The EPT laboratory is supported jointly by National Technology Agency (TEKES), Academy of Finland, Helsinki University of Technology, European Union and electronics industry. Its activities cover a broad range of issues associated with PCB technology.
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Department of Electrical and Communications Engineering , Otakaari 7 A, Espoo, 02150 , FINLAND
Laboratory of Electronics Production Technology is operating in the department of Electrical and Communication Engineering as well as in the Microelectronics Centre (Micronova) at the Helsinki University of Technology (HUT), where it has comprehensive facilities for design, manufacturing and reliability testing of electronics.
The laboratory has full-scale surface mount technology (SMT) line, class 100 and 1000 clean rooms for thin and thick film processing and for high density electronic and optical component assembly, printed wiring board fabrication shop, various bonders, wetting and adhesion testers with controlled atmospheres, advanced materials testing system (MTS), standard drop test facility, shock, environmental and corrosion chambers as well as the instruments for microstructural and chemical analyses (e.g. FE-SEM/EDS, C-SAM, FF-X-ray). The laboratory has numerous modelling tools (e.g. Mentor Graphics, Ansys, Abacus, Flowtherm, Thermo-calc, Difflux.
It is comprising presently of 25 researchers and research assistants - in addition to permanent staff - who are specialised in high density electronics fabrication technologies, new interconnection metallurgies, flexible substrate materials as well as in electrical, thermal, thermomechanical and physicochemical modelling of the reliability of interconnections in component, package and system levels. In addition, electrolytic and immersion plating of new lead-free solder alloys on contact metallisations of ICs and substrates are being developed. In theoretical studies the emphasis is on the reliability issues encountered in micro- and nanoscale multimaterial structures.
The laboratory has been supported first and foremost by Academy of Finland, the National Technology Agency (TEKES) and Finnish electronics industry. Unique in its joint financial support as well as in its multidisciplinary approaches in teaching and research the laboratory is in charge of the National Graduate School of Electronics Manufacturing, where experts in electronics manufacturing and reliability are being educated for taking their responsibility for developing electronic devices and systems for the next decades.
The National School of Electronics Manufacturing headed by professor Kivilahti has 34 post-graduates executing their studies and was established in the beginning of 1998 to reinforce teaching and research activities in electronics and optoelectronics manufacturing as well as in microsystem technology and thereby to promote the competitiveness of the Finnish electronics industry. The demand for highly skilful reliability experts on electronics is strongly increasing with the production volumes of high performance electronics. The program of the National Graduate School differs from the other existing graduate schools, because it is based on the co-operation between the Academy of Finland, TEKES, VTT Electronics and the electronics industry. This assures that all students accepted to theGraduate School become well aware of the industrial activities and the research and product developments.
The EPT lab has carried out a major Miniaturisation/Reliability project including lead-free - funded by TEKES, Nokia, Elcoteq, Aspomp et al since 1998. It is a member of the COST 531 Network - WG 3 Leader & Management Committee member.
Key:
Assembly, Finland, Reliability, Research organisation, Solders
