Transcript Introduction

Ink jet
in the PCB industry
An introduction
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Inkjet: definition
Inkjet:
Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry
generation of images by propelling droplets of
a functional material onto a substrate
Eric Janssens May
2013
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Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry
Inkjet: thermal propelling
An ink is pumped in the pressure chamber
An electrical heater generates steam
The increased pressure jets a droplet from the chamber onto the
substrate
Cheap, slow, difficult to control well, need of aqueous inks
Used in consumer printers
Eric Janssens May
2013
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Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry
Inkjet: piezo-electical propelling
A piezoelectric crystal generates a shock wave in an ink
chamber, jetting a droplet out of the chamber onto the
substrate
Ink is to be cured by UV light (UV inks) or by cooling down
(phase shift inks)
More expensive, fast, good control, wide variety of inks
Used in commercial and industrial printers
Eric Janssens May
2013
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Inkjet: continous propelling
Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry
A high pressure pump generates a constant flow of charged ink
droplets. The droplets can be deflected from the substrate by
a electrical field
Matured technology, long traveling distance, no nozzle clogging
Used in industrial printers (marking).
Eric Janssens May
2013
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Inkjet: functional material
Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry
1 Aqueous inks:
Water, glycol and dye or pigment
Dye: cheap, colors fade
Pigment: long term, UV resistant
Cheap, receiving layer needed on substrate
2 Solvent inks (hard and mild or eco)
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and pigments
Can print on vinyl
3 UV inks
Acrylic monomers and initiator
After printing ink is cured by UV-light (pinning the droplet)
Can be applied on uncoated substrates, very robust image
Expensive, require expensive curing module
Image may crack
Eric Janssens May
2013
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Inkjet: substrate
Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry

The right propelling technology with the right functional
material can print on:
• Paper
• Paper (with micro porous layer)
• Wall paper
• Coated paper
• Card board
• Textile (canvas, T-shirts)
• Stone and tiles
• Packaging materials
• Plastics (vinyl)
• Aluminum (cans, blisters)
• Copper (PCB)
• ………
Eric Janssens May
2013
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Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry
Inkjet: Heads: Good to know
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Nozzle:
• Pipe, channel that directs an ink droplet
• Also called: droplet generation unit, propelling unit, orifice
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Resolution
• Figure indicating the number of nozzles per inch
• Typical: 360, 720, 1440 DPI
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Drop size
• Figure indicating the content of one droplet expressed in pL (pico liter)
• 1 liter = 1 000 000 000 000 (1012) pL
• 1 000 000 pl weights 1 mg,
• Typical: 80, 40, 14, 4, 1 pL
Eric Janssens May
2013
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Inkjet: Heads: Good to know
Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry
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Dots per droplet
• One droplet can be formed by several dots (shots)
• These dots conglomerate during flight to form one droplet
• Typical: 1 to 8
Manufactures
Brother, Cannon, Dimatix (ex Spectra) (part of Fujifilm),
Epson, Konica Minolta, Kyocera, Ricoh, Toshiba-Tech, Xaar
Eric Janssens May
2013
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Inkjet: UV Inks: Good to know
Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry
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Dynamic viscosity (jetability):
The Dynamic viscosity is varying
with changing temperature
• Resistance of a fluid to be deformed
• Also "thickness“
- water is "thin“, low viscosity
- honey is "thick", high viscosity.
• The study of viscosity is known as rheology
• Expressed in Pas (Pascal sec) / mPas or cPoise
• Typical: 5 – 15 mPas
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Static surface tension (line sharpness)
• Measurement of the capacity of a liquid to form a ball when in
contact with another surface
• Expressed in N/m (Newton per meter) / mN/m
• Typical: 20-25 mPas
Eric Janssens May
2013
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Inkjet: UV Inks: Good to know
Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry
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Specific weight
• Weight per volume unit
• Expressed in kg/m3 / g/cm3
• Typical: 1 – 1,25 g/cm3
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Average particel size:
• Size of the particles in the ink
• Expressed in m / nm
• Typical: 250 – 500 nm
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Latency:
• Time a nozzle can be idle without getting clogged
Eric Janssens May
2013
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Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry
Inkjet: UV Inks: Good to know
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Adhesion
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Scratch resistance
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Shelf life
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Color and color fading
• Dyes - pigments
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Price (per liter, per cassette)
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….
Manufactures:
HP,Sun Chemicals, Cabot, Avecia, Agfa, Sericol,Taiyo, …..
Eric Janssens May
2013
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Inkjet: Printers: Good to know
Print quality
 Resolution
 Repeatability
 Speed
 Foot print
 Flat bed / drum
 Price (purchase, operation, maintenance, … )
 ….
Manufactures:
Agfa, Canon, First EIE, Epson, HP Kodak, Lexmark,
Microcraft, Orbotech, Ricoh, Xerox, ….
Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry

Eric Janssens May
2013
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Inkjet: Wave form
Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry
Piezoelectric.avi
Eric Janssens May
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Inkjet: Cleaning mechanisms
The primary cause of problems:
Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry
when ink sedimentates, hardens or particles size grows in the print
head's nozzles they get blocked (clogging)
Solutions:
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Covering the print head nozzles with a rubber cap
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Suction pump
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A mechanism to reapply moisture to the print head.
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Frequent spraying and wipe print head
The frequent cleaning can consume quite a bit of ink
and has an impact on the cost
Eric Janssens May
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Traditional Workflow
Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry
Patterning
Resist (IL & OL)
Solder mask
Legend print
Eric Janssens May
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Workflow Inner Layer
Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry
Traditional
LDI & PI
InkJet
Provisional
InkJet
Final
Eric Janssens May
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Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry
Workflow Outer Layer
Traditional
InkJet Provisional
Eric Janssens May
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InkJet Final
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Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry
Workflow Solder Mask
Traditional
InkJet Provisional
Eric Janssens May
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InkJet Final
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Workflow Legend
Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry
Design
Plotter film
Dev & fix film
Produce Screen
Screen print
Clean screen
Traditional
Design
Print
InkJet Final
Eric Janssens May
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Long term
Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry
reel to reel
Inkjet:
conductors, insulators, solder mask, legend ink,
hole filler, conformal coatings,
optical conductor, surface finishing, solder paste,
…..
Eric Janssens May
2013
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Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry
And
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Eric Janssens May
2013
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Agfa holds good cards
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Agfa Materials:
• Market leader AgX phototooling
Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry
- Good in-road in the PCB industry
- WW sales & application organization
- WW logistical organization
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Agfa Graphics
• Strong in Ink Jet technology and inks
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Agfa Materials Technology Center:
• Top lab that creates functional fluids
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Agfa Material Operations
• World class functional fluid production facilities
Eric Janssens May
2013
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Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry
Agfa Materials Technology Centre
Functional fluid development
Your
application
and
printing
system
Printer
Coatings
INKS
Test platforms
(multi color)
Eric Janssens May
2013
Jetting lab
(single color)
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Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry
Agfa Materials Technology Centre
Functional fluid development
Image quality
Cure speed
Image permanence
Raw material cost
Manufacturability
Acrylates
Photo initiation
Pigment dispersion
Wetting agent
…..
Compatible with:
- printer components
- production facility
- packaging
- safety & environment regulations
- patent situation
Eric Janssens May
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Jetting performance
Jetting reliability
Latency
Shelf life
Physical Properties
- adhesion
- flexibility
- scratch resistance
- tackiness
- ……
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Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry
Agfa Materials Technology Centre
Functional fluid development
Eric Janssens May
2013
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Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry
Agfa Materials Operations
Eric Janssens May
2013
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Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry
Agfa Materials Operations
Eric Janssens May
2013
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Inkjet & the PCB industry
Agfa Materials: for the PCB Industry
Inkjet technology reached a level
it is applicable
in the production of PCB’s
a competitive way with good yields
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is dedicated to transform
from #1 in phototooling
to # 1 in patterning
Eric Janssens May
2013
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