Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/948150
32 SMT007 MAGAZINE I MARCH 2018 Article by Mark Whitmore and Jeff Schake ASM ASSEMBLY SYSTEMS A new generation of near microscopic size SMT chip capacitors has appeared in the market, known as either 0201 (metric dimen- sion label) or 008004 (imperial dimension label). Assembly results using these compo- nents is so far largely obscured from publi- cation and highly proprietary. All aspects of the assembly process are expected to be chal- lenged to accommodate the extreme level of miniaturization embodied in this device. The objective of this research is to investigate and characterize the stencil printing process for compatibility with M0201 (metric 0201) capac- itor assembly. Effects of circuit board qual- ity, stencil thickness, and stencil nano-coating are the primary experiment variables reported against solder paste volume transfer efficiency and raw-volume print distribution. M0201 The designation M0201 implies a case size length of 0.2mm and width of 0.1mm, when in fact these are produced at nominal dimensions of 0.25mm x 0.125mm (Figure 1). In a footprint-area comparison, the M0201 covers only 39% of a M0402 (imperial 01005) chip component. M0201 capacitors were first commercially available for volume prototype Stencil Printing Techniques for Challenging Heterogeneous Assembly Applications Figure 1: M0201 capacitor dimensions and tolerances [2] .