Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - Features

ATLANTA -- The first revision of IPC-7525, “Stencil Design Guidelines” was circulated for vote in February, and could be published shortly. Among the proposed changes: Refined aperture configurations and area ratios, and new guidelines for printing adhesives.

For its latest revision, the task group behind IPC-SM-840D, “Qualification and Performance of Permanent Solder Mask,” focused on terminology, consolidation, the Pb-free dilemma and test methods.

In a recent interview with Circuits Assembly, longtime task group chair Dave Vaughan, marketing manager, Taiyo America, noted that revision D began simultaneously with the Solder Mask Handbook. In fact, it began with the term “solder mask” itself.

NANTOU, TAIWAN -- Universal Scientific, the second largest EMS provider in Taiwan, reported December revenues of NT$4,974 million, up 1% sequentially but down 5% year-over-year.

For the year ended Dec. 31, the EMS company reported sales of NT$ 53,209 million, up 2% year-over-year.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Weak component pricing bodes well for OEMs this quarter, a leading tech analyst said today.

DRAM and NAND prices are down 20% and 35%, respectively, so far this quarter, versus their fourth quarter average selling prices. LCD prices have fallen 5%. Pricing for hard disk drives for desktops has been flat but has dropped sharply for notebooks.

TAIPEI -- Quanta Computer will move into the crowded cellphones outsourcing market, with orders in hand and production slated to begin by year-end, according to a published report.

Quanta is Tawain's largest maker of notebook PCs, and produces almost one-third of the global supply. However, according to the report, Quanta will initially build cellphones for top OEMs, including Nokia and Sony Ericsson.

LOS ANGELES – Speedline Technologies will present seven papers at the Apex technical conference later this month.

According to Vice President of Marketing and Business Development Keith Favre, “With our substantial internal technical resources and our valued relationships with leading academic institutions and business colleagues, we are pleased to continue a long-standing commitment to develop and publish best practices for SMT manufacturing processes.”

Presentations include:

Establishing Stencil Design Parameters for 01005 and 0201 Passives and 0.4mm CSPs by Joe Belmonte, Dr. Rita Mohanty, Vatsal Shah, Speedline Technologies; Tim Jensen, Dr. Ron Lasky, Indium Corporation.

Flux Application for Lead-Free Wavesoldering by Kenneth Kirby, Speedline Technologies.

Process Development and Characterization of Stencil Printing Process for Small Stencil Apertures by Srinivasa R. Aravamudhan, Intel Corporation; Dr. Daryl Santos, SUNY Binghamton, NY; Dr. Rita Mohanty, Speedline Technologies.

Hybrid Drying Technology for Inline Aqueous Cleaning of Lead-free Assemblies by Dirk Ellis, Speedline Technologies.

Reflow Process Control Monitoring and Datalogging by Dr. Rita Mohanty, Marc Apell, Tad Formella, Richard Burke, Speedline Technologies.

Tin Corrosion and Lead-free Wave Soldering, by Dr. Matthew J. O’Keefe, Dr. Martin Perez, University of Missouri; Jim Morris, Speedline Technologies.

Determining Area Ratio Rule for Type 4 and Type 5 Solder Paste by Joe Belmonte, Vatsal Shah, Dr. Rita Mohanty, Speedline Technologies; Tim Jensen, Dr. Ron Lasky, Indium Corporation.

The conference takes place the week of Feb. 19, in Los Angeles.