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10 The PCB Magazine • February 2016 Osamu Sekine of Nano System gives us an interesting discussion on the various types of lasers that can be used in PCB processing to cre- ate vias of all sizes and shapes. He then pres- ents versatile equipment that can evolve with one's technology advances and accommodate all these types. Then, Josh Goldberg of Taiyo presents a very informative primer on developing solder masks for the LED industry, including the challenges of making white truly white and keeping it that way through the various heat cycles experi- enced by a PCB. Back to via fill and another technology, this one using your existing plating line. Uyemura's George Milad goes into detail on how to set up the copper electroplating process to successfully and properly plate blind vias. A fine, practical paper for you process engineers out there. And in another one for engineers, we have Steve Williams of The Right Approach Consult- ing with a discussion on RCA—root cause anal- ysis. This formal approach to troubleshooting gives a very useful framework to keep you on track in your problem-solving efforts. And of course your customers will more than appreci- ate the results. Next month our topic is "Strategies to In- crease Profits," and it's not just for managers or CFOs. No, profits are improved by reducing scrap and returns, improving flow through the shop, working more closely with designers and customers, and a myriad of other ways. Tune in then, which is easy when you subscribe and the magazine pops right up in your mailbox the moment it publishes. PCB Patricia Goldman is a 30+ year veteran of the PCB industry, with ex- perience in a variety of areas, includ- ing R&D of imaging technologies, wet process engineering, and sales and marketing of PWB chemistry. She has worked actively with IPC since 1981 and served as TAEC chairman, and is also the co-author of numerous technical papers. To contact Gold- man, click here. to build a printed board, this time by printing or jet-printing a conductive silver paste to cre- ate both the circuit pattern and fill the vias. We follow this interesting info with an inter- view with Nano Dimension's Simon Fried, who tells us about technology to print the entire cir- cuit board—yes, dielectric and circuitry, multi- layers included—on a 3D printer. This technol- ogy appears perfect for making prototypes in a fairly short time span and we can envision every designer wanting one right next to his/her desk. Sounds great for every PCB fabricator, too, to be able to cut their prototype turnaround time to just a few hours rather than the typical 24–48. Next, Tara Dunn of Omni PCB fills us in (pun intended) on a new via fill technology, this one based on a nano copper ink developed by In- trinsiq. One nice advantage is that the sintering process can be accomplished using equipment already in the PCB facility. In another interview, Amir Tzhori of Camtek tells us about their inkjet-printed solder mask system, designed for high-mix, low-volume PCB fabricators. He stresses the importance of a total process and supplier responsibility. Very interesting. But what about making PCBs and multilay- ers the usual way? Any new processes for that? Something of enduring interest to PCB manu- facturers and assemblers alike is the final sur- face finish on the PCB. Jun Nable of MacDer- mid writes about a new immersion gold process that has been developed that is cyanide-free. As regulations continue to stiffen, this is certainly of interest to all. so... what is new in pCb fabriCation?