iNDUSTRIES

Automotive

As automotive component complexity continues to rise and board space shrinks modern manufacturing systems are required.

Laser Resistor Trimming and Laser Via Drilling in the Automotive Market

Electronic components are increasingly common in automobiles, with modern vehicles having more than 200 electronic control units, many of which contain sensors and processor circuits that require fabrication and calibration through laser drilling and resistor trimming. Unique considerations for automotive component manufacturers include environmental improvements, safety enhancements as well as convenience and comfort.

ProVia Laser Microvia Drilling

Laser drilling in HDI boards allows for a dramatic decrease in board size as well as an increase in the complexity of circuits. For high volume applications as found in the automotive industry, laser processing can dramatically reduce total processing time and increase yields with up to 1000 holes drilled per second.

With the precision process control of PPI’s advanced ProVia laser drilling and cutting systems, heat-affected zones (HAZ) can be avoided and carbonization minimized while accuracy is improved and productivity is increased.

RapiTrim Laser Resistor Trimming

Thick-film circuits are widely used in the automotive industry, both in sensors such as flow sensors, pressure sensors, engine, gearbox, and braking controls. Important characteristics include high reliability, extended temperature ranges as well as thermo-cycling of circuits without fail. Sensor elements are typically trimmed and tested in pressure and temperature chambers for their response calibration.

PPI’s series of RapiTrim systems provide effortless high-volume processing of complex circuit layouts without the limitations of conventional probe card-based trimming equipment.