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???
03/22/06 18:55
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#112815 - It's a matter of cost.
Responding to: ???'s previous message
Yes, you can get a U.S. manufacturer to produce some useable boards, but the cost will keep you from making any money. Inspection of assembled BGA boards is via x-ray and that's not always definitive as to what the real problem is. It's not free, either.

Solder mask tolerances as well as land tolerances are pretty risky, and if the mask is messed up, the BGA won't "ride" correctly during the soldering process.

Of course, even if it's just boards, one can get them delivered more quickly from Asia than from inside the U.S. What's more, "prototype" runs often are advertised as "cheap" but that's what they are, meaning low-quality, high-tolerance, with no mask, no sikscreen, etc.

Before you get into building PCB's for BGA and CSP devices, I'd be certain you're willing to hold <1 mil tolerances on etching and about the same amount on drilling. Half-millimeter pin or ball pitch is common, and escape routes from such small devices with many, Many, MANY balls are not easy with tracks wider than 3.5 mils and vias with OD's of >7 mils. That means plated holes with laser-drilled diameters of 3-4 mils. I've had people attempt this with really thin top-layer material, on the order of 5 mils thick, in order to avoid problems with the vias, but for most of them it's a tolerance problem. The Chinese shops have no trouble at all with this sort of thing, although it's not terribly cheap with them either. The only thing is that their help knows that if they mess up, they'll be taken out back of the plant, summarily shot, and their salvagable parts sold off, making the company a much better profit than what they'd have made on the next year's work from that guy. If it weren't for their IP policies, it would be perfect.

RE


List of 9 messages in thread
TopicAuthorDate
land grid array            01/01/70 00:00      
   BGA            01/01/70 00:00      
      Yes, indeed!            01/01/70 00:00      
         unbelievable            01/01/70 00:00      
            well            01/01/70 00:00      
               xGA is a charm            01/01/70 00:00      
                  ha ha            01/01/70 00:00      
         I wish I'd known you when,            01/01/70 00:00      
            It's a matter of cost.            01/01/70 00:00      

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