The ongoing effort to shrink components and circuit boards presents a persistent obstacle when it comes to solder paste printing with laser-cut stainless-steel stencils. Furthermore, advancements in laser technology are in sync with enhancements in coating finishes for these stencils. StenTech BluPrint CVD Surface Treatment is a method for depositing thin films of materials onto a substrate by introducing chemical precursors into a reactor chamber, where they react and deposit as a solid material on the surface.
“We are ecstatic to roll out StenTech BluPrint, a precision stencil engineered to address the requirements of high-volume printing consistency,” said Jeremy Nolan, Dir. Operations, StenTech.
The advantage of the surface treatment lies in its consistent thickness across all areas, eliminating the dependence on the dynamic physics involved in spraying a liquid. It offers consistently repeatable processing without variation, providing a virtually indestructible coating that remains resilient without degradation and ensures uniform printing, with the only variation being the area ratio, while each aperture remains identical. This eliminates the need for frequent replacements and ensures a longer lifespan for the stencil, ultimately reducing maintenance and replacement costs associated with traditional coatings.
The process initiates with a plasma polishing step before the application of the chemical vapor deposition process. This treatment yields a very smooth, high-gloss surfaces with enhanced corrosion resistance and involves polishing both the surface of the stencil foil and the sidewalls of the apertures. The outcome of this subtractive procedure is a smoother sidewall, setting the foundation for the subsequent coating. The CVD Surface Treatment is then applied at approximately 1000 times less thickness compared to current alternatives with a range of 3–5 micrometers versus 3 nanometers.
