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58 The PCB Magazine • January 2017 influences the results of each step of the plating process. The results presented in this paper illustrate the influence that board design features such as hole size and pitch and core thickness have on the critical outputs of the plating process such as ability to bridge, total plated surface copper, dimple size, aspect ratio, and total process time. When designing a substrate for the utilization of copper through-hole plating, the design engineer must choose a suitable substrate and thickness and incorporate hole sizes and layouts that will minimize output variations. In this way, a robust, reliable copper through-hole process can be realized (Figure 17). PCB This paper was originally presented at SMTA International 2016 in Rosemont, IL, USA, and pub- lished in the proceedings. Ron Blake is senior process specialist Bill DeCesare is research engineer Andy Oh is technical service specialist Don DeSalvo is global product development manager Carmichael Gugliotti is metal- lization applications specialist Rich Bellemare is global applications manager, metallization The TTM and Viasystems merger put the PCB industry on notice last year when it created one of the big- gest powerhouses in the world. At the recent HKPCA and IPC show, I-Connect007 Publisher Barry Matties met with TTM Technologies President and Chief Executive Officer, Thomas Edman, to get his views on the mar- ket, technology, the culture of TTM, and even the Trump effect. Barry Matties: Thomas, please start with an overview view of TTM for our readers. Thomas Edman: We are now the largest manufacturer of rigid printed circuit boards in the world and the second largest overall, and that›s mainly due to the acquisition of Viasystems, which nearly doubled the company's size to about $2.5 billion in revenue. We have 25 production facilities worldwide, three of which are smaller assembly operations, and the rest focus on manufacturing printed circuit boards. Matties: And how do you look at the markets? Edman: When TTM looks at the markets we serve, we›re very focused on what our end-markets and our customers are requiring. Looking at technology trends in the industry today, a lot of focus is on miniaturization and really shrinking down the space and improving in- formation content. We see an em- phasis is on speed, and sensing applications are becoming more critical as well, certainly in the automotive space. As we look at process technologies, we're focused on reducing lines and spacing. That's a regular cadence of improvements that we're involved with. We're also very focused on continu- ing to improve our RF processing capability, both in the U.S. and Asia. To read the full interview, click here. An Interview with TTM President Thomas Edman ELECTROPLATED COPPER FILLING OF THROUGH-HOLES: INFLUENCE ON HOLE GEOMETRY