Front-end capabilities

Thin Film Servies

Natel knows that your Thin Film needs can be diverse—from coating services using sputtering or evaporation, to manufacturing of complex Thin Film components. That’s why our capabilities include:

• Sputtered Metals: TiW Au, Cr Cu, NiCr, TiW Al, TaN,
  Ni Au, Pt Pd, SiO2, etc.
• Au, Ni, Cu, electroless Cu, electroless Au & Ni plating processes
• Substrates : Alumina, Silicon, BeO, Aluminum Nitride, Quartz, Sapphire, etc.
• Conductor width and spacing of 12 microns
• 3 multitarget sputtering systems with RF / DC magnetron capability.
• 3 target, load- locked machine available for high volume orders.
• Multisource thermal and e-beam evaporation systems
• Ion-beam deposition system
• 3 Ion-beam etching systems to provide 0.0001" geometry control
• Complete analytical and quality control equipment including
  line-width
• Cryopumping for all coating equipment

Thick Film Substrates

• Twelve standard size Thick Film printers
• Two large area printers
• Five infrared linear firing ovens
• One muffle furnace
• Class 'K' resistor print, test and trim
• Up to 13 conductor layers
• Top to backplane through-hole continuity
• Open / short testing
• Complete dark room for screens manufacturing
• Two ESI 44 passive laser trimmers
  

Natel has a complete Thick Film capability. This includes being able to print multiple-layer conductors (up to 13 metal layer conductors). Through-holes are no problem, either - we can print a conductor from one side to the other side of a Thick Film substrate. We have a certified Class K resistor print, test and trim area, a complete darkroom that supplies our Thick Film lab with Thick Film screens, which are the actual heart of any thick film lab. We have five radiant energy furnaces and one muffle furnace. We have ten standard 8" x 10" screen printers and two 12" x 14" large area screen printers (the standard screen printers would yield a substrate as large as 3" x 3", and the large area screen printer would yield a ceramic substrate as large as 6" x 6"). The Thick Film lab is housed in a 4,800 square foot Class 10,000 Clean Room.

Fully Automated Surface Mount Assembly (SMT)

• 35,000 components per hour (Sanyo TCM1100)
• 240 component feeders
• Automatic solder and epoxy screen print
• Automatic solder or epoxy dispense
• 12-mil fine pitch capability (Sanyo TPM1100)
• Five-zone reflow with a unique temperature and profiling system (BTU)
• Automatic and easy set-up change for various PCB configurations (and PCB reversals)
• Aqueous cleaning systems (Trieber 400)
• D-I water system with real time water resistivity monitor

SMT Assembly Area

Natel's SMT assembly area has at its core what we like to call a Super SMT Line. This is a continuous, contiguous, automatic assembly line for just about any kind of SMT substrate - PC board, Thick Film or Thin Film - where we are going to surface mount, using solder or epoxy techniques, capacitors, resistors or any type of solder terminated device.

The line begins with a magazine feeder that feeds a substrate or a PC board into a vision guided screen printer that very accurately deposits solder on the board. The board is then automatically sent down the line. As it finds its way down the line, it comes upon an epoxy dispenser. The dispenser is also automatic and in-line to apply either solder or epoxy into areas where the screen printer cannot print.

The heart of the SMT line is the chip shooter. It places solder terminated parts at a maximum rate of 35,000 part per hour, and nominally places parts at about 15,000 to 17,000 parts per hour. The parts then automatically are fed through a reflow furnace that reflows the parts to a pre-defined profile, depending on the solder paste that is being used. Parts are then reloaded into a magazine and then individually fed through an aqueous cleaning system. Our cleaning system is suitable for aqueous as well as semi-aqueous; however, our standard nominal solder system is a water-based aqueous cleaning system. The aqueous system has its own water reservoir that provides very clean water to the cleaner. The water is also monitored for resistivity so we can monitor the cleanliness of the water. Natel's SMT area is an approximately 5,000 square foot "clean zone," which means that, while not an analytic clean room, the room is cleaner than a normal room would be.