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Press release

Presteigne, UK
13th March 2001

LABTECH INTRODUCES UNIVERSAL FINISH FOR MMIC PACKAGING

Labtech, part of the Intelek Group and UK-based manufacturer of microwave printed circuit boards, announces the successful introduction of the Pallamerse SMT-2000 Autocatalytic Electroless Palladium finish from Shipley Ronal - a finish incorporating a layer of palladium between the gold and nickel.

Pallamerse SMT-2000 is commonly referred to as a "Universal" finish because it is suitable for "chip-on-board" technology as well as more conventional high volume surface mount and through-hole soldering techniques. The finish complements an existing, but more costly, electrolytic, pure gold finish, which is suitable for wire-bonding but gives poorer solderability for other interconnection techniques.

Labtech has successfully undergone in-house trials utilising the newly opened MMIC assembly facility and fully automatic, high volume electroless nickel, gold, palladium gold plating line, and have clearly demonstrated the benefits. In fact, improved bond strengths have been experienced when increased thickness of palladium are used.

Bob Lowther, Labtech's Sales and Marketing Director, comments "Labtech is experiencing a major growth in demand for circuits incorporating MMIC (Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits) devices as this enables our customers to achieve very high levels of integration and offer smaller, less power hungry equipment to their end-users. The successful introduction of this finish is an important element of Labtech's MMIC packaging programme. Labtech is one of a very small number of companies in Europe which are familiar with the specialist knowledge required to manufacture this type of circuit."

Microwave PCBs lab

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