IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
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88 I-CONNECT007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2026 What are the most influential changes in PCB fabrication in the next five years? Throughout my many years in the PCB industry, I have witnessed numerous predictions about the industry's future, as well as the introduction of alternative processes that promised to revolutionize the industry. Most of the more radical predictions have fallen by the wayside, and those alternative processes have failed to produce the predicted results, becoming niche processes at best. My own attempts at predicting where the indus- try was going—to set up research and develop- ment programs for equipment improvements and changes—have usually proved futile, and we've ended up with programs that are reactive rather than proactive. The one set of predictions that has proven constant over the years is that electronic pack- aging will continue to shrink, and circuitry will become increasingly dense to cram more function- ality into a smaller space. For example, my watch now has more computing power than all the Apollo moon lander computers combined. My cellphone can outperform any of the best computers of the late 1960s and early '70s and still fit in my pocket. The only prediction I will put any faith in is that this trend will continue for at least the rest of the decade. The challenges that present when trying to cram as much circuitry into the smallest space possible will only become more difficult. I will go out on a limb, however, in predicting that glass substrates may become an important player in the next few years. Lately, we have been involved in glass thinning and etching through glass vias (TGVs), which I wrote about last year, although the activity has slowed down in the past few months. Much to our frustration, samples of laser-shot glass for the test etching of vias have been continually delayed. However, the advan- tages of glass over standard FR-4 fiberglass substrates (which have almost 10x the interconnect density) are such that their time is coming soon. Things are not moving as quickly as those involved would like, but I certainly expect important move- F e a t u re C o l u m n BY D O N BA L L , C H EM C U T Changes and Challenges Ahead in PCB Fabrication T H E C H E M I CA L C O N N ECT I O N