Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1392944
18 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JULY 2021 time. What I don't know is how long that peri- od of time will be. Holden: e trend to higher layer and thicker copper means it's going to be more and more copper being etched. Goodwin: If you read all the economics around copper, big chunks of it talk about recycling and reuse. And that is going to be a big part of fulfill- ing the gap between supply and demand for cop- per. But even with that, they reckon the shortfall in mined copper is going to be enormous. Matties: Happy, do you think that we're going to see an acceleration in the additive process? Holden: Yes, I think so. If you can get it done fast enough additively or semi-additively, then you don't have that waste, and waste turns into cost. Matties: I would think that you would see more of that, Mark. As the confluence and the funda- mentals are shiing, you're going to see more of that than you will see people trying to recy- cle etchant. Goodwin: I think both are going to have to hap- pen. Additive technology from just an environ- mental standpoint has made a lot of sense for a long time, but it's never really taken off. e technology exists, but how fast do you think our industry will adopt it? Maybe this time it will. It depends on how painful this gets. We'll supply a substrate quite happily for people who want to add copper to it. Holden: ere may be a need for a laminate that was designed to have additive metallization be- cause right now the A-SAP process starts with a half-ounce copper foil, and you etch it all off to get the proper teeth in the resin surface. And that's wasteful. Goodwin: What they need to do is to come and speak to a laminator. A specialist laminator to start with, because it's not a volume require- ment at the moment. And then you've got to ask yourself if the timing is good for that at the moment? I think there is a chance this time that we could drive some real technological change in our industry. I've been through three of these cycles. is one feels fundamentally different, and it's going to be longer-lasting. PCB007 Mark Goodwin is COO of Ventec International Group.