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[Article] Solder-less circuits (apparently)
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tooki:

--- Quote from: coppercone2 on December 03, 2022, 02:36:18 pm ---it could be either one IMO, you just need chemical recycling technology for dealing with the byproducts to remake copper. Always efficency improvements to be made there.

--- End quote ---
If you’re referring to my prior post: It’s not about efficiency, though it benefits that too. It’s that plated through-holes are inherently an additive process, and they’re now omnipresent. You have to do it additively.
tooki:

--- Quote from: NiHaoMike on December 03, 2022, 02:46:15 pm ---
--- Quote from: tooki on December 03, 2022, 02:26:44 pm ---Not really. It’s not like home PCB etching which is purely subtractive. Commercial PCB production is surprisingly a mostly additive process these days. There are some videos by PCB manufacturers going through the detailed steps, and it’s quite different from what one might intuitively expect.

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The copper layer still seems to be done as a sheet that gets etched away. The solder mask and silkscreen are done with an additive process.
[video]

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Even in that video, which does NOT cover all the steps in detail, they say that they have to “add copper”.

The cladding on the bare boards is just enough to allow a clean etch. It’s then additively built up to the final thickness. This is necessary because played through-holes are necessarily an additive process.

(Solder mask can be subtractive, using laminated-on film that’s then exposed and developed, or additively using a silkscreen process followed by UV curing.)
coppercone2:
there are down sides to reliability doing it that way vs rolled copper, in terms of surface finish and fracturability. The electrodeposited stuff cracks easier/differently (complex tradeoff). Lots of different way to get even the raw copper sheet for a etch, let alone additive manufacturing.

options  ;D


for PCB raw stock, they like to dip a roller in a electroplate solution and spin it till it gets thick enough to cut off.
jpanhalt:
Chemically deposited silver as described is quite shiny (it is still used for front surface mirrors), solderable, and flexible.
ebastler:

--- Quote from: NiHaoMike on December 03, 2022, 02:46:15 pm ---The copper layer still seems to be done as a sheet that gets etched away. The solder mask and silkscreen are done with an additive process.


--- End quote ---

Ah, right. I can see how thinking about additive processes reminded you of that video.
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