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PCB-Mar2018

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MARCH 2018 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 23 Kruse: Regarding the equipment, we had a special request from Green- Source to install a new rinsing sys- tem to allow the high flow of a rins- ing solution, which would then be used several times. Instead of fresh water for the rinsing system, we are operating with recycled water. For this prerequisite, we installed new devices to the system to avoid dirt due to algae generation in the rins- es. Algae generation is an issue when using re- circulating water! The plating systems we have installed is our UniPlate advanced plater, which is considered leading-edge in Asia markets, and today we are looking at hundreds of installations world- wide. The installation at GreenSource is the first in the Americas. What else is new? Green- Source is the first customer to use different chemistries for one plater, meaning we have to fill the plater, use it for production, then we have to pump the solution back to the hold- ing tank and come back with a new solution to make the same line suitable for another prod- uct and for another process. That is a unique setting in the market today, and it was for us a great achievement to engineer and provide a systems' set offering this high degree of pro- cess flexibility to one of our customers. Goldman: Sounds very involved. Schmidt: Yes, I can confirm we have been very involved and engaged in the project. Usually our clients purchase production equipment for specific applications and production demands. In the case of GreenSource, at that time, Alex entrusted Atotech to come up with a solution where all types of printed circuit boards can be produced using the same set of equipment, but applying different wet chemical processes to re - alize through-hole and blind microvia produc- tion, as well as the processing of thin and thick panels. The production of complex high-densi- ty interconnect PCBs is new to the North Amer- ican market and today more common in Asia. We are as excited as Alex to bring this kind of production know-how to North America. But let me also add to the sub- ject of flexibility. Atotech systems solutions offer the highest degree of flexibility in the production of different PCB board types (e.g., from standard multilayer to high - er complex multilayer, or flex and rigid-flex and high-density inter- connect PCB designs), all can be realized with the different settings that our systems offer: different clamp design, oxamat and condenser, edge filter, automatic cleaning system (all for Uni - plate P), transport systems, advanced fluid control system (Uniplate LB), reliable trans- port and uniform surface distribution (Uni- Plate Cu), etc. In addition, all of our systems come with online controlling and analysis tools, sup- porting the systems integration to other ma- chines and software, to comply with the high- est degree of automation. Also important to mention is that our systems are designed to meet the highest safety standards and run at very low chemistry, water, and energy con - sumptions, while at the same time produc- ing a minimum of waste (wastewater or drag- out chemistry), which, in the case of Green- Source, is exactly what Alex was looking for. Also, the large amount and variety of dif- ferent Atotech wet chemistry processes Green- Source has installed is remarkable and dates back to 2013, when Alex looked into conduc- tive polymer-based direct metallization. Since then, and with the expansion, GreenSource is now using our high-throw electroless copper (Printoganth T1), the BMV filling process (In- pulse 2HF), the electrolyte for through-hole, BMV and conformal plating (Inpulse 2THF), electrolyte for conformal or flash plating (In- pulse 2HT), as well as laser direct drilling pre- treatment (BondFilm LDD SR), higher cop- per loading bonding enhancement (BondFilm HC), and recently also our ENIG process (Au- rotech DC). Alex, is that correct? Stepinski: Yes, that is the product mix we are using at our GreenSource site and yes, we are also bringing in the nickel-gold process. Gerhard Kruse

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