TABLE OF CONTENTS Richard Boulanger
Universal Instruments Corporation,Binghamton, New York
Traditional market segments like consumer, communications, and computers are converging, and new applications are straddling two or more segments. An Internet device or a Sony Play-Station II could actually fit in all three market segments. Hence, some attributes that were linked to one particular segment (e.g., smaller and cheaper for the consumer, performance for computers, more bandwidth for communications) are rapidly becoming the prerequisite attributes for the new breed of consumer-communication-computer (C3) application.
These new applications create enormous challenges to the electronic food chain, from semiconductors to packages to boards to electronics assembly to final assembly. Board fabrication especially is under a lot of strain to keep up with the increased density of electronic assemblies. Assembly equipment suppliers need to handle smaller and smaller components that are placed even closer together. As features shrink more and more to add more function and more components per square centimeter, the assembly equipment suppliers need to find novel ways of not only handling the components and the substrates but imaging them while constantly being pressured to increase throughputs and yields.
Printed circuit boards and automated electronics assembly have come far since the early 1960s. New applications keep pushing the edge for smaller areas, lighter products, faster speeds, and more bandwidth. A proliferation of packages and new materials has helped revolutionize new machine development. In the electronics market, characterized by ever-shorter product development,...
