Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1499197
MAY 2023 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 33 You have all these different technologies. Medical is a huge application. e one neat thing about the A-SAP™ technology is it allows for materials other than copper and nickel. You can make circuits out of gold on the surface of a flex, for example. You can have products that are biocompatible. And that's really an inter- esting part of the market that we're looking at right now. Speaking of markets, are you finding that customers are seeking you out, or are you actively marketing to get the word out? What's the marketing dynamic in offering this? We have a situation today where our sales team has been actively pushing for work, but c u stomer s come to u s because they see our mar- keting. Averatek is part of our relationship; they have been actively looking for customers for us, as well. It's all coming together, and it's really getting quite busy. What about prospective customers who want to use this technology, but need to know there's a second source? Is there anyone else in your space? It's true that there are specialties we have that others don't. ere are other licensees of the A-SAP technology, though, and they're great shops. ey have their own capabilities and their own focus in how they're implementing the ultra-high-density interconnects in their operations. We believe that we have the mix of technolo- gies that are needed; we can incorporate it not only in rigid, but also rigid-flex and flex. at focus helps. We've looked at the ultra-thin foils, and they have a place, but I think we see the technology going much further below 25-micron lines and spaces; 15 micron is pretty much the rigor for package substrates. So, you need to be able to get there, and just using ultra-thin foils makes it a lot harder to get into that arena. Does this change the CAM process? How significant a change is the CAM process, the interaction with the customer to get the design data ready to go, for ultra HDI? ere are design rule changes that they need to think about, in terms of intermixing the tool- kit that's out there today for design. You obvi- ously have filled microvias. You have via-in- pad plated over. You have all these things that, when you put them on the surface of a board, require a lot of plate-up. ose multiple plate-ups don't play well with ultra- high density externally in a board. ey must think about put- ting that on the first layer, or further in the package. You can have that externally with- out any issue, as long as you don't have all the multiple plate-ups. You can still do it with the multiple plate-ups, but the cost goes up dramatically, and it makes it much more difficult to get good yields. at's what we're advising our customers to do—look at it from that standpoint. ere are other things like solder mask and final finish concepts they need to think about; you have to use aspects such as solder mask- defined pads rather than copper-feature- defined pads. ose are some of the things you have to look at with final finish. It sounds like the best way to start a sale for UHDI work is to get involved at the design start. Absolutely. We like to do that anyway with our customers. Any manufacturing plant trying to build high density boards today really needs to It's all coming together, and it's really getting quite busy.