Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1350598
MARCH 2021 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 33 say but difficult to achieve. e third approach relates to the influence of copper dendrites in the migration. With our corporate vendors, we want to improve, determine how to reduce these, and how to modify these dendrites on the copper to reduce the copper migration. Johnson: You mentioned earlier that different companies are going in different directions with their solutions. What are some of the trends you're seeing from the designs? Benmayor: We see many different electronic solutions. ey vary from very complex mul- tilayer boards where the PCB companies are making depth control in Z-axis on the PCB, embedding the non-encapsulated die inside the PCB and wire bonding. It's really high-tech technology. Of course, going this direction is very expensive. We see other big players embedding MOS- FETs inside the PCBs to improve thermal management and improve the output power of the board. is is a challenging technology and is only in the hands of a very small num- ber of players. Other very big players are tak- ing a more traditional path. You will see IGBTs clad to the heat sink with high technology, high thermal performance dielectric layer. Design teams go that way in the easiest part of the design, in order to have more options with different vendors, in- stead of locking into a unique tech- nology. So, every big player is going in a different direction. e very big players want to have the capacity to innovate. ey want to go with their private tech- nology so they can have a stron- ger position in the market in front of the automotive players. Others are more focused on a platform in which they have the capacity to re- duce the costs from their vendors. ere are so many different ways to approach it. Johnson: It's fascinating that this is happening right now. It's critical, what with all the elec- tronics in general, and electric vehicle tech- nology in particular. Figuring out how to have a long-lived, reliable automotive solution that can operate in the tropics, the temperate lati- tudes, the arctic cold, all at the same time, is quite a challenge for everyone involved. Benmayor: Nolan, you should read about the number of recalls in electronic vehicles by the big players. ousands of cars are being re- called back to the factory to re-adjust part of the electronics; it's not a stable technology at the moment. Johnson: Based on the work that you do, what's your opinion on the strategies that will be suc- cessful, that will play out over the years as the most reliable implementation? Benmayor: at's a very complicated ques- tion. We have a yearly meeting with the elec- tronics designers of the biggest car manufac- turer in Spain. e last time I was there, about a year before COVID-19 restrictions, I asked the same question to one of their directors. ey have, maybe 1,000 engineers designing electronics, and when I asked the question, PCB and LED solutions are expanding in all automotive applications.