Columnists

Thermal design validation techniques

Editor — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 15:39:00 +0000

Heat is the bane of semiconductor devices, and yet it is a natural byproduct of their operation. There is in fact an inverse relationship between product reliability and the range and number of number thermal excursions experienced by a semiconductor device; thus knowing what kind of thermal challenge is presented by a particular design is key to
addressing and solving the problem in an intelligent and proactive way.

What’s the secret to tin whiskers?

Editor — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 15:36:00 +0000

Most of the electronics industry by now knows about tin whiskers (hello, Toyota anyone?). They know whiskers are metallic filaments that emanate from the surface of tin platings.
They know these filaments are conductive and can cause shorts across adjacent conductors. And they know that these shorts can cause some really bad failures.
But with all of this knowledge, the industry is still struggling on how to predict and prevent these “Nefarious Needles of Pain.”

February “bump in the road” hopefully followed by spring upturn

Editor — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 15:30:00 +0000

February was a bad month for the global electronics industry—especially in SE Asia. Lunar New Year shutdowns, some “adjustments” to the Apple supply chain and normal post-Christmas seasonality combined to create a major contraction in February.
Although “recovery” was underway in late 2012, Chinese, Taiwanese and European PMI manufacturing indices contracted in February. This PMI decline was reflected in Taiwan/China electronic equipment shipments as they plunged below their February 2012 levels. appears to be unsustainable.

San Diego or Bust!

Editor — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 15:26:00 +0000

I must say I love San Diego as an event location, lots of hotels and places to eat close by, great transport links, and during APEX the local area has a buzz about it, which is great for exhibitors and visitors. Productronica is also a great show, but everyone is scattered throughout Munich and its suburbs. Here you cannot go into any hostelry without seeing a face or two that you recognize; indeed The Field becomes the APEX afterparty for the whole show.

printed electronics- here and now

Editor — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 21:19:00 +0000

Printed electronic technology continues to make headway into the broader world of traditional electronics production. However, the scope of prospective products and manufacturing technologies that are presumed near-term viable has narrowed considerably in recent years.
When printed electronics in its current form first began to climb the front edge of the Gardner “Hype Curve,” one would’ve likely gotten the oppression that printed electronics were going to do away with all other forms of electronics manufacturing.

On track for modest recovery in 2013

Editor — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 21:11:00 +0000

November saw a delayed but significant increase in global electronic equipment shipments; however this late autumn upturn was primarily a normal seasonal surge in preparation for holiday sales of consumer electronics. SE Asian-made media tablets and smartphones were the major growth drivers.
Semiconductor shipments mirrored the seasonal 4Q’12 electronic equipment upturn and Custer Consulting Group’s semiconductor leading indicator now points to real (not just seasonal) growth in early 2013

New beginnings for a new year

Editor — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 21:04:00 +0000

Well, if you are reading this and you believed the end of the world ‘prophecy’, you were WRONG!
Or were you? Apocalypse has other meanings: disasters, destruction, catastrophe—there have been plenty of those this year. Those in the path of Sandy or the other storms around the world would have certainly used those words, the mass shootings, the floods all fall into this category. So perhaps their weather predictions were just a bit off, but they were made 5,000 years ago!

everything in its place for 2013

Editor — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 19:49:00 +0000

With the mass exodus to the “cheap” areas, there was little time given to efficiency and legislation. Economy of scale and low labour rates were the only focus for many. After the big guys moved out, almost all the others followed,even better job on the products that are suited to this model.

Will we ever achieve it in IC packaging?

Editor — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 19:41:00 +0000

Kurt Vonnegut was the author of many offbeat novels that were often both fatalistic and fanciful but which also offered insight into the mind of a practical philosopher whose worldview was changed forever by his experiences in WWII, which was hallmarked by his survival of the bombing of Dresden while being held prisoner of war in a disused slaughterhouse.

Keep it tight: understanding hermeticity

Editor — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 19:34:00 +0000

One of the great ways to make it in the electronics industry is to realize that everything old is new again. About every five years, almost like clockwork, manufacturers seem to forget how to make the most basic of technologies. Wire bonds. Electrolytic capacitors. Flame retardants. Underfills. Etc.