• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.673-678
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• 2011

With an increased production of Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) in electronic equipment, the consumption of solder alloys is growing globally. Recently, increasing importance of recycling solder scrap has been recognized. Generally, solder scrap contains many impurities such as plastics and other metals. Hazardous components must be eliminated for recycling solder scrap. The present work studied pretreatment for reuse of solder scrap alloys. An experiment was conducted to enhance the cleanliness of solder scrap melt and eliminate impurities, especially lead. Physical separation with sieving and magnetic force was made along with pyrometallurgical methods. A small decrease in lead concentration was found by high temperature treatment of solder scrap melt. The impurities were removed by filtration of the solder scrap melt, which resulted in improvement of the melt cleanliness. A very low concentration of lead was achieved by a zone melting treatment with repeated passage. This study reports on a pretreatment process for the reuse of solder scrap that is lead free.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.342-348
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• 2021

For the characterization or failure analysis of electronic devices such as PCB (printed circuit boards), the most common method is the measurement of voltage waveforms with an oscilloscope. However, because there are many types of problems that cannot be detected by voltage waveform analysis, several other methods such as X-ray transmission, infrared imaging, or eddy current measurement have been applied for these analyses. However, these methods have also been limited to general analyses because they are partially useful in detecting physical defects, such as disconnections or short circuits. Fundamentally current waveform measurements during the operation of electronic devices need to be performed, however, commercially available current sensors have not yet been developed, particularly for applications in highly integrated PCB products with sub-millimeter fine pitch. In this study, we developed a highly sensitive PHR (planar hall resistance) magnetic sensor for application in highly integrated PCBs. The developed magnetic sensor exhibited sufficient features of an ultra-small size of less than 340 ㎛, magnetic field resolution of 10 nT, and current resolution of 1 mA, which can be applicable for PCB analyses. In this work, we introduce the development process of the magnetic sensing probe and its characteristic results in detail, and aim to extend this pin-type current probe to applications such as current distribution imaging of PCBs.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.335-341
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• 2012

Recently, the demand for the miniaturization of printed circuit boards has been increasing, as electronic devices have been sharply downsized. Conventional multi-layered PCBs are limited in terms their use with higher packaging densities. Therefore, a build-up process has been adopted as a new multi-layered PCB manufacturing process. In this process, via-holes are used to connect each conductive layer. After the connection of the interlayers created by electro copper plating, the via-holes are filled with a conductive paste. In this study, a desmear treatment, electroless plating and electroplating were carried out to investigate the optimum processing conditions for Cu via filling on a PCB. The desmear treatment involved swelling, etching, reduction, and an acid dip. A seed layer was formed on the via surface by electroless Cu plating. For Cu via filling, the electroplating of Cu from an acid sulfate bath containing typical additives such as PEG(polyethylene glycol), chloride ions, bis-(3-sodiumsulfopropyl disulfide) (SPS), and Janus Green B(JGB) was carried out. The desmear treatment clearly removes laser drilling residue and improves the surface roughness, which is necessary to ensure good adhesion of the Cu. A homogeneous and thick Cu seed layer was deposited on the samples after the desmear treatment. The 2,2'-Dipyridyl additive significantly improves the seed layer quality. SPS, PEG, and JGB additives are necessary to ensure defect-free bottom-up super filling.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.280-288
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• 2016

Microelectronic product consumers may already be expecting another paradigm shift with smarter phones over smart phones, but the current status of microelectronic manufacturing engineering education (MMEE) in universities hardly makes up the pace for such a fast moving technology paradigm shift. The purpose of MMEE is to educate four-year university graduates to work in the microelectronics industry with up-to-date knowledge and self-motivation. In this paper, we present a comprehensive curriculum for a four-year university degree program in the area of microelectronics manufacturing. Three hands-on experienced-based courses are proposed, along with a methodology for undergraduate students to acquire hands-on experience, towards integrated circuits (ICs) design, fabrication and packaging, are presented in consideration of manufacturing engineering education. Semiconductor device and circuit design course for junior level is designed to cover how designed circuits progress to micro-fabrication by practicing full customization of the layout of digital circuits. Hands-on experienced-based semiconductor fabrication courses are composed to enhance students’ motivation to participate in self-motivated semiconductor fab activities by performing a series of collaborations. Finally, the Microelectronics Packaging course provides greater possibilities of mastered skillsets in the area of microelectronics manufacturing with the fabrication of printed circuit boards (PCBs) and board level assembly for microprocessor applications. The evaluation of the presented comprehensive curriculum was performed with a students’ survey. All the students responded with “Strongly Agree” or “Agree” for the manufacturing related courses. Through the development and application of the presented curriculum for the past six years, we are convinced that students’ confidence in obtaining their desired jobs or choosing higher degrees in the area of microelectronics manufacturing was increased. We confirmed that the hypothesis on the inclusion of handson experience-based courses for MMEE is beneficial to enhancing the motivation for learning.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.55-61
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• 2022

In this study, properties of Pb-free solder joints which were combined using Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu (SAC305) Pb-free solder with a mid-temperature type of melting temperature and Sn-57Bi-1Ag Pb-free solder with a low-temperature type of melting temperature were reported. Combined Pb-free solder joints were formed by reflow soldering processes with ball grid array (BGA) packages which have SAC305 solder balls and flame retardant-4 (FR-4) printed circuit boards (PCBs) which printed Sn-57Bi-1Ag solder paste. The reflow soldering processes were performed with two types of temperature profiles and interfacial properties of combined Pb-free solder joints such as interfacial reactions, formations of intermetallic compounds (IMCs), diffusion mechanisms of Bi, and so on were analyzed with the reflow process conditions. In order to compare reliability characteristics of combined Pb-free solder joints, we also conducted thermal shock test and analyzed changes of mechanical properties for joints from a shear test during the thermal shock test.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.16 no.3 s.77
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• pp.3-11
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• 2007

Presently, most of gold is smelted from gold concentrates and anode slimes. Anode slimes are by-products of nonferrous smelters such as lead and copper. In addition, gold is recovered from waste dental and medical materials, waste gold coating solution, and waste printed circuit boards (waste PCBs). The smelting method of gold from gold concentrates and various wastes containing high concentration of gold is largely divided into chlorination, cyanidation, and amalgamation methods. For the anode slimes, electrolysis method is usually used, which largely consists of roasting, high temperature melting and electrolysis processes. Also, various wastes containing low concentration of gold are mainly treated by pyrometallursical processes. In the paper, current status on gold smelting technology is reviewed, and a novel process for gold smelting which is researched in the recent is briefly introduced.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.8-14
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• 2007

X-ray digital tomosynthesis is widely used in the nondestructive testing and evaluation, especially for the printed circuit boards (PCBs). In this study, we propose a simple method to reduce the blur artefact, frequently claimed in the conventional digital tomosynthesis based on SAA (shift-and-add) algorithm, and thus restore the image sharpness. The proposed method is basically based on the SAA, but has a correction procedure by finding blur artefacts from the forward-and back-projection for the firstly obtained, manipulated backprojection data. The manipulation is the replacement of the original data at the POI (plane-of-interest) by zeros. This method has been compared with the conventional SAA algorithm using the experimental measurements and Monte Carlo simulation for the designed PCB phantom. The comparison showed a much enhancement of sharpness in the images obtained from the proposed method.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.1-6
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• 2018

This study examined the quality improvement of printed circuit boards (PCBs) in relation to the power consumption for radar. The radar examined is currently in production and being used by the military. The PCB converts 28 V DC to 5 V DC but frequently malfunctions. Therefore, cause analysis was carried out. As a result, the power consumed by a certain communication IC was very high, and the heat generated by the high power consumption caused damage to the surrounding parts. Accordingly, it was changed to an improved communication IC that meets all the radar system specifications. System tests were carried out for the changed communication IC to check the impact on the system, and environmental tests were performed, which proved that the performance required by the radar system is satisfactory. As a result of this improvement, there has been no history of failure in this PCB so far. Therefore, the quality of this PCB has been improved.

• Journal of Practical Engineering Education
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.179-184
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• 2024

Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are a key component widely used in the production of electronic products, and not only quantitative growth but also qualitative developments such as integration cannot be ignored. Wave soldering equipment is commonly used equipment at manufacturing sites, but it is impossible to configure a dedicated equipment environment suitable for each PCB specification during the preliminary research and prototype development stage. It is neither suitable for development within limited time line nor manufacturing various product groups because only equipment setting conditions can be changed within a given time. In this study, we introduce a case of introducing a PCB pallet to enable selection of optimal process conditions within the limited environment described above. In addition, by presenting a discriminant that can determine in advance whether production is possible with current general-purpose equipment, it is expected that problems that may arise due to limitations in the general-purpose wave soldering equipment environment can be identified and resolved in advance. Ultimately, this palette makes it possible to shorten the development period and improve productivity.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.120-128
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• 2022

Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are a basic component in the electronics industry and are widely used in nearly all electronic products, such as mobile phones, tablet computers, and digital cameras, as well as in electric equipment. PCB manufacturing involves the use of many chemicals and chemical processes and therefore has more risks than other manufacturing sectors. This study aims to identify the causes of possible accidents during PCB manufacturing through risk assessment, develop and implement safety measures, and evaluate the effectiveness of these measures. Note that the safety measures developed to mitigate the risks of a certain process were also implemented for other similar processes. The risk assessments conducted over seven years, from 2015 to 2021, at a PCB manufacturing company identified 361 hazardous processes. Between 2016 and 2019, 41-56 hazardous processes were identified per year; such processes decreased to fewer than 20 per year after 2020. Application of the risk assessment results to the improvement of the hazardous processes with the similar characteristics seems to be effective in decreasing the risks. Equipment-related factors such as lack of appropriate maintenance, low work standards, and defective protection devices were responsible for 59.8% of all possible accidents. Because PCB manufacturing involves many chemicals, skin contact with hazardous substances, electric shock, fire, and explosion were the most common types of possible accidents (81.7%). In total, 505 safety measures were implemented, including 157 related to purchase and improvement of equipment and devices for safety (31.1%), 147 related to the installation/modification of fire prevention facilities (29.1%), and 69 related to the use of standard electrical appliances (13.7%). Risk assessment conducted after implementing the safety measures showed that these measures significantly decreased risk; 247 processes (68.4%) had a risk level of 3, corresponding to "very low," and 114 processes (31.6%) showed a risk level of 4, corresponding to "low." In particular, risk assessment of 104 processes with risk scores of 12 and 10 other processes with risk score of 16 showed that the risk decreased to 4 after implementing the safety measures. Thus, implementing these measures in similar manufacturing sectors that involve chemical processes can mitigate risk.