When it comes to surface cleaning of printed circuit boards, there are a variety of processes that can be used by electronics manufacturers. Richard Burke, National Sales Manager and Michael McCutchen, Sales & Business Development Manager South East Region of Plasmatreat USA, Inc. are proven experts in the field of component cleaning. Both advise electronics manufacturers in the USA on the implementation of the Openair-Plasma process in electronics production.

"In the early stages of conversations with customers the question often arises as to whether Openair-Plasma will damage the assembly. This can be categorically ruled out. We developed a nozzle which demonstrably works with a very low, harmless zero voltage output and thus does not influence components and layouts," says Burke. In general, it can be said that the applications of Openair-Plasma in manufacturing electronics are many and varied. "This is particularly true in the applications of today's electronics. Today's assemblies must be even more reliable because they are mission critical and must not fail, for example in the aerospace or autonomous-vehicle (AV) technology sectors," Burke continues. Openair-Plasma has proven to be a reliable cleaning method particularly in the production of assemblies as a pre-process for conformal coating which makes the entire conformal coating process more stable.

"If we look at the latest developments in electronics of the recent years, we can assume that miniaturization and high packing density will continue to increase as will the functionality of electronic assemblies. Furthermore, electronics are used in increasingly demanding applications, with the goal of error-free and reliable operation. Especially electronic vehicles and fully automated cars will further strengthen these goals. The need to protect electronics from environmental influences will therefore continue unabated," states Nico Coenen, Business Development Manager Electronics Market at Plasmatreat GmbH.

As a result, conformal coating processes are being used more and more to protect components from a wide variety of influences. However, Coenen points out that this development is not without issues, like bubble formation, orange peel formation, uneven coatings and delamination. In these cases, further actions need to be considered and the Openair-Plasma technology can help.  Burke and McCutchen are helping electronics manufacturers to implement the Openair-Plasma process. Both have worked for many years for various companies in the electronics industry, in particular for manufacturers of chemical cleaning solutions for printed circuit boards and assembled components. Their many years of experience help them to find effective solutions for the cleaning tasks of customers and interested parties.

With the "Book a demo" service, where during a live demonstration interested parties can follow the plasma process online, Plasmatreat demonstrates how reliably Openair-Plasma can be used in electronics production. "These demonstrations help us to convince our potential customers of the performance of plasma technology because Openair-Plasma is a standard cleaning process in electronics production that guarantees high accuracy and reproducibility", says McCutchen. The advantages are obvious for the two electronics specialists. Burke points out that, in contrast to other cleaning processes, many new customers are convinced by the selective, reproducible and controlled process use, including possible traceability, and the low process costs. "On top, Openair-Plasma is a cleantech technology, because you can replace nasty chemical processes, which is another key benefit that is recognized by more and more electronic manufacturers in the USA," says Burke.  

Burke and McCutchen are both part of the Plasmatreat USA exhibition team at IPC APEX EXPO 2020, booth 527.

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