Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1530610
DECEMBER 2024 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 9 Marcy LaRont is the editor of PCB007 Magazine. Marcy started her career in PCBs in 1993 and brings a wide array of business experience and perspective to I-Connect007. To contact Marcy, click here. ability to use it well, given the many new tools that make a significant difference toward achieving high yields the first time. RoBAT's Bruce Nockton talks about the evolution of test solutions and SCARA technology. Todd Kol- modin of Guardien, our 4-wire Kelvin expert, discusses how using the Kelvin method can help to detect plating anomalies in via barrel or bonding in the microvias. Finally, Dr. Patrick Valentine of Uyemura talks about statistically measuring inner layer yield improvement. Also this month, Don Ball provides a primer on the nuances of etching and addresses the question of spray nozzles and fluid dynamics, adeptly illustrating just one aspect of its full complexity. Happy Holden talks about pho- tonic assembly and the LEGO® brick princi- ple. Manfred Huschka wraps up his two-part series on China Plus One, focusing on South- east Asia, and the not-insignificant challenge of filling the projected need for 70,000 skilled workers in that region. He continues examining how much de-risking is truly feasible given the myriad challenges ahead for China Plus One companies. Our special series on the IPC Hall of Fame Award continues as Dan Feinberg high- lights Gene Weiner this month. Carey Bur- kett of Flexible Circuit Technology shares some big news, including the introduction of his new executive vice president, Ray Cottrell, and PCBAA Chair Shane Whiteside recounts PCBAA's accomplishments in advo- cacy throughout 2024. He discusses a poten- tial tax credit for American manufacturers and emphasizes the need for continued patience and perseverance for the battle ahead. Happy holidays, and I hope you enjoy this read. PCB007 In the effort to develop new quantum tech- nologies of the future, scientists are pursu- ing several different approaches. One ave- nue seeks to use molecules as the fundamen- tal building blocks of quantum technologies. Now scientists at Caltech have figured out a new way to use ultrafast laser pulses to real- ize an important quantum mechanical prop- erty known as superposition, turning a rel- atively simple molecule into a quantum sen- sor—a tool that can measure chemical phe- nomena in its surroundings through inherently quantum means. In a paper recently published in the jour- nal Science, researchers in the lab of Ryan G. Hadt, assistant professor of chemistry at Caltech, describe how a class of molecules can be used in combination with femtosecond pulses of light (lasting just a few millionths of a billionth of a second) to measure instances of superposition at room temperature. Specifi- cally, they show how to measure electron spin superpositions, a quantum mechanical prop- erty that determines the direction of a mag- netic field produced by an electron. "This technique could allow for the study of biological systems or materials or other types of chemical processes in ways that you could not have done before," says Ryan Hadt, assis- tant professor of chemistry at Caltech. (Source: Caltech) Quantum Sensing Using Ultrafast Laser Pulses and a New Class of Molecular Probes