The Next Materials Reckoning in Electronics Manufacturing

Cost pressure once again may become the industry’s biggest driver of change.

Necessity is the mother of invention, they say. Well, I am not sure necessity is the mother of all invention, but it can definitely be tied to a whole bunch, and probably has more than a few still to birth.

Having been in the industry for a long, long time, I can attest that many exciting new products, and the technologies required to develop and enable their mass utilization, have driven much of the innovation our industry is known for. Miniaturization of computers, the growth and speed of communication platforms such as the internet, the exponential expansion of features (functions, apps, etc.) that have enabled virtually everyone to rely on their cellphone, as well as development of a variety of robotics and drones, have all been created because of, and resulted in collateral uses for, exciting technologies.

In other circumstances, however, phenomenal new technology was not the result of a brilliant dream but rather a thorny problem that forced herculean efforts to replace existing technologies, processes and raw materials. Early in this millennium the European Union RoHS directive posed just such a problem. This legislation required all industry to scramble to find a replacement for lead: lead in solder, lead in CRT tubes used in TVs and computer monitors, and a host of other mechanical surface finish applications.

No one was eager to invest the resources in replacing lead, which was virtually bulletproof in so many applications. Companies would have far preferred investing in next-generation products, but given no choice, necessity became the mother of invention, and over time innovation took hold, and reasonable alternatives were found to replace lead in almost all products and applications. 

Some of the surface finish alternatives that became popular were more expensive, in particular ones containing gold and silver. Today, ENIG, ENEPIG and SnAg are some of the most common surface finishes utilized in electronics. In addition, I can attest that, having spent nearly a quarter century running a printed circuit board fabricator focused on the RF/microwave and military markets, wire bondable “soft” gold and electroplated “hard” gold are the plating surfaces of choice for many of those segments’ applications.  

Necessity may once again be mothering invention, however. Gold and silver are precious metals, and as such, pricing is subject to not only industrial and consumer demand but also market speculation. Investors and speculators can drive price spikes that make precious metals no longer financially tenable for business use.

Indeed, back in the early 2000s, gold sold for about $400 per oz. A decade later, the average price had doubled. And in the past few years, prices of all metals (copper, gold, silver, platinum, etc.) have skyrocketed and are forecast to continue to rise. As an example, gold prices increased 71% in the past 12 months and 232% over the past five years. Such increases are not sustainable in a manufacturing environment; a reliable, cost-effective alternative may be needed. Same goes for metals used in soldering, wire-bonding, and critical electronic processes. 

As was learned in the early 2000s with the RoHS no-lead mandate, replacing these precious metals is neither a simple, quick nor inexpensive endeavor. Some alternative surface finishes, such as OSPs, should be revisited to see if newer raw materials will increase their shelf life, durability and cost-effectiveness, which historically made them less desirable than precious metals. It may also be time to think outside the box and consider materials used in related emerging applications. Such areas to look at may include plating utilized in microelectronics, or coatings utilized in printed electronics. Different types of organics and nano-chemistries may finally be sufficiently cost-effective and robust for use in consumer and high-reliability applications. 

One strategy I would not recommend is waiting for a correction that brings the price of gold, silver and other precious metals back to where they were. The trajectory of pricing for precious metals utilized in manufacturing has always increased at a greater pace than that of other materials used in this sector. 

So let the current necessity of finding a cost-effective and reliable alternative to gold and silver lead the industry to invent a truly incredible and universally usable new process technology.End of article content 

Peter Bigelow has more than 30 years’ experience as a PCB executive, most recently as president of FTG Circuits Haverhill; peterbigelow@msn.com. He is vice chair of the PCEA PCB Management Symposium, “Strategic Leadership in the Age of AI, New Technology Adoption, and Talent Scarcity,” taking place April 28 at PCB East.