Article: Prototron Tucson and High Frequency/RF Designs
By Kim O'Neil | Published on August 1, 2010 - 8:00 AM EST
Prototron’s Tucson AZ facility provides a wide range of specialized PCB technologies and services for both the commercial and defense related markets. Over the past several years this location has seen a significant increase in the demand for RF and high frequency related products. Today this particular market has grown to represent up to 40% of Tucson’s monthly bookings and the number continues to climb.
Roughly four years ago, Prototron in Tucson was limited in its processing capabilities of RF designs. At that time, our participation in this niche market was relegated to basic single and double sided designs with lead times of 2-3 weeks. Still, these intricate designs required precise etching, drilling, and routing capabilities and were not your typical single and double sided product.
Today RF designs continue to be a growing portion of our current product mix in at this location. As a result, the Tucson facility has added most all of the RF/High Frequency materials available today to its product offering including: Rogers 3000 Series, 4000 Series, 6000 Series, Duriods 5870 & 5880, Arlons RF Materials & Taconic RF Materials. We have installed a Plasma unit for surface activation and improved our etching, drilling, and routing capabilities with the purchase of new equipment. We have also significantly increased our process knowledge and are able to produce exceptional yields working with these specialty materials. Prototron Tucson has also added several new surface finishes that are in greater demand when building high frequency designs.
As our RF customer requirements grew, so did our abilities to manufacture more complex designs. Homogeneous multilayer constructions were the first step, but soon after came mixed dielectric multilayers. These mixed dielectric multilayer constructions can prove challenging in several of the manufacturing areas. The lamination of these non-symmetrical constructions is a process that Tucson has excelled at in recent years. Working closely with our material suppliers, Tucson has developed a unique lamination cycle that has greatly improved issues with bow and twist. Drilling and routing is another area where significant advancements have been achieved. Our drilled hole, edge plating, and final routing quality on these mixed dielectric multilayers are second to none. Additionally, having the Plasma process in-house gives us the ability to surface activate and desmear/etchback all in one process step, thereby reducing cycle times and costs.
Above all, we believe what sets us apart from the competition at Prototron Tucson is our skilled workforce. We have compiled a talented team of professionals who bring to our customers the value and reliability they have come to expect. Understanding the process characteristics of these materials has proven instrumental to our success in working with these complex and demanding designs. Whether it is tight etch tolerances on filters, cavity constructions, castellation’s, or unique shipping methods to protect fragile materials, we consistently deliver your high quality RF order on time.