Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1124788
38 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2019 than an order of magnitude while also increas- ing output by multiple magnitudes. That's a lot of pressure. Allen: Product reliability for CMs is tremendously important, and they are being pushed more and more to prove this. This is particularly true for high- reliability products like automotive, medical, aero- space, and military. Auto- mated traceability and live process control satisfy the requirements to prove that reliable product has been produced. The assurance of knowing exactly what's going on when a product has gone through a high- heat process is a huge benefit, or as one cus- tomer said, "It lets me sleep at night." Johnson: What are some examples of other areas in the assembly process where the CFX data from KIC is useful? Who else in the man- ufacturing line is a customer of KIC's CFX con- tributions? How does KIC's data help increase the throughput elsewhere? Allen: KIC was ahead of its time with reflow, curing and wave solder continuous monitor- ing, traceability, and output of data. We have thousands of systems in the field. Now, with Industry 4.0, customers are rapidly installing process inspection systems in their ovens. There are several formats for the output of data, but there also has been, for many suppli- ers and customers, costly customized software development over the years. We work with many partners—MES companies, AOI, and oth- ers—to share our data. The new IPC-2591 CFX standard has been released, and KIC also pro- vides our data in accordance with that stan- dard. We've been involved in this project since the initial meeting and are very pleased to see the growing interest in adopting this. It is quite an advantage for companies to limit costs and still be able to start on the path to Industry 4.0. Don't Forget Traceability A side effect of process efficiency also seems to be increased traceability—another key ser- vice that manufacturers will be required to pro- vide as electronics OEMs specify more strict reliability requirements for their increasingly complex board designs. SMT007 MB Allen New Technique Could Pave the Way for New-generation Flexible Electronic Components A team of engineering experts at the University of Exeter have pioneered a new way to ease the production of van der Waals heterostructures with high-K dielectrics—assemblies of atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) crystalline materials. One such 2D material is graphene, which is comprised of a honeycomb-shaped structure of carbon atoms just one atom thick. The research team has developed a technique that allows these structures to achieve suitable voltage scal - ing, improved performance, and the potential for added functionalities by embedding a high-K oxide dielectric. The research could pave the way for a new generation of flexible fundamental electronic components. The latest research outlines a new method to embed a multifunctional, nanoscaled high-K oxide—only a within van der Waals devices—without degrading the properties of the neighboring 2D materials. This technique allows for the creation of a host of fun - damental nanoelectronic and optoelectronic devices includ- ing dual-gated graphene tran- sistors, and vertical light emit- ting and detecting tunneling transistors. The research is published in the journal Science Advances. (Source: University of Exeter)