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Electrically
Mediated Microetching Manufacturing Process to Replace Emersion and Spray
Etching--Faraday
Technology, Inc., 35 Huls Drive, Clayton, OH
45315-8983; 937-836-7749, www.faradaytechnology.com
Ms.
Jenny Sun, Principal Investigator,
Dr.
E. Jennings Taylor, Business Official,
DOE
Grant No. DE-FG02-02ER83425
Amount:
$749,919
This
project will develop an electrically mediated etching technology to replace
immersion and spray etching techniques used in the manufacture of large (2m x 2m
to 5m x 5m), thin (100-200 μm thick), multiple-layer printed circuit boards
of interest to the Department of Energy high energy physics program.
Lines and spaces with dimensions down to 10 μm will be consistently
etched to provide a cost-effective solution for improved electronics module
designs. This approach will be
compatible with commercial printed circuit-board-fabrication facilities. Phase I
demonstrated that in a neutral salt electrolyte, the process met or exceeded
desired performance criteria for etching small lines and spaces in a printed
circuit board. The results exceeded
those obtained by spray or DC etching. Phase
II will further develop a mathematical model of the electrically mediated
etching process and use it to develop and optimize an electrically mediated
waveform library for a wide range of feature sizes. A
pilot-scale Alpha test facility will be designed and developed for the
fabrication of large printed circuit boards. The
etching of full-size panels will be performed using that facility.
Commercial Applications and Other
Benefits as
described by awardee: Today,
microetched products with physical attributes below 75 μm experience low
process yields (approx 70%).
A
process capable of etching lines and spaces down to 10 μm would increase
yields, lower manufacturing costs, reduce material and utility consumption,
reduce costs to the OEM, and provide a technology advancement that would allow
higher density packaging at the printed circuit board level.