A modern electronics manufacturing environment is highly controlled. We need to be certain there’s no moisture or airborne contamination that could affect the performance or longevity of the product.
The Trizo production facility even generates its own Nitrogen onsite to ensure there’s always a clean and inert manufacturing environment. We do this to avoid oxidation and dross formation during production that could weaken soldered joints and cause them to fail.
But once they leave our facility, assemblies are subjected to anything but a clean and controlled environment. Moisture, extreme temperatures, chemicals, abrasion and vibration could all be routine hazards. So assemblies need protection.
Protective Layers for Delicate Electronics
Even in harsh real world conditions electronics assemblies are expected to perform with the highest levels of reliability. The conformal coating process applies a thin protective layer to complete assemblies or to specific areas to protect sensitive or vulnerable components.
There are different options for the treatment formulation and application method. Acrylic, alkyd, polyurethane, fluorinated polymer and acrylic conformal coatings are all used in modern electronics manufacturing, depending on the intended service environment.
Demanding Applications
Whatever coating compound is selected it needs to be specially formulated and sourced from a reliable manufacturer to meet the high-reliability demands of defence, aerospace and medical applications.
Conformal coatings can be applied by dipping or spraying. Within Trizo we typically use automated spraying or selective application using dipping and masks to provide the required level of protection. Coating materials include a UV marker so that correct application is easily monitored using UV lamps.
The thickness of the layer needs to be carefully controlled and gauged to ensure there are no issues with heat entrapment that could damage sensitive components.
Conformal coating adds a vital protective layer for many electronics applications but, like everything else, needs to be part of a finely controlled process to be effective.
Interested in learning more about modern electronics manufacturing for high reliability markets? Access our free resource centre to find out more.
