Project BriefMicroelectronics Manufacturing Infrastructure (October 1998)Advanced Embedded Passives TechnologyDevelop the materials, manufacturing techniques, and design tools necessary for embedding the majority of passive electrical devices--resistors and capacitors--into the structure of the circuit board, thus reducing costs and space requirements and improving reliability and performance of a wide class of electronic devices. Sponsor: Advanced Embedded Passives Technology Consortium (c/o NCMS)c/o National Center for Manufacturing Sciences3025 Boardwalk Drive Ann Arbor, MI 48108
In circuit board manufacture, much of the assembly effort is expended on "passives" (resistors and capacitors). They account for up to 90 percent of component placement and take up to 40 percent of the circuit board real estate. Market pressures for new products with more features, smaller size, and lower cost virtually demand smaller, simpler circuit boards, and reducing the number of discrete passives is an obvious strategy. In addition, the need to fit passive components on the circuit board with appropriate connections imposes constraints on the design of the board which limit the speed of the circuit to about 0.5 gigahertz. One possible solution to both issues is to embed the passive components in the structure of the circuit board itself. The Advanced Embedded Passives Technology Consortium, sponsored by the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences, proposes to develop the new materials, design tools, and processing technology needed for the large-scale use of embedded passive devices in electronics manufacturing. The major high-risk tasks include developing new materials with the necessary electrical, mechanical, and thermal characteristics; taking these materials and integrating them into the existing manufacturing process for printed circuit boards; and creating the necessary design tools that engineers would need to design new products with embedded passives technology. The Consortium team brings together companies of all sizes representing equipment manufacturers, printed-wiring board manufacturers, materials suppliers, and software developers to provide a broad range of expertise. Members of the project include the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences, Inc. (NCMS) (Ann Arbor, Mich.), Compaq Computer Corp. (Houston, Texas), Delphi Delco Electronics Systems (Kokomo, Ind.), Dupont High Performance Films (Circleville, Ohio), Dupont Photopolymer & Electronic Materials (Research Triangle Park, N.C.), IBM (Endicott, N.Y.), Interconnect Technology Research Institute (Austin, Texas), HADCO Corp. (Salem, N.H.), MacDermid, Incorporated (Waterbury, Conn.), Merix Corp. (Forest Grove, Ore.), 3M Co. (St. Paul, Minn.), Northern Telecom, Inc. (Nortel) (McLean, Va.), Nu Thena Systems, Inc. (McLean, Va.), and Ormet Corp. (Carlsbad, Calif.). Such a project to introduce a major leap in the design and performance of circuit boards entails significant risks--hence the need for the ATP --but the payoff would be denser, more reliable assemblies capable of significantly higher speeds and cost less. Successful development of the technologies would enable U.S. companies to build their market share in the $28 billion printed wiring board industry.
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