Disclosed herein are unitary printed circuit boards (PCBs) and methods of using them for testing an integrated circuit (IC). In some embodiments, a unitary PCB comprises a main board portion and a flexible PCB portion, which are configured to be detached from each other at a separation location on the unitary PCB. The main board portion comprises a plurality of pads, and the flexible PCB portion comprises a plurality of through-holes, where a layout of the through-holes corresponds to a layout of the plurality of pads. In some embodiments, a method of testing an IC of a device comprises separating the unitary PBC into a main board portion and a flexible PCB portion, attaching the IC to the main board portion, soldering the main board portion to a platform PCB of the device, and attaching the flexible PCB portion to the main board portion.

Gerber data for a substrate includes coordinates for physical features on the substrate. The coordinates are relative to a substrate origin point on the substrate. The gerber data allows a user to specify any of the physical features as soldering targets of a soldering apparatus that includes a motor for moving a soldering iron according to coordinates relative to a system origin point of the soldering apparatus. When the substrate is placed on the soldering apparatus, its substrate origin point differs from the system origin point of the soldering apparatus. The user may input coordinates for the substrate origin point, which are used by the soldering apparatus to derive coordinates, usable by soldering apparatus, from coordinates in the gerber data. In this way, it is possible to reduce the workload of the user when programming the soldering apparatus to perform a soldering process.

Gerber data for a substrate includes coordinates for physical features on the substrate. The coordinates are relative to a substrate origin point on the substrate. The gerber data allows a user to specify any of the physical features as soldering targets of a soldering apparatus that includes a motor for moving a soldering iron according to coordinates relative to a system origin point of the soldering apparatus. When the substrate is placed on the soldering apparatus, its substrate origin point differs from the system origin point of the soldering apparatus. The user may input coordinates for the substrate origin point, which are used by the soldering apparatus to derive coordinates, usable by soldering apparatus, from coordinates in the gerber data. In this way, it is possible to reduce the workload of the user when programming the soldering apparatus to perform a soldering process.

Methods for manufacturing a textile article having conductive yarn and an integrated electronic device are disclosed. An embodiment of the method includes receiving computer-readable instruction indicative of a knitting pattern of the textile article. Based on the instructions, a textile is formed by knitting conductive yarn and non-conductive yarn. A weld is applied at a junction where two or more conductive paths meet to create a bond between the two or more conductive paths.

The present invention discloses a solder paste laser induced forward transfer device and method. The device comprises a laser, a beam shaping module, an optical path adjustment module, a solder paste transfer module and a computer control system, wherein the laser is connected to the beam shaping module, followed by the optical path adjustment module, and the solder paste transfer module is located below the optical path adjustment module. The beam shaping module comprises a beam expanding lens, an aperture, a flat-top beam shaper and a spatial light modulator. The optical path adjustment module comprises a two-dimensional galvanometer and an f-θ lens. The solder paste transfer module consists of a transparent substrate, a solder paste film, a clamp, a Z-axis lifting table, a receiving substrate, and an XYZ precise moving platform. The computer control system consists of a computer and drivers of other devices. The device and method can achieve mask-free, non-contact and high-precision solder paste transfer, thereby greatly shortening the production cycle and reducing the production cost.

An electrical assembly may include a contactor, a bus bar connected to the contactor, a bracket connected to the bus bar, a flexible circuit electrically connected to the contactor, and/or a cooling member connected to the bracket. A method of assembling an electrical assembly may include disposing a flexible circuit at least partially on and/or in the bracket, connecting a bus bar with the one or more contactors, connecting the bus bar with the bracket, electrically connecting the flexible circuit to the one or more contactors, disposing a cooling member on or about the bracket, and/or connecting the cooling member with the bracket.

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to an in-situ warpage monitoring system and method for preventing head-in-pillow (HIP) or other potential defect escapes during a solder reflow process. In a non-limiting embodiment of the invention, a product is passed through a reflow oven. The product can include a printed circuit board (PCB). An amount of warpage of the product is measured at one or more monitoring devices positioned along the reflow oven. Each measured amount of warpage is compared to a predetermined warpage limit. The product is sorted into one of a plurality of designated lots based on the comparison. The lots can include a pass lot, a fail lot, and a marginal pass lot.

A lead-free solder ball is provided which suppresses interfacial peeling in a bonding interface of a solder ball, fusion defects which develop between the solder ball and solder paste, and which can be used both with Ni electrodes plated with Au or the like and Cu electrodes having a water-soluble preflux applied atop Cu. The lead-free solder ball for electrodes of BGAs or CSPs consists of 1.6-2.9 mass % of Ag, 0.7-0.8 mass % of Cu, 0.05-0.08 mass % of Ni, and a remainder of Sn. It has excellent resistance to thermal fatigue and to drop impacts regardless of the type of electrodes of a printed circuit board to which it is bonded, which are Cu electrodes or Ni electrodes having Au plating or Au/Pd plating as surface treatment.

Provided is a lead-free solder alloy that has excellent tensile strength and ductility, does not deform after heat cycles, and does not crack. The In and Bi content are optimized and the Sb and Ni content are adjusted. As a result, this solder alloy has an alloy composition including, by mass, 1.0 to 7.0% of In, 1.5 to 5.5% of Bi, 1.0 to 4.0% of Ag, 0.01 to 0.2% of Ni, and 0.01 to 0.15% of Sb, with the remainder made up by Sn.

A method of making an electronic device may include forming at least one circuit layer that includes solder pads on a substrate and forming at least one liquid crystal polymer (LCP) solder mask having mask openings therein. The method may also include forming at least one thin film resistor on the LCP solder mask and coupling the at least one LCP solder mask to the substrate so that the at least one thin film resistor is coupled to the at least one circuit layer and so that the solder pads are aligned with the mask openings.