Media kit
A simple, environmentally-friendly method developed by Plasmatreat for cleaning all types of surface, Openair-Plasma is a plasma activation process for surface treatment, enabling effective, fast and affordable surface modification without altering mechanical properties.
In the electronics industry, more than ever, having safe and durable components is a key success factor, and will become even more so in the future, as electronic products become an increasingly important part of our daily lives.
With this in mind, and drawing on its recognized expertise, Plasmatreat aims to make an essential contribution to the design of high-performance, long-lasting products by specifically developing appropriate surface treatment solutions. Thanks to its Openair-Plasma technology, Plasmatreat aims to help electronics professionals achieve even higher component quality with optimized surfaces, even for the most sensitive components.
A wide range of applications for the treatment of sensitive electronic surfaces
Plasmatreat's Openair-Plasma technology offers a wide range of applications in electronics manufacturing: from component production to module assembly and subsequent construction of electronic devices. Focus on three of them:
LED manufacturing
One specific area in which Openair-Plasma is playing an important new role is LED manufacturing. The use of a nano-coating in the LED manufacturing process makes it possible to use material substitutes and eliminate process steps.
In addition, the PlasmaPlus process developed by Plasmatreat can be used successfully in the wire bonding process in LED manufacturing. Indeed, this soldering process often generates contaminated wire bonding surfaces when the chip adhesive hardens, as the adhesive "bleeds" at high temperatures, resulting in a negative impact on the bonding surface quality. An "anti-bleed" nano-coating created through the PlasmaPlus process will therefore prevent the adhesive from bleeding and simultaneously increase the reliability of the wire contact.
Assembly production
The increasing miniaturization and hence compactness of electronic components is also leading to greater use of the Openair-Plasma system in assembly production, particularly when printed circuit board assemblies are used in increasingly demanding environments. Under these conditions, assemblies must function absolutely flawlessly and reliably. This means that it is becoming increasingly important to protect electronics from environmental influences, especially the most sensitive surfaces.
For example, for electronics and sensor components in automotive engineering, the AntiCorr anti-corrosion coating developed by Plamatreat is selectively applied as a nano-coating to the adhesive and sealing grooves of metal components. This process provides reliable, long-term protection against the incursion of moisture and the resulting corrosion.
Final assembly
Another area of application is final assembly, for example when parts are bonded together with adhesive. This may involve connecting housings to electronic components, or fixing touch screens in position in a device. Here too, plasma treatment helps to create a bond between materials that would otherwise be difficult to connect. Using the Openair-Plasma process here helps to clean and activate surfaces, and results in extremely durable and robust bonds between materials.
A fully automated in-line system for selective pretreatment of sensitive surfaces that meets the new challenges of electronics and Industry 4.0
The current shortage of parts, in particular, is driving a focus on cycle-time-optimized manufacturing processes in semiconductor production. From this point of view, the speed of semiconductor component manufacturing is just as important as production precision and product quality.
To meet these growing challenges, Plasmatreat has recently developed a fully-automated in-line system for selective pre-treatment with Openair-Plasma which is designed according to market requirements. In addition, Plasmatreat continues to refine its quality standards and uses its PCU (Plasma Control Unit) and associated quality assurance modules to continuously monitor critical and important parameters in all stages of plasma treatment.
So, in the age of Industry 4.0, where requirements for process safety and reproducibility are constantly increasing, Plasmatreat enables manufacturers to benefit from adaptable, potential-free, optimized and reproducible high-speed processing that can be seamlessly integrated into an existing manufacturing line.
Openair-Plasma, a relevant, safe and environmentally-friendly technology that reduces the impact of parts and components shortages.
A number of specific factors are making the use of Openair-Plasma increasingly relevant: new safety standards, as in the automotive industry; environmental regulations and directives, such as those encouraging the avoidance of solvents; and very recent problems such as shortages of parts and components.
In fact, this technology offers the advantage of guaranteeing compliance with safety standards, reducing VOC emissions during component processing, reducing rejects to almost zero and minimizing environmental impact.
