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16 The PCB Magazine • February 2017 by Pete Starkey I-CONNECT007 From our previous conversations, I knew that Joan Tourné was working on a novel high- density interconnection concept. Having eager- ly awaited the chance to discuss the technology in detail, I was delighted when he contacted me to confirm that his IP had been secured and that he could now talk openly about VeCS, the Ver- tical Conductive Structure designed to provide a cost-effective alternative for complex fan-out from fine-pitch grid array components. Knowing Tourné's long-term background in high-end PCB technology, from his many years as technical director at Mommers Print Service in the Netherlands, and subsequently as ad- vanced technology and business director with Viasystems, I was curious to learn about his lat- est enterprise. Starkey: Joan, it's great to speak with you again. Tell me a little about NextGIn Technology BV. Tourné: Yes, Pete, good to see you. NextGIn is a fabless shop based in the Netherlands, with extensive experience in the design and manu- facture of high-end circuitry and a "make it happen" mentality. We are developing inter- connect solutions for our partners in the semi- conductor packaging and printed circuit board industries who need to advance their product performance or to cost-reduce their product. Presently we are working with a small group of selected OEMs in datacom, telecom and data processing markets to design and test our VeCS technology. Starkey: What was the rationale behind the devel- opment of VeCS and what is the need for an alter- native PCB concept? Tourné: The big limitation of established HDI technologies is the density of vertical intercon- nections that can be achieved without going through many stages of sequential build-up. Grid array packages are driving PCB complex- ity, and PCB manufacturing technology is lag- ging. Through-hole techniques take up too much space, and we have got to the stage where holes cannot be placed closer together. Sequen- tial build-ups are an expensive solution, and as the build-up construction gets more complex, the yield goes down. The challenge of routing Vertical Conductive Structures– a New Dimension in High-Density Printed Circuit Interconnect FEATURE INTERVIEW