Launch of new industry standard for PCB reliability

Launch of new industry standard for PCB reliability

Launch of new industry standard for PCB reliability

Keywords: Concoat, Reliability, Printed circuit boards, Standards

Major failures in electronic circuitry, caused by incompatibility between manufacturing processes, are creating safety and reliability problems and increasing production costs, according to the UK's National Physical Laboratory (NPL).

Ahead of international moves to set new standards for compatibility, Concoat Ltd have developed a new concept in PCB reliability. The Synergie ™ electronic production process package is reportedly the first in the industry to solve these compatibility problems (Plate 6).

Plate 6 Concoat Ltd have developed a new concept in PCB reliability

Until now, only limited work had been done to test the inter-relationship between the many chemical processes needed to complete a PCB. However, following the increasing demand from customers, and general concern in the marketplace, Concoat has undertaken extensive research and developed a new solution to this problem.

The result of this is Synergie™, an ever-growing range of materials, including coatings, solder resists, masks, flux and wire, that work together. Each process material is tested individually and sequentially using Concoat's award-winning Auto-SIR™, which measures the actual effects of both ionic and non-ionic contamination on the surface insulation resistance of assemblies under conditions of accelerated ageing. Testing is carried out every ten minutes rather than once a day to ensure optimum reliability.

Synergie™, launched this month, has evolved in response to huge market demand for process compatibility. Electronic circuits increasingly employ fine-line, finepitch, SMT and modern chip-scale packaging, use higher impedances or operating frequencies and are more commonly located in hostile operating environments.

This, coupled with the high incidence of "no-clean" processing methods, has caused major concerns about the synergy between these materials and how they may influence electronic circuitry.

The launch of Synergie™ coincides with NPL's announcement of a three-year DTI funded research project, in response to industry needs, which will provide new measurement methods to address reliability and incompatibility issues in electronic production process materials.

"Synergie will be a major breakthrough in compatibility and reliability," said Concoat MD, Graham Naisbitt. "For the first time, the electronics industry will have the assurance that the processes they use are working together rather than against each other. The result will be fewer failures, better production efficiency and a more reliable end-product."

Concoat Ltd has three divisions: Synergie™ materials, application equipment and coating services. They developed and manufacture the Auto-SIR™ system, which won a Millennium Award and work with major electronics companies, including Aérospatiale, Boeing, Nokia and Motorola.

Concoat has also been involved in developing processes and standards for materials and equipment with major research bodies. Technical Director, David Greenman is Chair of the British Standards Institute Panel for Conformal Coatings and serves on the International Electro-Technical Commission Working Group.

Further details from Graham Naisbitt, Managing Director, Concoat Ltd. Tel: +44 (0) 1276 691100; E-mail: graham.naisbitt@concoat.co.uk