High-resolution X-ray technologies tackle new electronics inspection challenges
No matter what marvels emerge from their manufacturing plants, electronics assemblers never satisfy the demand for smaller, cheaper and better-performing products. Among other things, this endless demand has caused exponential growth in printed circuit board (PCB) solder connections, as well as in the number of packages with hidden solder joints. The burgeoning crop of concealed connections creates major inspection difficulties for makers of BGA, µBGA, CGA and flip-chip devices.
But there is a solution to problems posed by tough electronics-inspection tasks: high-resolution X-ray systems. These powerful systems are designed to help operators reliably assess the quality of concealed solder connections. Unlike machine vision and optical inspection equipment, X-ray systems penetrate materials to expose hidden solder joints in a variety of area array devices.
Besides their role in PCB manufacturing, X-ray systems are tackling new inspection challenges in wafer fabrication. What is more, engineers have unveiled ultra-high-resolution X-ray machines designed to spot tiny flaws in the growing ranks of micro-scale electromechanical systems.
Dr. Udo E. Frank has served as director of technology development for Feinfocus. Dr. Norbert Daneke is an X-ray physical engineer with Feinfocus. They can be contacted at [email protected]