Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1330321
68 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2021 ing, which is why you'll see everybody going into it. Johnson: Who is doing the etch resist and plat- ing resist? Carignan: There are a variety of companies. Solder mask is the immediate moneymaker. For example, Dow has a product you can buy with at least three plating resists and etch re- sists. It is printable by most of the major equip- ment manufacturers. It has the right viscosity. It's also wax-based, so stripping is inexpensive and recyclable. Years ago, I was involved in a startup ink- jet printhead company, and we used it for 3D modeling. Instead of using SLS for building up three dimensions, we used to just jet inks and build models out of the ink. That technology has been around, but now it finds itself a home in PCBs. Holden: It's also finding a home in printed elec- tronics. Carignan: Correct. When someone asks, "What can I get out of direct imaging?" from where we used to be to where we are, the promise is pretty high. But it doesn't take out any wet process equipment. It just supplants a contact printer with digital imaging. We eliminate a phototool, and all the inherent distortions that come from that. If you look at inkjet, you'd say that's entire- ly different. Just like in any 3D printing, you'd say, "It has a much higher potential because you could build an entire shop around an ink- jet printer," but not for all technologies. There are going to be some technologies, such as tenting and over resist tenting, where that will be a difficult thing to overcome. But for the majority of applications, it comes without the expense of a skill. It's all just CAM. Go to the Fully automated SUSS MicroTec PIXDRO inkjet solder mask system.