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today, we’re doing 100% bottom- side inspection and we’re at about 80% of our top-side inspec- tion. And we would not be there had it not been for the machine and for the support for the ma- chine from the Koh Young team.” The programmer who took


the lead on this project is Hannah Geisler. She shares her own expe- rience, “This wasn’t something that they had originally thought of to use the machine for. Typical- ly, this AOI looks at solder paste on a PCB. In this case we’re actu- ally looking at components. So we’re looking to make sure that the solder is a complete fillet or that no surface mount parts have been thrown off during the selec- tive soldering process.” She adds that she has been working closely with Koh Young and any time she has a concern she contacts them. “They’ll jump on the equipment themselves online and they’ll help me sort out any problems that I’m having,” she says. As with all of ADCO Circuits’


Koh Young inspection equipment, it is not just about pass/fail inspec- tion. Barrett goes on to say that a second bonus is for parts that are on the bottom side. “When we run a selective wave, we have the po- tential to knock off components that are in those general areas. So, we’re not just looking at surround- ing SMT components to see if there was any impact to those,” he says. “We’re also picking up any solder balling and measuring that solder balling. Thus, we’re able to decide whether it is a defect or not. It’s grown well beyond just looking at joints.”


Technical Challenges There are unique technical


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challenges. Geisler explains, “It can be pretty challenging a lot of the time with a solder fillet on through-hole components. On the bottom side you can have a lot of mirrored surfaces, so the panel actually looks like it’s in- verted.” She’s been working closely with Koh Young to fix that. “There are some lighting levels that you can change. There are some different ways that it’s actually looking at the part that you can change to get yourself the best image to see that solder fillet come through,” says Geisler. She adds that it’s also been challenging to look at the top side to make sure that nothing has been moved around.


March, 2024 Koh Young Transforms ADCO’s Inspection


“But again, I’m working with Koh Young, and they’ve been re- ally helpful sorting all that out, trying to get the best angle and the best image,” she says. The next stage is to roll out


this solution throughout the fa- cility. Barrett was delighted with the collaboration and the result. He concludes, “Right now we have the one machine to do the through-hole inspection. It will probably be two or three quickly down the road.” Contact: Koh Young Tech-


nology, 1950 Evergreen Boule- vard, Suite 200, Duluth, GA 30096 % 480-403-5000 E-mail: brent.fischthal@kohyoung.com Web: www.kohyoung.com r


Progress in Terahertz Technology


Continued from page 1 tromagnetic properties in the THz range, providing unprecedented control over signals at these fre- quencies. Although various 2D metamaterial (or “metasurface”) absorbers have been proposed, most of them still suffer from seri- ous limitations. One common problem is


that once the structural pattern of a metasurface absorber is de- termined and manufactured, its electromagnetic performance be- comes fixed. This lack of tunabil- ity restricts the possible applica- tions of such devices. Against this backdrop, a re-


search team from China has now developed a new carbon-based tunable metasurface absorber with an ultrawide, tunable band- width in the THz range.


The proposed absorber is


centered around the use of graphene and graphite mi- crostructures as resonators and a graphite layer as a back-re- flecting surface. In terms of geometry, the


absorber comprises three thin layers. The top layer is a pat- terned conductive layer contain- ing an arrangement of concentric graphite rings interconnected by graphene wires, while the second one is a simple dielectric that helps dissipate unwanted elec- tromagnetic waves. Finally, the third layer is an absorption layer that prevents THz waves from transmitting right through the device, thus maximizing absorp- tion efficiency.


Remarkable Absorption Both the material selection Continued on page 8


Contents


Tech-Op-Ed ........................... 4 Tech Watch ...........................10 People......................................12 Business News.......................14 Business Briefs......................15 Management............................16 EMS ........................................18 Electronic Mfg. Prods..............28 Production...............................54 Partnering................................56 Distribution..............................58 New Products.........................76 High-Tech Events...................84 2024 Editorial Calendar...........84 Advertisers Index................... 86


Special Focus: Test & Inspection.....................60


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