Mechnano
Mechnano has developed a new high temperature, rigid ESD material in partnership with Tethon3D.
It was developed with the goal of addressing the challenge of developing custom nano-uniform ESD components that can withstand numerous cycles.
The resin can be processed on a variety of vat photopolymerisation systems, such as SLA, DLP and LCD, allowing for ‘quick-turn’ part fabrication with 'ultra-high accuracy'.
The new material, named C-Lite, was used to fabricate a carrier for evaluation. Trilogy-Net ran the part through the Vapor Phase and standard reflow oven, reporting that it passed without changes in dimensions or flatness during a single cycle. The part was then put through the reflow oven for a total of 50 cycles, with Trilogy-Net confirming the absence of softening, cracking, shrinkage or warping, according to Mechnano.
Mechnano believes that additive manufacturing will allow the electronics industry to be more agile when handling customer requests, such as fabricating ESD parts to support the reflow process. The company emphasises the importance of agility for customer specific applications that require a variety of non-standard components for low-volume production runs, as customers often request custom carriers/pallets to hold printed wiring assemblies during the reflow process.
Mechnano says that these carriers must protect micro-electronic components from electrostatic discharge and withstand multiple cycles of a high-temperature wave soldering process (245°C).
Producing such components with traditional manufacturing processes would slow down production and increase cost, according to Mechnano, as the traditional carbon fibre filled materials in the components ‘does not protect today’s electronics’.
In December 2022, Mechnano announced the release of a new resin based on its MechT technology that utilises the power of discrete carbon nanotubes (dCNTs).
