Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1499197
30 PCB007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2023 Interview by Nolan Johnson I-CONNECT007 John Johnson is relatively new to American Standard Circuits, but definitely not new to the technology. In fact, he was hired to focus on business development for ultra-high-density interconnects. John explains more about the process and where it's taking ASC. John, how do you define ultra-high density? I define it as ultra-fine lines, small microvias, sub-4-mils; layer count can vary depending on what the needs are. It can be stacked micro- vias, multiple stacks up to four, maybe a little bit greater than four—any layer type of tech- nologies. What's the ASC technology roadmap to UHDI? What do you have and what do you still need? What are the customers asking for? A Focus on Ultra HDI American Standard became a licensee of Averatek's technology—which is the A-SAP™ process—about a year and a half ago. During that time, ASC has been getting up to speed and running the technology, looking at busi- ness, and bringing in commercial opportuni- ties. Before joining American Standard, I worked for Averatek and had multiple years of experi- ence with the technology; I spent time work- ing on installations at a variety of printed cir- cuit board manufacturing sites. When I came here, it was natural to get that process to the next level. We're now building a lot of test vehicles, prototypes, commercial orders that are quickturns with smaller requirements. Now we are looking at adding ultra-fine vias. We've done some copper filling on 4-mil diam- eter through-holes as well.