Electronic Manufacturing

How clean is clean when it comes to printed circuit boards and assemblies? While John Perry, IPC technical project manager, can enumerate a litany of complex variables that come into play with an answer to that question, a new cleaning standard, IPC-5704, Cleanliness Requirements for Unpopulated Printed Boards, defines the recommended requirements for the cleanliness of unpopulated single, double-sided and multilayer printed boards.

According to a new technical market research report, GLOBAL MARKETS FOR INDUSTRIAL AND UTILITY SOLAR-THERMAL TECHNOLOGIES, the global market for industrial and utility solar-thermal technologies is worth an estimated $3.7 billion in 2009, but is expected to increase to nearly $13 billion in 2014, for a 5-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.9%.

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) will become the dominant large-area TFT LCD backlight unit light source by 2011 with a 56% share, according to the most recent DisplaySearch Quarterly LED & CCFL Backlight Report. Traditional backlights using fluorescent tubes (CCFL and EEFL) for notebook PC, monitor, and TV displays will drop to 44% of the market in 2011. According to a new report LED penetration will skyrocket to 78% in 2015.

Worldwide production of printed circuit boards (PCBs) was flat in 2008, climbing a negligible one percent over 2007 to $50.8 billion, according to the World PCB Production & Laminate Market Report for the Year 2008.  Published annually, the report includes estimates of PCB production value and laminate market by product type and by country to help industry members identify and quantify global PCB material and process equipment opportunities and constraints. The value of PCB production in 2009 is expected to end in a double-digit decline from 2008.

IPC, with input from the IPC Solder Product Value Council (SPVC) and the IPC Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) Committee, submitted comments in response to Canada's Chemical Management Plan's proposal banning five rosin-containing substances from all products manufactured and sold in Canada.

IPC - Association Connecting Electronics Industries released the summer 2009 edition of its quarterly business report, Supply Chain Tracker, showing signs of recovery in most sectors of the electronics industry. The global economy began to recover in the second quarter with many countries registering positive GDP growth rates. The U.S. economy's long decline, however, leveled off in the second quarter with GDP growth registering at -1 percent.

Electronics.ca Publications announces that it has a new study on optical component markets worldwide. Markets are poised to achieve significant growth as broadband is implemented from optical component capabilities. Demand for broadband Internet connectivity drives optical components markets. The markets are comprised of transceivers, optical amplifiers, passive, and active optical component technology.

Organizations in the Asia/Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region are currently implementing significant business transformations, including seeking new business process outsourcing (BPO) business models and services that will have a direct impact on bottom lines and transform businesses, in preparation for the impending market recovery in 2010. Concurrently, BPO services providers are ironing out platform-based services (Platform BPO) offerings to suit current market conditions and are doing away with the traditional lift and shift business models.

The use of conformal coating has provided benefits to industry for many years, either in the high reliability market sector or where products have to deal with extreme environmental conditions. In recent years, due to changes in technology and miniaturisation, coatings are being used in different industries like telecommunications, automotive and consumer products. Mobile phones and other professional handheld products have benefited from the use of selective coating for environmental and robustness.

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Seoul National University in Korea has uncovered a way to force two excited-state intermolecular proton transfer materials into a single molecule. Sounds like the recipe for “transparent aluminum”, but it’s not. The technology is the basis for a white LED with the same warm glow as incandescent bulbs.