CLINTON, NY – Indium Corporation® will feature its high-reliability AuLTRA® MediPro gold solder solutions at MEDevice Silicon Valley, taking place on November 20-21 in Silicon Valley, California. AuLTRA® MediPro is a family of high-performance, precision gold solder solutions for critical medical applications.

Indium Corporation will showcase the following among its featured products:

• AuLTRA® Fine Wire: AuSn wire for soldering optics in catheter delivery systems, coronary stents and endoscopy applications. This premium, high-quality wire goes through rigorous medical-grade standards and is spooled in a variety of sizes.
• AuLTRA® Preforms: AuSn Preforms for hermetic sealing applications used in catheter, endoscopy, and robotic surgery. These materials offer the highest level of quality needed to deliver the best performance in critical, high-reliability applications.
• AuLTRA® Fine Ribbon: AuSn Ribbon for soldering optics in catheter, endoscopy, and robotic surgery applications. The precision and quality of the ribbon and spooling, combined with long, continuous lengths, are essential for minimizing production downtime and enabling a high-throughput process, resulting in a high-quality end product with a low cost of ownership.

To learn more about Indium Corporation’s precision Au-based preforms, visit askindium.com/aultra-medipro and visit our experts at booth #1138 at the show.

TOKYO – Using silicon photonics technology for semiconductor optical circuits, OKI (TOKYO: 6703) has successfully developed an ultracompact photonic integrated circuit chip with a broad range of potential applications, including optical fiber sensors, laser vibrometers, and optical biosensors. This makes it possible to achieve ultra-miniaturization and low power consumption similar to LSI, as well as dramatically lower costs through mass production of optical sensor modules. Optical sensors are a technology that uses optical fibers and optical waveguides with low light loss to detect, process, and transmit physical phenomena such as vibration, strain, and temperature in the form of light, and are themselves a green technology that realizes sensing while saving energy. Silicon photonics technology is a technology that can broaden the scope of applications for optical sensors previously limited to localized use, and is expected to make a significant contribution to the advancement of GX.

To address various issues faced by modern society, such as aging social infrastructure, labor shortages, environmental problems, and extending healthy lifespans, high-precision sensor technology and network technology capable of seamlessly collecting vast amounts of sensor data are required. While high-precision optical sensors that take advantage of the property of light, i.e., low energy loss, are one effective technology to realize the above, their large size and high cost have limited their applications to a few areas such as research and large-scale infrastructures.

OKI has engaged in research and development on silicon photonics technology over many years, centered on optical transceivers, with the scope of this research still currently expanding to include various optical sensors. Silicon photonics technology is a technology that integrates complex optical circuits—previously realized by wiring individual optical components with optical fibers—on a silicon substrate using semiconductor microfabrication technology. It makes use of the same manufacturing methods as LSI, which is vital for computers, enabling miniaturization, energy saving, and cost reduction through mass production. Devices that were previously large, heavy, and cumbersome can now be downsized to dimensions comparable to a smartphone or tablet, greatly expanding the scope of optical sensor applications.

In November 2023, OKI announced its technology strategy through to 2031, which is aimed at bringing the Edge Platform to reality. The Edge Platform is a technology concept to expand the value provided through edge advancement and data connection and linkage based on OKI’s core competence of “robustness,” which has supported social infrastructures. The technology strategy includes bolstering optical sensing technology across a wide range of areas, from social infrastructure monitoring to the medical field. The development of this photonic integrated circuit chip is based on this technology strategy and is the result of fully capitalizing on silicon photonics technology.

“Based on silicon photonics technology, OKI will continue to scale up photonic integrated circuits incorporating semiconductor materials other than silicon as light sources and promote photonics-electronics convergence to expand into ever more diverse fields,” commented Executive Officer Kurato Maeno, who also serves as Chief Technology Officer and Head of Technology Division. “Ultimately, OKI aims to realize a universal integrated circuit chip that enables the programmable implementation of various functions on a single chip and make the most of this as the core of its green technology.”

CRANSTON, RI – AIM Solder, a leading global manufacturer of solder assembly materials for the electronics industry, is pleased to announce its participation in the upcoming SMTA Silicon Valley Expo & Tech Forum taking place on December 5 at the Fremont Marriott Silicon Valley in Fremont, California. Among other great products, AIM will be highlighting its recently released NC259FPA Ultrafine No Clean Solder Paste.

NC259FPA is a zero-halogen paste engineered for precise print definition with type 6 and smaller alloy powders through stencil apertures less than 150 µm in diameter. Ideal for miniLED, microLED, die attach, micro BGA, and HDI boards, this innovative new product features excellent wetting, high transfer efficiency, high reliability, and high tack force for mass transfer.

To learn more about NC259FPA and to discover all of AIM’s products and services, visit the company at the SMTA Silicon Valley Expo & Tech Forum on December 5th, or visit www.aimsolder.com 

EL DORADO HILLS, CA – The Occam Group, developers of an innovative advanced electronics manufacturing methodology announced the addition of Dana Korf (Korf Consultancy) to its leadership team. Korf, a seasoned PCB professional, will play a pivotal role in driving innovation and expanding Occam’s capabilities for the electronics industry.

“We are thrilled to welcome Dana to the Occam team,” said Ray Rasmussen, Managing Partner. “His years in the PCB industry and deep expertise in PCB design and manufacturing will be invaluable as we continue to advance and improve the capabilities of the Occam Process.”

Korf has worked on a wide range of complex PCB projects. His knowledge and skills will be instrumental in optimizing the Occam Process for component assemblies. By eliminating the traditional soldering process, Occam offers numerous advantages, including improved reliability, reduced costs, and enhanced environmental sustainability. In addition, Occam’s inherent capabilities include: improved thermal management, EMI mitigation and reduced RF interference, simplifying designs and manufacturing. Occam’s additive approach lends itself to significantly greater efficiencies and is positioned to lead the industry for years to come.  

Occam inventor, Joe Fjelstad stated: “the continuing industry journey to create PCBs to meet future product needs for advanced electronics has resulted in a significant increase in complexity and cost, severely limiting the number of prospective manufacturers to meet those needs. The investment required to fabricate advanced PCB based packaging solutions are approaching those required for making semiconductor ICs thus fiscally limiting growth and constraining the supply base. The Occam concept seeks to significantly simplify the manufacturing process, allowing more to be done with less, greatly reducing the need for these very complex designs currently driving the industry. One area where we know Dana will be able to make significant contributions is in defining and realizing the additive/3D printing opportunity for Occam. It is an area where he has competently demonstrated his industry recognized vision and leadership”

“I am excited to join Occam and contribute to the advancement of this innovative methodology,” said Korf. “Occam has the potential to transform the electronics industry, and I look forward to working with the Occam team to make this happen.”