Methods to eliminate PCB defects showcasing at BIOMEDevice

This is particularly useful for mission critical products such as the medical, military and aerospace, industrial and RF wireless industries.

Digicom generates its own nitrogen to use in its solder reflow, selective soldering, and hand soldering manufacturing processes to strengthen the solder bonds and improve solder adhesion. Studies show a 50-60% reduction in defect levels when using nitrogen in the reflow process. Adding nitrogen minimises device failures and ensures printed circuit board integrity.

"Adding nitrogen to the soldering process is not commonly done by EMS companies," explained Mo Ohady, General Manager, Digicom Electronics. "Companies that do add it, usually do so by renting or leasing nitrogen-containing cylinders that have to be delivered in a very cold, compressed form which is not suitable for use if you're trying to maintain hot-zone stability in a reflow oven. Digicom has installed its own nitrogen generation system, producing the nitrogen and piping it through a safe, environmentally sound system so it can be used in all soldering processes - solder reflow, selective soldering, and hand soldering. Generation and on-location storage of nitrogen enable the system to have the exact amount of nitrogen it needs, eliminate temperature variability, and save money for the company, and therefore the customer."

Digicom's Diamond Track Cleaning process combines a combination of chemicals, temperature, wash cycles, timing, and equipment that results in high quality printed circuit boards. IPC-TM-650 best scenario ionic cleanliness guidelines specify an allowable level of contamination of 10-2 micrograms/in² for military applications and 65-2 micrograms/in² for general applications. Digicom delivers zero contamination levels, measured and verified by periodic tests done by independent labs.

Digicom helps companies with their complete process from design review through prototyping, component sourcing, manufacture, test, and process validation. Digicom is certified for ISO 9001:2008, ISO 13485:2003 medical devices quality, quality system regulation 21 CFR 820 and ITAR certification.