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February 2017 • The PCB Magazine 55 INKJET PRINTING SOLDER MASK where they want to replace the etching/strip- ping of the copper by printing of silver. And of course, there's already a lot of Ag screen print- ing in the printed electronics market today. Matties: In the realm of what we're looking at here, what's the greatest challenge? Whether it's in inkjet or film for the industry today, what are the greatest challenges out there for PCB fabrica- tors? What are they really struggling with in this area? Imaging? Film? Or is it just an evolutionary product? Van Dam: I think it's certain that the industry is under pressure because of cost. Matties: Well, cost is always a pressure, and from a technology standpoint, speed is always a pres- sure. Louwet: And speaking in the sense of speed, not per board, but in getting the question from a customer and delivering the PCB board is also part of it, and of course the environmental im- pact. Matties: What sort of environmental impact do you have? Van Dam: With the inkjet, you have a lot less chemistry. Matties: So you reduce the waste, and setup is so much easier too. Van Dam: If you look at the etch resist, just as an example, and compare with the traditional process. You start from the laminate, then you have to apply your dry film which you need to image. For that you have to prepare the photo tool, then expose and develop. Then follows etching and stripping. If you use inkjet tech- nology, you print immediately the pattern and then etch and strip. So that's 10 square meters versus 100 square meters and one person versus three to five people. Matties: What keeps people from throwing the old method away and just turning this on, if the value is so great? You eliminate a lot of equipment, a lot of labor and cycle time. Why do people still do that? Louwet: The main reason why it is not there yet is that the right inkjet technology was not yet available. But the printhead development is going to smaller picoliter droplets and higher frequency jetting. So they can really jet at high speeds and at high resolution now. It will come very soon. Matties: So it is mostly a speed issue? Louwet: It's a speed issue, but also resolution. Matties: And you've got the resolution solved? Van Dam: The resolution is more on the equip- ment side, and there has been a big evolution in recent months. Matties: So the speed issue, how do we resolve that? Louwet: Of course, there is a tradeoff between the traditional process and the inkjet process with respect to volume. At the start, we are mainly targeting the prototype shops in North America and Europe. But even in China, they are thinking of this new production method to go digital with inkjet. Matties: I'm wondering what the barrier to entry is? When you look at the inkjet all the way through the process, it seems like we're so close. How long before the speed issue is resolved and we see this in high-volume production manufacturing? Van Dam: The printer integrators are building machines with more heads as we speak, to allow higher volumes. Matties: Are you working with equipment develop- ers to say, "We want it faster. Here's what we want?" Van Dam: Yes, we have very close relationships with them. Matties: It just seems like this could be some- thing we could turn on today. The company that's