2012 Award Winners
Award-winning project: Controlled self-healing process for electrically highly stressed electroplating systems in high-end printed circuit board manufacturing
Project partners: Atotech Deutschland GmbH | Steinbeis Research Center Material Engineering Center Saarland (MECS)/Saarbrücken
The ubiquitous presence of electronic systems in our everyday lives (computers, smartphones, flat-screen displays, smart cars, etc.) and the constant drive to develop ever more powerful yet smaller systems present the entire electronics industry with ever greater challenges.
A key component in this context is the printed circuit board, which acts as the crucial ‘nervous system’ of electronic devices. With its complex, three-dimensional ‘nerve pathways’, the printed circuit board ensures the electrical interconnection of all individual components whilst simultaneously dissipating excess heat.
The manufacture of these printed circuit boards requires a thin yet uniform copper plating on the board’s surface. However, only the tightest tolerances in terms of layer thickness and flatness are permitted. At the same time, to improve efficiency, there is a demand for thin and homogeneous coatings on ever-larger printed circuit boards.
The extremely high energy density required for the rapid electroplating of the copper layers causes the electrodes in the production plants to wear out quickly, a process known as electro-erosion. Electro-erosion is the destruction of a material by an electric current or electric arcs. Electric arcs are a specific form of electrical discharge and occur naturally, for example, as lightning.
Scientists at the Steinbeis Research Centre Material Engineering Centre Saarland (MECS), based in Saarbrücken, have tackled this problem in collaboration with the global company Atotech Deutschland GmbH.
The aim of the joint project was to identify material components and geometries capable of withstanding the extreme stresses encountered in production facilities, thereby leading to longer maintenance cycles and reduced maintenance costs.
During the project, an innovative solution was developed which is based on the controlled self-healing of the existing material system; a patent application has also been filed for this solution.
This transfer solution is an excellent example of ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking, made possible only by the highly interdisciplinary partnership between Atotech and MECS.