Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1116895
48 PCB007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2019 Usually, the breakdown voltage for any of our insulating materials has been where we're not asked the right questions early enough be- cause people assume that a data sheet says 7,000 volts per mil for polyimide. They can run it at 6,900 volts continuously, so they try that for about 30 seconds, and it blows up. That's a classic example where I wish they would have called. I would encourage everybody to inter- act more with your supplier. We have seen an increase in phone or email traffic, and we look forward to responding. EDA and design automation tools out there are great, but they're not always updated in time to catch up with the speed of development and release of products at a supplier level. At the OEM level, I suggest that you work with your fabricator. Find out the available materi- als, and then call those suppliers and ask. Do that over and over again until everything has been answered. Feinberg: That's a very good comment. There may be some designers out there that don't re- alize how important that could be for them. Matties: Is there any smart material technology that is entering into the marketplace? And how do you define smart materials? Weldon: If I were to go back to our smart mate- rials team and ask them, they would say their mission is to view the world as a circuit. It's a matter of what you were talking about ear- lier with 3D printing, additive manufacturing, and adding electronics to the housings of the physical device itself rather than have it be a traditional PCB mounted with standoffs and a set of Allen screws. Andresakis: Again, it's about enabling the con- nectivity and capability into the materials oth- er than just being the structural element. Matties: This seems like a booming market, Weldon: Absolutely, and we have a few exam- ples in the Sunnyvale site. For example, outside of one of our meeting rooms, there was a tele- communications box with a bunch of wires, etc. They integrated all of those peripherals, including wireless charging and speakers and everything else, into the conference room table itself. The table is the circuit, and the device is on top of that. So, it's not just a table, and that's the vision: How do we integrate these things into something more streamlined? Be- cause that's certainly where the world is going. Andresakis: Yes, and it's the same thing with our Corian® material for your kitchen counter- tops. Matties: Right, it has hand warmers built in. You can set your hand or a plate on the table and warm it right up. When you think of a circuit manufacturer, though, it's changing the defini - tion of what a circuit manufacturer is and does because of the materials. And there's a whole new level of design in this "smart world." Goldman: What's going on with copper foils, availability, etc.? What's happening in the sup- ply chain? Andresakis: From a technical standpoint, for electrodeposited (ED) copper, major manu- facturers have moved to very smooth copper foil. They can make the finished product rela- tively smooth even with nodular treatment for adhesion. They are now using micronodules. Now, these ultra-low profile copper foils are more commonplace. They're not quite as low At the OEM level, I suggest that you work with your fabricator. Find out the available materials, and then call those suppliers and ask. Do that over and over again until everything has been answered.