Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1484263
NOVEMBER 2022 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 63 Templeton: We're at a critical point in a larger process of asking, "Who are the right people to enable this? How do we connect? How do we make this happen?" But I see MKS being able to come in with a more comprehensive solution, asking, "What does your end-prod- uct need to look like?" Johnson: Where do you see your product head- ing? What are you aiming toward? Ryder: ere are some really interesting base material developments going on. I know Mar- tin works very closely with various technical alliances and consortia that span the whole spectrum from glass to highly engineered resin systems or non-clad materials and ceramics. You never quite know what concept will latch onto a product and demand a specific material, but clearly we have our eyes on all the trending materi- als and products. In addi- tion, we recently clo sed the acquisition of Atotech, a global leader in process c h e m i c a l s , e q u i p m e n t , soware, and services for printed circuit boards, semiconductor IC packaging, and surface finishing. e combination of MKS and Atotech is expected to broaden capabil- ities to drive faster, better solutions for cus- tomers. We believe the combined expertise of MKS and Atotech should uniquely posi- tion MKS to Optimize the Interconnect SM , a significant enabling point of next-generation advanced electronics that represents the next frontier for miniaturization and complexity. Moreover, we're seeing the lines between PCB and IC substrate manufacturing pro- cesses blur. Materials, chemistries, and design rules become intertwined, and your ability to adapt to these changes dictates your chance of success. So, we'll continue to develop our laser/material expertise along with our sys- tem's capabilities to manage general miniatur- ization trends. Johnson: What drives new materials? Orrick: Take 5G, for instance. Now you're mov- ing frequency ranges that the base materials weren't working in before. Maybe you were working in something in the 3–4 GHz range and that's moved up to sub-6 GHz now. Again, millimeter wave moves up into the 20 to 40 GHz band. Previously, automotive radar was in the 30 GHz range, then moved up to 77 GHz. Now it's looking to the north of 100 GHz for improved performance. If you look at high- performance computing and increasing band- widths, you need high-speed, low-loss mate- rials. We've really seen that play across a big space of the industry. In the FC-BGA substrates for the HPC environment, we see the traditional ABF range of materials going into thinner materials, modify- ing the base materials to get the Dk and Df properties where they need to be. LCP has been a material used for 20 to 30 years. It's a well understood material, but it was just never cost-effective to put into large volume applica- tions. It was implemented into mobile, and it hasn't necessarily become significantly more cost-effective, but putting it into a higher range of applications certainly helps increase the vol- ume, and therefore bring down the price. We'll see more fluoropolymers in the next few years in high-frequency applications. ere are a lot of the technologies already being developed, it's just been restricted to low volume avionics or military. Johnson: Great. I appreciate the tour, gentle- men. anks for your time. Orrick: anks. Good to meet you. PCB007