Concord, California, USA – 02 March 2016 –Nordson MARCH, a Nordson company, a global leader in plasma processing technology, has recently released a white paper showing the results of RF plasma processing on conformal coating adhesion, the conformity of the coating coverage, and the resulting effects on electrical functionality of a fully assembled printed circuit board. The research was done in conjunction with Nordson ASYMTEK, AirBorn Electronics, and SMART Microsystems (formerly known as Desich SMART Center). The paper can be downloaded at http://bit.ly/MARCH-PlasmaWP.
The objective of the experiment was to evaluate the effects of RF plasma processing on the conformity of coverage of conformal coating of the knee of individual Nickel-Palladium-Gold (Ni-Pd-Au) leads on electronic assemblies using an acrylic conformal coating and to determine if any change in electrical functionality occurs.
“The corrosion of Ni-Pd-Au plated terminals in humid environments is known to be reduced with the application of a conformal coating such as acrylic,” explained Dave Selestak, senior business development manager, Nordson MARCH and co-author of the article. “Corrosion has a higher rate of occurrence around the terminal ‘knee’ of a surface mount component, which may be reduced with the application of conformal coatings. We were looking to see whether plasma processing can enhance the quality of the conformal coating as well as increase thickness of the coating around the knee of a terminal.”
The evaluation was done in three stages, with objectives for each below:
