American Standard Circuits Acquires Sunstone Circuits

WEST CHICAGO, IL – American Standard Circuits and Sunstone Circuits in July announced a merger of their respective printed circuit board fabrication operations.

Terms of the deal between the two privately held manufacturers were not disclosed, but all current operations will be maintained, the companies said. Matt Stevenson, who has been with Sunstone more than 17 years, has been named vice president and general manager of the merged entity, ASC Sunstone Circuits.

In a statement, the companies called the deal a “strategic alliance [that] brings numerous advantages to customers.”

Ansys and Altium to Connect ECAD, Simulation Tools

PITTSBURGH – Altium and Ansys are partnering to improve the electronic design and development process by digitally connecting Altium’s electronic computer-aided design (ECAD) tools and Ansys Electronics Desktop.

The integration, set to be available in the second half of 2023, is meant to create a new level of digital continuity while helping to reduce development time and the risk of design errors, the companies said in a release.

SEL Hosts Ribbon-Cutting for New PCB Factory

MOSCOW, ID – Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new printed circuit board factory here on Jun. 28.

The 162,000 sq. ft. facility houses the operation to fabricate the printed circuit boards used in its products that protect, monitor, control and automate electric power systems around the world. The facility is expected to employ around 60 people, with positions ranging from a variety of engineering roles, including chemical, mechanical, software and computer-aided manufacturing to equipment operators and maintenance workers.

Construction on the facility began in spring 2021.

ECIA Releases New Component Training Modules

ATLANTA – ECIA Foundation announced the release of the second stage of its e-learning modules for teaching the basics of the electronic components industry to new employees.

Phase II of the members-only PACE training program consists of five new courses covering the following topics:

• Supply Chain Management: The Hidden Value of Distributors
• Establishing the Distribution Strategy: Supplier Needs vs. Customer Wants
• CRM, ERP and More: The Platforms Powering the Digital Supply Chain
• Demystifying Sales: Pricing, Roles and More
• Driving the Future with Electronics: Evolving Industries and Applications

ECIA developed the introductory five courses and an interactive platform with Lectrix Group, a sales strategy and marketing group. Since its launch in May 2022, the program has seen more than 1,000 learners and received positive reviews.

US Outlines CHIPS Act Funding Opportunities

WASHINGTON – The US Department of Commerce in late June announced an expansion in funding opportunities for large semiconductor supply chain projects, as well as a separate process for smaller projects coming later in the year.

As part of the CHIPS and Science Act, the Department of Commerce is overseeing more than $50 billion to revitalize the US semiconductor industry, including $39 billion in semiconductor manufacturing incentives. The first funding opportunity seeks applications for projects to construct, expand or modernize commercial facilities that produce leading-edge, current-generation and mature-node semiconductors.

This same funding opportunity is now open to materials and manufacturing equipment facility projects with capital investments equal to or exceeding $300 million.

Arkema to Acquire Controlling Stake in PIAM

COLOMBES, FRANCE – Arkema will acquire a 54% stake in South Korean polyimide film producer PI Advanced Materials for €728 million ($791 million).

PIAM had sales of more than €200 million in 2022, and expects sales to grow 13% per year, driven by demand for polyimide in lithium-ion batteries, 5G antennas, high-resolution OLED displays or flexible screens, and supported by recent capacity expansions.

The transaction will be fully financed in cash, and after approval by Chinese and Korean antitrust authorities, should be finalized by the end of 2023, Arkema said.

NI Stockholders Approve $8B Emerson Merger

AUSTIN, TX – National Instruments stockholders approved the company’s acquisition by Emerson Electric during a special meeting in June, with stockholders receiving $60 per share in cash for every share of NI common stock they own.
The $8.2 billion merger agreement was first announced by Emerson earlier this April.

“Today’s vote by our stockholders validates our belief that this transaction represents the best outcome for all NI stakeholders,” said Eric Starkloff, CEO, NI. “We thank our stockholders for their support and look forward to accelerating our position as a leading provider of software-connected automated test and measurement systems in this next chapter as part of Emerson.”

The proposed transaction is expected to close in the first half of Emerson’s fiscal year 2024, subject to the completion of customary closing conditions.

Technoprobe to Acquire Harbor Electronics

MERATE, ITALY – Technoprobe, an Italian manufacturer of chip testing solutions, signed a binding offer in July to acquire California-based PCB maker Harbor Electronics.

Under the terms of the offer, which includes a 30-day exclusivity period to finalize and sign the final acquisition agreement, Technoprobe will pay around $50 million net of any adjustments related to changes in the target company’s cash holdings.

Harbor Electronics, founded in the 1980s in Santa Clara, CA and acquired in 2015 by the Shenzhen-headquartered Fastprint Circuit Tech group, is a manufacturer of advanced PCBs for testing systems for major semiconductor manufacturers. Last year, the company reported revenues of around $52 million, an EBITDA of about 16%, and a net financial position of about $5 million.

Amara Raja Electronics Acquires Stake in Design Alpha

CHITTOOR, INDIA – Amara Raja Electronics announced the acquisition of a stake in engineering design firm Design Alpha. The acquisition will position Amara Raja Electronics (AREL) as a fully integrated electronics systems design and manufacturing (ESDM) company, unlocking numerous opportunities in the electronics manufacturing business, the company said in a statement.

Based in Kochi, India, Design Alpha specializes in supporting deep science and engineering development by offering design expertise and services. AREL did not disclose the percentage of shares it acquired.

Besides opening doors to partnerships with large multinational corporations and expanding their customer base, the acquisition will also facilitate seamless integration of design and manufacturing processes, along with the provision of value-added services to enhance product performance, efficiency, and reduce time to market, the company said.

“The acquisition will accelerate product development for AREL and allow us to leverage specialist knowledge,” said AREL director Vikramadithya Gourineni.

Congressman Visits Pro-Tech Interconnect Solutions

CHASKA, MN – PCB manufacturer Pro-Tech Interconnect Solutions recently hosted a tour of its facility here by Rep. Tom Emmer.

Pro-Tech’s Chaska facility has 83 employees and manufactures PCBs for the military, aerospace, medical and commercial industries.

“Manufacturing products like chips and semiconductors here at home doesn’t just provide good- paying jobs to Minnesotans. Investing in the production of this essential technology is important to our national security,” Emmer said. “Thank you to the team at Pro-Tech for sharing their work with us.”

IPC: European Electronics Industry Needs Further Support from EU

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM – Key segments of the European electronics manufacturing industry face significant challenges and require more support, according to a new report from IPC.

The report says the recently enacted European Chips Act is a welcome step, but “the near singular focus” on the semiconductor industry “has obscured critically important segments of the electronics ecosystem,” specifically printed circuit boards and electronic assembly, without which semiconductors cannot function.

Over the past 20 years, the European PCB sector experienced a steep decline, the report says, shrinking from approximately 20-30% of global production to just 2% today. Over this time, the EU has become “highly dependent on China,” which now accounts for some 65% of total EU PCB requirements.

USI Opens Second Factory in Poland

KOBIERZYCE, POLAND – Universal Scientific Industrial inaugurated its second factory here in June, and expects to create up to 1,000 jobs once the facility is fully operational by the first quarter of 2024.

“This new plant will strengthen our manufacturing capabilities and enable us to meet the growing demand for electric vehicle and green energy solutions in the European market,” said senior vice president Brian Shih, USI.

USI is a subsidiary of ASE Technology and parent company of AsteelFlash.

GPV to Open 3rd Factory in Slovakia

PIESTANY, SLOVAKIA – GPV has entered a lease agreement for a new electronics factory here near its two existing factories in Slovakia. The additional factory is expected to start production from early 2024.

The new factory comprises a total of 18,000 sq. m., and the company will initially use 11,000 sq. m. with the option to expand and use the additional space at a later stage if needed.

In a release announcing the move, GPV said customers have been requesting additional production capacity in Europe, and after GPV’s merger with Enics in October 2022, the company managed to expand production capacity to better accommodate customer needs in the short time while continuing to look for a possibility to establish additional production capacity in Europe.

Scientists Develop Technology to Quickly 3-D Print Flexible Smart Devices

SINGAPORE – Scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Panasonic and Singapore Center for 3-D Printing have developed a new multi-material printer using multi-wavelength high- power lasers for quick and easy 3-D printing of smart, flexible devices.

The multi-material printer works by utilizing varying wavelengths of laser, creating thermal and chemical reactions capable of transforming common carbon-based materials (polyimide and graphene oxide) into a new type of highly porous graphene. The resulting structure printed with this new graphene is not only light and conductive, but it can also be printed or coated onto flexible substrates like plastics, glass, gold and fabrics, creating flexible devices.

Incap Acquires US-based Pennatronics

HELSINKI – Incap has gained a foothold in the US with the acquisition of the Pennsylvania-based EMS company Pennatronics in a cash and stock transaction.

The enterprise value of the acquired company is $18.6 million, and the agreement also includes a potential additional earn-out of a maximum of $3 million. The transaction will be paid in cash except for the amount of approximately $1.6 million which will be paid in Incap’s shares.

Pennatronics has 102 employees working out of a 6,000 sq. m. production facility near Pittsburgh, PA, and offers complete electronics manufacturing services including PCB assembly and box-build assembly, as well as engineering and sourcing services. The company saw $30 million in revenue in its last financial year, and its EBITDA was $2.9 million.

Note Grows in UK With DVR Acquisition

STOCKHOLM – Note has expanded its manufacturing capacity in the UK with the acquisition of electronics manufacturer DVR. The EMS company will pay GBP9 million ($11.4 million) in cash, plus potential earnouts of up to GBP3 million ($3.8 million) based on future growth and profitability targets.

DVR is located in Basildon, Essex, and the British EMS market, which corresponds to the Scandinavian market in size, is expected to have clearly higher growth than the European EMS market in general, Note said in a release announcing the acquisition. Through the addition of a fourth plant in England, the company said it gains greater coverage and becomes a larger player in the growing British EMS market.

Entech Expands in Australia and Malaysia

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA – Entech Electronics will expand in its native Australia and add its first plant in Malaysia, the EMS firm announced.

Entech, a contract manufacturer offering PCB assembly, turnkey assembly, prototyping, and bare PCB supply, has begun construction of a new Adelaide factory and HQ, with an anticipated move-in date of April 2024. The factory is being built on a 10,000 sq. m. site, with 4,500 sq. m. under cover, said Wayne Hoffman, CEO, Entech Group.

“It is a significant factory here in Adelaide … with the capability to take our factory floor space to double what it is at the moment,” he said.

Critical Manufacturing Expands Operations into Mexico

PORTO, PORTUGAL – Critical Manufacturing has announced an expansion into Mexico to help meet the growing demands of American manufacturing systems. The new facility will serve as a strategic hub, fostering collaboration and innovation within the local manufacturing ecosystem, the company said.

As part of the expansion, the company named Juan Ledezma, an industry professional with a deep understanding of the Latin American market, general manager of Mexico.

“Our expansion into Mexico marks a significant milestone for Critical Manufacturing,” said Francisco Almada Lobo, CEO and cofounder. “With our strong foundation and a visionary leader like Juan Ledezma at the helm, we are poised to provide unparalleled support to our customers in Latin America and nearshore projects. We are excited to embark on this new chapter and contribute to the region’s manufacturing excellence.”

CMS Electronics Establishes Prototype-Focused Subsidiary

KLAGENFURT, AUSTRIA – CMS Electronics announced the expansion of its product portfolio with the establishment of a new subsidiary, PCBWhiz.

PCBWhiz utilizes an AI-assisted platform that provides instant quoting for prototype production. The software automatically analyzes specifications and extracts key technical parameters through its advanced algorithm. This enables immediate matching with the technical capabilities of production, as well as real-time checks on material availability and automated pricing of prototypes. Customers are presented with technical queries or alternative suggestions for components if material availability is insufficient, ensuring a seamless order process and timely initiation of production, and the price remains unchanged after the order is placed.

Katek Completes Acquisition of Nextek

MUNICH – Katek SE announced that it has finalized the acquisition of Madison, AL-based electronics supplier Nextek. The acquisition, which was first announced last November, expands Katek’s presence in North America and strengthens its industry presence in the fast-growing areas of homeland security and defense, medical technology, energy, high-end industrial, and aerospace, which is new for Katek, the company said in a release.

With around 160 employees and annual sales of more than $43 million in 2022, Nextek is a developer of highly complex products for critical application areas, especially in the areas of prototyping and production of small to medium quantities and complements Katek Canada (formerly SigmaPoint) as a high-volume provider of complex electronics. Both companies benefit from the reshoring trend in North America, which is progressing massively due to the current economic and geopolitical tensions, Katek said.

Kurtz Ersa Breaks Ground on Mexico Facility

JUÁREZ, MEXICO – Kurtz Ersa has broken ground on a new production facility here to meet the growing demands of the North America market.

The new plant will play a pivotal role in the production of Ersa soldering machines and will also serve as a preproduction center for Kurtz ́s US factory, the company said in a release. The expansion will create Kurtz Ersa ́s third-largest manufacturing site after Germany and China and will initially focus on manufacturing Ersa Hotflow reflow soldering systems.

“Mexico was chosen as the ideal location for this expansion due to its strategic advantages,” said Albrecht Beck, Kurtz Ersa president and COO. “Its central location on the border provides excellent access and facilitates access to strong local markets in the Americas. Additionally, Mexico boasts a wealth of highly educated and motivated workforce to maintain our high German quality standards at a modern state-of-the-art factory.”

Otis Worldwide Opens PCB Production Center

BERLIN – Otis Worldwide has opened a new €8 million ($9 million) PCB production facility dedicated to advanced and complex PCB designs, as well as rapid prototyping and industrialization.

With the new production center, located in its SSI1 Electronics Berlin factory, Otis said it is building on the expertise of its Berlin-based teams in the design and production of PCBs, a field of growing strategic importance for many industries.

Otis’ PCBs are used in elevators and escalators around the world, and around 75% of the equipment manufactured in Berlin is destined for European construction projects, as well as the modernization market. The remaining 25% is exported overseas.

SIA Calls for Halt on China Chip Restrictions

WASHINGTON – The Semiconductor Industry Association has called on the US government to refrain from any more restrictions on chip sales to China, saying additional measures against the country could disrupt supply chains and prompt continued retaliation from China.

“Recognizing that strong economic and national security require a strong U.S. semiconductor industry, leaders in Washington took bold and historic action last year to enact the CHIPS and Science Act to strengthen our industry’s global competitiveness and de-risk supply chains,” the SIA said in a statement released in mid-July. “Allowing the industry to have continued access to the China market, the world’s largest commercial market for commodity semiconductors, is important to avoid undermining the positive impact of this effort. Repeated steps, however, to impose overly broad, ambiguous, and at times unilateral restrictions risk diminishing the U.S. semiconductor industry’s competitiveness, disrupting supply chains, causing significant market uncertainty, and prompting continued escalatory retaliation by China.

“We call on both governments to ease tensions and seek solutions through dialogue, not further escalation. And we urge the administration to refrain from further restrictions until it engages more extensively with industry and experts to assess the impact of current and potential restrictions to determine whether they are narrow and clearly defined, consistently applied, and fully coordinated with allies.”

Tempo Automation Lays Off Nearly All Employees

SAN FRANCISCO – Tempo Automation in late July laid off 62 of its employees, leaving only seven employees on its payroll in an effort to reduce overhead and keep the company operational, according to an SEC filing.

CEO Joy Weiss and Ralph Richart, Tempo Automation’s chief technology and manufacturing officer, are remaining with the company but will cut their base salaries by 50% for the foreseeable future. The company’s chief financial officer, Ryan Benton, has resigned.

The company is trying to reduce overhead to better position the company to fund its planned operations while meeting obligations as they come due. Tempo has “experienced negative cash flows since inception that raise substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue,” the filing said. The company lost $7.4 million in the first quarter on revenue of $2.8 million.

PCB West to Feature Free Expert Advice Sessions

PEACHTREE CITY, GA – Experts in printed circuit design and manufacturing will be on hand at PCB West 2023 to answer attendee questions during the exhibition on Sept. 20, the Printed Circuit Engineering Association announced. 

Among the industry experts who will be available are Rick Hartley (signal integrity and noise control), Susy Webb (design layout and routing), Nick Koop (flexible circuits), Stephen Chavez (PCB design), and Keven Coates (design for assembly).

PCB West will take place Sept. 19-22, 2023, at the Santa Clara (CA) Convention Center.

Chapter News

Education committee. PCD&F is undertaking its annual salary survey of printed circuit board designers, design engineers and other layout specialists. Designers for years have taken advantage of the results to benchmark their salaries, beneHts and credentials against their peers.

The survey link is https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2023designersalary.

Results will be published in an upcoming issue. All data collected are revealed only in the
aggregate. No individual data are revealed.

Because this is a survey, not a poll, the audience being surveyed is not selected or controlled.
PCD&F has conducted the annual survey of design engineers and printed circuit designers for more than 20 years.

Apple Still Sweet for Taiwanese Flex Makers

TAIPEI – The success of Taiwanese PCB flex circuit manufacturers this year will come down to the new iPhone. The Taiwanese Printed Circuit Association (TPCA) says there’s a strong correlation between iPhone sales performance and the overall output value of the Taiwan PCB market.
Looking at the third quarter, major flex makers Zhen Ding and Taijun are optimistic about the latest generation of smartphone. Taijun has focused on LCP technology R&D and the development of LCP laminates for high-frequency flexible circuits. The fabricator is also looking at FPC41.11 next-generation technology of Neuro Circuit, which can provide high-speed and low-latency transmission solutions for huge data computing, which will boost AI capabilities.

The Heat is On

Claire Wemp is hot on the trail of better thermal interface materials and more engineering roles for women.
by MIKE BUETOW

Thermal interface materials (TIM) are used between components to help with heat dissipation. Claire Wemp, Ph.D., is a thermal applications engineer at DuPont, with a doctorate in mechanical engineering, where her research was on heat transfer enhancement for metal surfaces. While an undergraduate, Wemp also became involved in the Society of Women Engineers, and continues to work with the nonprofit professional organization today. Wemp joined PCD&F/CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY on the PCB Chat podcast, where she discussed the use of TIMs and her work with SWE. What follows is a lightly edited transcript.

Mike Buetow: We’re going to talk about TIM 1 materials, and it might be confusing for those who don’t know about the TIM 1 and TIM 2 classiDcations. Do you want to take a moment to explain the difference?

Claire Wemp: Yes, absolutely, Mike. For TIM materials or thermal interface materials, you can think of it like a soft or pliable material that’s placed between the two hard materials to help assist with heat flow going from the heat source out to some sort of heat sink. If we think about a typical computer chip, you’ll have a GPU on your laptop, you’ve got your PCB, you have some sort of silicon wafer that’s attached on, maybe your flip chip design, and then usually there’s some sort of lid that fits over top of that. And at most, if you’re the kind of person that tinkers around with computers, you’re going to be seeing that lid. You might pop off the heat sink or hinge device of some sort, you’re going to see that lid there. And you might actually see a TIM material between the lid and heat sink itself. So when we say TIM 1, we are actually referring to the thermal interface material that is below the lid. So it’s the TIM material that goes between – if it’s a flip chip – the backside of the die – it’s actually touching the silicon – and the lid, which is usually some sort of metal material. It’s kind of a first line of defense direct from the source out to that lid material.

A Plethora of Pitches

The unstructured evolution of integrated circuit package technology (and its consequences).
by JOSEPH FJELSTAD

I purchased my first “integrated circuit” around 1957, which was roughly a year before Jack Kilby is credited with inventing the IC. In appearance, it was a paper phenolic PCB with six discrete transistors in TO-cans and a few axial-leaded resistors and capacitors soldered on one side. If one can stretch their thinking just a bit, however, one can see the truth of the suggestion that it was arguably an “integrated circuit.” The fact that Kilby was working at Centralab in Milwaukee, a ceramic circuit maker, immediately before heading to Texas Instruments for his new job was fortuitous. I have long assumed it influenced his invention. Around the same time, the IC’s recognized co-inventor, Robert Noyce, took the idea a step further and showed how transistors and interconnections could be built on silicon wafer, which remains the primary method used today – featuring sizes a few orders of magnitude smaller and significantly increased material sets to embrace many new semiconductor materials in addition to silicon.

Handling delicate pieces of silicon was not going to “cut it,” however, so IC manufacturers invented IC packages to protect the silicon chip in the assembly process. TI came up with a robust ceramic package that used microscopic gold wires to connect the I/O on the chip edges to the metal leads affixed to the ceramic, and a lid was soldered on top to protect the structure. The leads at the periphery extended straight out and were soldered to the copper metal circuits supported by a ceramic or organic base material (FIGURE 1). These were the first surface mount packages, and they flew to the moon with the crew of Apollo 11 in the navigation, control and monitoring computers on board. Another format was proposed around roughly the same time that made assembly easier, however, which was the iconic dual in-line package (FIGURE 2) invented by Bryant “Buck” Rodgers at competitor IC maker Fairchild.

Selectively Assembling High-Value Components Based on Warpage in Order to Improve Reliability

Can predicting board and part /atness at critical points in the re/ow/reliability pro6le reduce failures?
by NEIL HUBBLE and CHANCE RABUN

Surface warpage, or flatness, is an established source of reliability issues in surface mount devices (SMD), particularly when these surfaces are considered as they warp due to heat generated in production or real-world use.^1-6 Thermal warpage of surface mount components such as ball grid arrays (BGA) and line grid arrays (LGA) are subject to different industry standards from JEDEC,
JEITA, and IPC, based on sample size, ball size and ball pitch.^7-9 Further SMD studies have proposed different methods of classifying and qualifying surface shape in hopes to improve the correlation in thermal warpage data and product reliability.¹⁰ Meanwhile, printed circuit boards are less regulated for warpage in the area where an SMD may attach. Overall PCB warpage is referenced in some industry standards and technical papers, but specific warpage limits are lacking within documentation discussing warpage of SMD landing areas.^11-12 Finally, further studies have considered warpage of both SMD and PCB landing areas together.^13-14

The approach of considering the shape of both sides of a surface mount interface is used as the basis for this study. To fully understand warpage gaps that create defects, both sides of the attaching interface are required. The trend for larger BGA packages in high-speed network applications is furthering the need for managing warpage on both the SMD and PCB sides of the assembly.¹⁵ Larger package footprints permit more lateral space in which shape change can occur due to either starting sample shape or thermal warpage.

Public Sector Efforts ‘Chip Away’ at PCB Funding Deficit

The PCBAA is ramping up efforts to secure funding for R&D and capacity in the US.
by MIKE BUETOW

What constitutes the printed circuit board industry? And how much, if any, investment should the US government allocate toward ensuring its technological and capacity capabilities?

These are among the questions David Schild is tackling every day. Schild is executive director of the Printed Circuit Board Association of America, which was founded in 2021 to advance US domestic production of PCBs and base materials. The organization is made up of corporate members of all sizes and includes fabricators, assemblers and suppliers.

Schild addressed questions about public and private investment, how governments can help create “demand signals,” and the PCBAA’s annual meeting with PCEA for the PCB Chat podcast in late July. The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Mike Buetow: You came to PCBAA in November after years spent serving the aerospace and defense industries. [In June] PCBAA had its annual meeting, which I believe was your Lrst as executive director. Let’s get your initial thoughts on that meeting and the priorities that came out of it.

In Case You Missed It

Lead-Free Solder

“Measurement of Mixing Enthalpies for Sn-Bi-Sb Lead-Free Solder System”

Authors: Vikrant Singh, et al.

Abstract: Predictions of the thermodynamic behavior of higher-order multicomponent alloys from thermodynamic data of binary and ternary systems have been proven very crucial, as it is extremely challenging to investigate thermodynamic properties of higher-order systems. Therefore, it is necessary to assess thermodynamic data of various binary and ternary systems that are important to lead-free solder applications. The literature lacks thermodynamic information for some lead-free systems. Tin-bismuth-antimony (SnBiSb) is a good option as a solder ternary system free of lead. The integral and partial mixing enthalpies of a SnBiSb system were determined using a drop- solution calorimeter. At 923K, 973K, and 1023K, calorimetric measurements of the Sn-Bi-Sb system were made along five of the cross-sections. Pieces of pure tin were dropped into molten Sb0.25Bi0.75, Sb0.50Bi0.50, Sb0.75Bi0.25 alloys, bismuth into Sb0.50Sn0.50, and antimony into Bi0.50Sn0.50. Using the calorimetric data, partial and integral thermodynamic properties were determined. The integral mixing enthalpy was used to plot iso-enthalpy curves. It was found that the mixing enthalpies were temperature independent. The substitutional solution Redlich-Kister- Muggianu model was used to derive the interaction parameter based on ternary enthalpy values and, to obtain these parameters, a least square fitting model was used. When the estimated and measured values were compared, it was found that there was good agreement among them. (Journal of Electronic Materials, July 2023, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-023-10579-4)