ow th e total volume delivered in ml. It features automatic syringe detection and has a fast purge feature. It can be battery operated and AC powered. It works

with a w ide r ange of s yringes 2 0/30 ml 50/60 ml an d 1 00 ml s yringes. T he unit automatically detects the syringe size and adjusts th e s elected flow r ate au tomatically for the syringe size. The unit has four audible alarms, occlusion d etection, l ow b attery, n ear e nd of dispense and complete. KD Scientific designs , manuf actures and sells a range of qualit y fluidics equipment used by research laboratory markets worldwide. F or more informa tion, vi sit www.kdscientific.com.

BEST Inc Rework Stencils from Polyimide BEST Inc. has re leased a n ew line of s tencils for PCB rework. These polyimide stencils are designed to b e stay-in-place stencils an d c an a ccommodate sp ace/traces down to less than 1mm. Standard stencil thicknesses are ( 4) an d ( 8) mils w ith an aspect ratio of 1:1. They are designed to

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peeled away from their adhesive backing and permanently placed onto the PCB site area to b e rewo rked. T he s tencils are cu t with high precision lasers. These s tencils e liminate s everal p roblems of m etal s tencils inclu ding: k eeping the s tencil in intimate contact with the PCB f or the high est print quality, the releasing of the stencil from t he board w hich creates p roblems in s older paste p rint qualit y an d th e tim e-consuming nature of cl eaning th e s tencils. The polyimide stencils, since they remain on th e b oard an d have 1:1 asp ect r atios, print solder paste consistently for higher rework y ields. Fo r m ore inf ormation, visit www.solder.net ■

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July 2009 • circuitree.com CP0708HouseAd_7-25x4-875.indd Untitled-1 1 1

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3M Scotchgard Phototool Protection System .............................. 1 Chemcut Corporation ............................................................. 9 CPCA Show 2010................................................................. 12 Gebr. Schmid GmbH + Co ...................................................... 13 IPC Midwest ........................................................................ 8 M&B Plating Racks ................................................................ 7

sia.cfm#medical Metrohm Ltd. ....................................................................... 9

IPC Midwest 2009

Microtek Laboratories ......................................................... IBC

Sep 23, 2009 - Sep 24, 2009

40

Schaumberg, Illinois

Productronica 2009 ......................................................... 10-11

http://www.IPCMidwestshow.org

Wise Software Solutions Inc. .................................................. 6

July 2009 • circuitree.com

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