In a significant formulation breakthrough, Henkel Electronic Materials announces that it has developed a new electrically conductive adhesive (ECA) compatible with lower-cost, tin-terminated components to enable more cost-effective assembly processes. The new material, ABLESTIK ICP-3535M1 is a one-component, pre-mixed ECA that provides low and stable contact resistance when used with 100% tin-terminated components.

Join us January 19th at Henkel Electronics Materials, LLC, Irvine, CA
8:30AM, Check-In
9:00AM - 4:00PM, Class

As the functionality of modern electronics products has increased exponentially in tandem with decreasing dimensions, the demands on performance and reliability of electronic materials have reached an unprecedented level. Today’s electronic materials – spanning nearly all market sectors – must deliver on consumer performance expectations while also ensuring environmental responsibility and lower costs.

As part of Henkel’s Make an Impact on Tomorrow (MIT) program, the company has recently donated funds to support students from the Xinchao Charity in Jiangyin, Jiangsu Province, China. Henkel provided total 2011 tuition worth 36,000 Yuan and additional funds of 4,000 Yuan for supplies to help support the educational needs of underprivileged children being cared for in the Xinchao orphanage.

Henkel today announced that it has worked with STMicroelectronics, one of the world’s largest semiconductor companies and advanced chip packaging technology developers, to validate the performance of Henkel’s Ablestik C100 conductive die attach film materials for production of very small package configurations in a process called ScalPack, which incorporates die with extremely small dimensions.

Breaking new ground in materials innovation, Henkel Electronic Materials has announced its success with a revolutionary silver (Ag) sintering technology that enables high volume production of modern power packages in a process that does not require pressure. In its market debut, Henkel’s Ag sintering capability has been designed into Ablestik SSP2000, a high reliability die attach material well-suited for use with power modules such as IGBTs and high power LED products.

Over the last few decades, the electronics assembly process has seen many changes. We’ve witnessed the transition from through hole to SMT, the elimination of CFCs, the move to leadfree and the continued trend toward ever more miniaturized devices and finer pitches. All of these have challenged the industry to find new, better and more environmentally acceptable manufacturing methodologies.

With the relentless rise in silver prices over the past couple of years has come a packaging production cost challenge for device manufacturers: how to manage the faster, better, cheaper demands of consumers alongside such a challenging market factor.

Addressing the demanding environmental and reliability requirements of modern printed circuit board (PCB) products, Henkel has formulated Hysol PC40-UMF, a
solvent-free conformal coating material that offers outstanding performance while delivering a sustainable alternative to solvent-based coatings.

Designed with modern manufacturing requirements in mind, Henkel Electronic Materials has formulated Multicore MF210, a no-clean sustained activity flux that is compatible with both lead-free and tin-lead processes.

The latest in a series of recent materials innovation successes, Henkel Electronics today announced the development and commercial availability of its Ablestik C100 series conductive die attach films.

Already well‐known as a viable alternative to traditional potting materials and processes, the robust Macromelt low pressure molding solution from Henkel is now making huge inroads with applications for the green and portable energy and medical electronics sectors. The streamlined processing is certainly a factor for Macromelt’s widespread adoption, but its exceptional performance and ability to meet some strict requirements has accelerated its acceptance, particularly in the hybrid automotive market.

With the electronics content of modern automobiles increasing substantially over the last decade, the materials used to facilitate device interconnection, protection and thermal control have also transformed to address next‐generation requirements. Obviously, the location of the electronic device within the vehicle drives the materials requirements.

When it comes to addressing the thermal management demands of today’s advanced electronics devices, there is no “one size fits all” solution. Different applications and user preferences dictate the material type and performance to be selected. One thing is universal, however: effective thermal management – especially at the TIM2 level – is more critical than ever, as devices continue to shrink in footprint and increase in functionality and, therefore, keep getting hotter.

Recognizing his technical expertise and dedication to the surface-mount and microelectronics packaging sectors, electronics industry colleagues have nominated and elected Henkel’s Brian Toleno, Ph.D. to the Surface Mount Technology Association’s (SMTA) Board of Directors. Toleno’s term will span three years, during which time he will serve on the association’s planning and globalization committee.

The field of printed electronics is certainly not new. In fact, companies have been using various printing techniques to make products such as membrane switches and keypads for well over 20 years.

While design and assembly of today’s smaller, higher functioning semiconductor devices continues to be challenging, addressing the thermal requirements of modern power packages from a materials point of view is arguably one of the most pressing issues facing this market sector.

There’s a lot of talk about sustainability these days. While some firms have truly embraced a plan to drive toward more environmentally responsible products and operations, many still haven’t adopted sustainability objectives as part of their corporate culture. For Henkel, the former is most assuredly the case. In fact, Henkel’s sustainability strategy encompasses the whole of Henkel Corporation and its entire value chain.

Though there is no official, government‐mandated requirement forcing the production of halogen‐free products and, therefore, the use of halogen‐free materials, the electronics industry is arguably moving in that direction. This industry‐sponsored effort is being driven primarily by increasingly environmentally‐conscious customers, pressure from non‐governmental environmental organizations and the desire by suppliers to be proactive.

Complexity, functionality, miniaturization and cost-efficiency have been and continue to be the mantra of the electronics industry. Arguably, no segment is more keenly aware of this fact than the semiconductor packaging sector.

While greases and phase change thermal interface materials (TIMs) have been established as the dominant products for thermal management of electronic devices, new demands for certain applications have given manufacturers cause to seek alternatives.

For the fourth time in a row, Henkel has been recognized as sector leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) and the Dow Jones Sustainability Europe Index (DJSI Europe). Henkel took again first place in the Non-durable Household Products category and is the sole company of its sector in the DJSI World and DJSI Europe. The indices list corporations that follow the principles of sustainable development in their business operations.

Recognized for its ease of use and cost-effectiveness with die attach processes for leadframe packages, Henkel has extended its Wafer Backside Coating (WBC) portfolio to also include a solution for stacked die packages. Ablestik WBC-8901UV has been designed to address the demanding requirements of multiple die stack applications for the memory market segment, including packages such as TSOPs, MCPs and FMCs (Flash Memory Cards).

Consumers continue to drive demand for smaller, thinner and more capable electronic devices which, then, require integrated packages that can cope with today’s new product footprints. For packaging specialists, that means the processing of thinner wafers and stacking of much thinner die. The catch? All of this has to be achieved at an end unit cost that is palatable and marketable to tech‐savvy consumers.

Never content to rest on the laurels of its proven lead-free success, Henkel has developed and launched Multicore LF620: a new lead-free solder paste that effectively delivers on a broad range of demanding requirements, essentially offering a lead-free paste that has it all.

The electronics industry's never-ending miniaturization quest has constantly challenged conventional processes, forcing solutions to problems that are a direct result of the move to such tight geometries. At board level, it's safe to say that a large majority of these issues have to do with the deposit volumes required to achieve high-integrity solder joints for such small components. So, the soldering process - from print through reflow - is front and center.

“Henkel has made a good start to the fiscal year, with all our business sectors contributing. Despite the persistently challenging environment, Laundry & Home Care and Cosmetics/Toiletries continued their successful development of recent quarters, while Adhesive Technologies also returned to robust rates of sales growth,” said Kasper Rorsted, Chairman of the Henkel Management Board.

Building on a rich history of industry honors and product accolades, Henkel Corporation was once again recognized for its innovation initiatives at the recent APEX event in Las Vegas, Nevada. Two of the company’s most recent product advances, Loctite PowerstrateXtreme Printable (PSX-P) and Hysol ECCOBOND CA3556HF, were at the top of the leaderboard for two well-established honors programs.

Delivering a robust alternative to high-temperature solder processes, Henkel has developed Hysol ECCOBOND CA3556HF, a silver-filled electrically conductive adhesive designed to offer fast cure at low temperature. The material is ideal for high-throughput production processes and applications that dictate high peel strength, such as the assembly of photovoltaic (PV) modules, automotive sensors and membrane switches that incorporate temperature-sensitive substrates.

Addressing the challenges posed by traditional greases and phase-change thermal interface materials, Henkel has developed and commercialized Loctite PowerstrateXtreme Printable (PSX-P), a new print-friendly thermal management product.

With numerous potential applications and a plethora of formulations from which to choose, it is often difficult to know how to select the best conformal coating for the job. Understanding the application and end use are critical in the decision but even that isn’t all you need to know. You may select a silicone-based conformal coating because you have very high and very low temperature performance requirements.

Though much of the chatter about the lead-free transition has quieted as the electronics industry seems to have settled into the new manufacturing requirements, that's doesn't mean lead-free innovation has followed suit. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth - at least as far as some materials suppliers are concerned. There are still countless applications where traditional SAC formulations simply don't deliver.

Henkel has been included in the list of the “World’s Most Ethical Companies” for the third year in a row. The ranking prepared by the US Ethisphere Institute recognizes companies from around the globe for their exemplary ethical approach to corporate governance and their commitment to sustainable development.

Not only are today’s package designers and assemblers faced with the inherent design and functionality challenges associated with smaller device footprints and higher I/O counts, but they must also ensure that proper thermal control is built into advanced electronics packages. In fact, heat management for modern power semiconductor devices such as rectifiers, power transistors, amplifiers and countless other consumer and automotive applications is one of the most pressing issues facing the packaging industry.