European electronics newswire, evertiq, have reported on the recent EIPC conference where PEL presented.
The future of inkjet processes for PCB manufacturing
Giacomo Angeloni, Somacis, Alexander Kasper, AT&S, Dr. Steve Jones, Printed Electronic Industries - PEL, Uwe Altmann, Orbotech were among the speakers that discussed industrial inkjet processes for PCB manufacturing at the European Institute for Printed Circuits - EIPC winter conference in Rome last week.
February 04 2008, 8:33 AM (evertiq)
Legend ink is already up and running, solder mask is on the way, but etch resist for inkjet is not yet available for production scale PCBs, and conductives, the ultimate goal. AT&S is looking for the ultimate low cost PCB, and here they are pursuing new technologies, they do not to buy in a fixed system, but to devise one that suits them. Ink Print Head Machine and the Process are the key elements. The application has been identified, the business plan and cost calculation has been done, now they are tackling the technical problems, partnering with Printed Electronics Ltd. They meet every 1-2 weeks, and have short communication paths. An ink formulation is almost in place; they have to integrate a machine, the process will be developed by PEL, and AT&S will be the beta site for it.
Dr. Steve Jones spoke on behalf of Printed Electronics Limited, of Cambridge. PEL now have an industrial process - it has been designed to work in a rugged environment, can print at industrial speeds, this is an iTi machine, which can take 6 different heads, Xaar heads mainly, for high speed printing with a small number of heads. Using high speed photography, they can see how the ink is leaving the head and how it is forming on the substrate, PEL know the PCB business and thus are a suitable partner for AT&S. They have an etch resist, and the initial work looks most encouraging. The future includes nano-conductive inks, multilayer dielectronic structures, and components. A panel per second is the goal.
