Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/869081
10 SMT Magazine • September 2017 Wettermann talks about the need for baking out PCBAs post-cleaning and after rework has taken place. Still on the rework topic, we have an article from Intel Corp.'s Lauren Cummings and Pri- yanka Dobriyal, discussing rework and reball challenges for wafer-level packages. David Prunier of MC Assembly relates why a successful capacity planning model should be a part of a company's sales and operations plan- ning system. Finally, I interviewed David Bergman of IPC to find out more about how the organi- zation helps elevate the industry through its training, continuous education, and standards development. By the way, our team at I-Connect007 will be at Rosemont, Illinois, this month for SMTA International. We'd love to talk to you about your latest technologies and innovations, so just drop us a note to schedule a meeting, or drop by our booth. We will also be at productronica in Novem- ber. Let's start planning our meetings, shall we? I hope you enjoy this month's issue of SMT Magazine. Next month, we will talk about the perfect solder joint. Stay tuned! SMT Stephen Las Marias is managing editor of SMT Magazine. He has been a technology editor for more than 12 years covering electronics, components, and industrial automation systems. IMPROVING THE REWORK PROCESS A novel, high-frequency electronic chip poten- tially capable of transmitting tens of gigabits of data per second has been developed by engineers at the University of California, Davis. Omeed Momeni, an assistant professor of elec- trical and computer engineering at UC Davis, and doctoral student Hossein Jalili designed the chip using a phased array antenna system. Phased ar- ray systems funnel the energy from multiple sourc- es into a single beam that can be narrowly steered and directed to a specific location. The chip successfully operates at 370 GHz with 52 GHz of bandwidth. For comparison, FM radio waves broadcast between 87.5 and 108 MHz; 4G and LTE cellular networks generally function between 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz with up to 20 MHz of bandwidth. Most modern electron- ics are designed to operate at lower frequencies. Howev- er, the growing demand for faster communication, and new and emerging applica- tions of sensing and imaging are driving the creation of technologies that func- tion at higher frequencies. "Theoretically, 4G cellular networks have reached their data rate limit," Momeni said. "As we continue to migrate to systems like cloud com- puting and next generation cellular networks, the need for speed is growing. Higher frequen- cies mean more bandwidth and more bandwidth means higher data rate." The tiny piece of hardware designed by Mo- meni and Jalili is evidence that it is possible to har- ness the large available bandwidth at millimeter- wave and terahertz bands on a single, compact chip. This is an important step toward the devel- opment of scalable sys- tems that can be used to sharpen technologies like spectroscopy, sensing, ra- dar, medical imaging and high-speed communica- tion. In future work, Momeni plans to integrate the chip into imaging and commu- nication systems. High-Frequency Chip Brings Researchers Closer to Next Generation Technology