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PCB007-Aug2019

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28 PCB007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2019 Feature Interview by Nolan Johnson I-CONNECT007 Nolan Johnson chatted with George Milad, national accounts manager for technology at Uyemura about what is driving change in the wet process marketplace and how chemistries must fit into next-generation product design while also meeting new environmental re- quirements. Nolan Johnson: George, regarding changes in wet processes, some market drivers are mov- ing, preserving margins, increasing yields, im- proving upon environmental concerns, and getting better capabilities and smaller features. From your perspective, where's the market for wet processes going and what's pushing it? George Milad: Well, when you say wet process- es, you're talking about chemical processes like board shop chemistries and where they're headed. Mostly, there are developments in surface finishing and plating; those two areas are quite active. For example, the IPC Plating Committee also publishes specifications, and we are in the midst of revising the ENIG speci- fication. Johnson: So, there's the chemical process side as well as the equipment that is used. Is there more action in one of those two areas than the other, or are both of them in motion right now? Milad: As far as the equipment, there are ten- dencies to automate. Water usage and environ- mental control in wet processing are also evolv- ing. Further, there are chemicals being used today that are not allowed on the REACH pro- gram environmentally. And there is an effort to minimize the use of these harmful chemicals, such as formaldehyde in electroless copper and cyanide in gold. There are new developments in surface finish to meet criteria, needs, and specific purposes, such as very fine-line work, as well as electroless copper plating via filling. Johnson: In Richard DePoto's interview with Pete Starkey from IPC APEX EXPO earlier this year, one of the points that stood out for me was his comment that Uyemura works to drop the chemistry right into existing lines. It seems that putting in a new chemistry/wet process line to hold a different line and set of chemi- Putting Green Into a Brownfield Facility George Milad

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