Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/782967
February 2017 • The PCB Magazine 43 THE POWER OF THREE : TAIYO'S JOHN FIX ON NEW MATERIALS, PRODUCTS IN THE WORKS ment manufacturers. They decide they're going to sell a piece of equipment so they're going to sell their own solder mask with it. I remember at this show or one of them recently, where they came out with a new direct imaging system and they said, "Oh, we're using our solder mask." I started asking questions and the guy got really defensive. It was the an executive of the com- pany and he really got mad at me. He said, "Oh, it's IPC-SM-840," but that's just the beginning of the problems, trying to figure out what this thing was doing. I think a lot of people are very naïve of all the things a solder mask has to do. With all the kinds of assembly operations they see and substrates and everything else, it's really a challenge. Fix: Yeah, there's so much more to a solder mask. People try to simplify it to, "Well I cured it and it's hard." Custer: Yeah, and it's green. Fix: Yeah, i t's green and it's hard. I got a pen- cil hardness. We see a lot of that where people will design a new oven. "Oh, we designed a new oven and we can cure your solder mask in two minutes." How do you prove that? "We proved it because we cured it and it's hard." There's a lot more to a solder mask than it's green and it's hard. You've got all kinds of electrical tests. You've got to take a solder mask and put it through these harsh environments. Is it still electrically capable after all those heat excur - sions? Those are all the reliability tests on it that all the end users need that we're familiar with because we've been doing this for so many years. Custer: You would know because you sell a lot of it. There are a lot of people who decide to get into the market and they really don't know. Fix: Yeah. The thing people don't realize is a sol- der mask goes on and it stays on there. It's on there forever. It's not like a plating or etch resist where you put it on, it does its thing and you strip it off. Custer: If it fails, it's an expensive problem. Matties: Very much so. Making it compatible with all these machines sure opens it up for a lot of other players to come in. Fix: Sure. You have to be compatible to the hun- dreds and thousands of conformal coats that are out there. All the different final finishes. You've got gold, immersion tin, hot air level, OSPs, and you have variations within those as well—the cleaners, acids, and the bases. Then you have all the lifetime issues with it, like the military who buy a circuit board and sits on a shelf for years and then when it gets plugged in and used, it still has to work. Matties: Is there anything else you would like to cover? Fix: I think those are two of the main areas we're concentrating on right now, the DI and the thermal management material. Come visit us again in February and we'll have more to talk about. Matties: Good. I look forward to it. John, thank you very much. I appreciate it. Fix: A pleasure. Thank you. PCB Walt Custer