Delivering on our commitment to provide a valued competitive advantage, Ticer Technologies has installed an Applications and Development Laboratory and a state-of-the-art Analytical Laboratory. The core objective of the analytical laboratory is the utilization of metallurgical and materials science instrumentation and techniques to assist customers in understanding the science of materials and the interactions between process and material properties. This suite of services enables full characterization of our products prior to market introduction, sustains mature products, and supports customer needs. The laboratory’s layered analysis architecture also brings together integral process support while customers evaluate our materials for their applications. Materials Application and Development Laboratory Our ability to perform analysis on site provides Ticer with real-time feedback. We are able to stress process parameters to generate a complete profile of manufacturing process limits. Our customers benefit from our detailed understanding of the interactions of process and materials in a variety of embedded resistor applications. For our base materials, industry standard methodologies and instrumentation are used to better understand and improve materials, processing and interaction. Uniformity of copper thickness, isotropic properties of copper and resistor alloy and fatigue ductility are routinely evaluated. The capability to build and test resistor cores is fundamental in our efforts to provide design for manufacturability (DfM) ground rules. Within our laboratory, we process resistor foil with new substrate materials to evaluate processing parameters. We measure resistivity, peel strength, thermal coefficient of resistivity, power handling, thermal dissipation and management to profile the relationship between design and performance. Building printed circuit innerlayers is just the beginning. Our applications laboratory is also equipped with high temperature lamination, surface prep, develop, etch and strip process capability. We build composite printed circuit boards to profile the manufacturing process and understand the effect of these process steps. To validate the robustness of our material, our lab measures peel strength and performs environmental tests, including elevated temperature and humidity at ambient pressure. Our laboratory evaluates our products in strenuous conditions to profile our products for robustness and beyond reasonable life cycle. We test to customer /industry specification for thermal cycling, humidity, solder reflow, and Highly Accelerated Stress Testing (HAST). Additionally, to understand the limits of performance we perform testing to failure for power handling, adhesion, ESD, and flexible endurance. Failure analysis is also a integral part of Ticer’s applications lab. Cross-sectioning microscopy and unlayering of PWBs are just two of the tools we employ in root cause analysis. Analytical Laboratory While DfM testing is critical to defining processing parameters, Ticer’s core competency in metallurgy and materials science provides our customers with a unique competitive advantage. Our ability to examine interfaces at both the macro and micro levels provides detailed understanding of the change in material structure and the interactions during core and PCB build. The chart below describes Ticer’s analytical laboratory capability and the methods employed. > Click here to download SEM and EDAX instrumentation can quickly and accurately characterize surface morphology and surface chemistries. Chemical and optical analyses provide additional material science capability. The integrated laboratory enables Ticer Technologies’ to provide customers with critical insight into technical solutions to a number of timely issues. Our laboratory capabilities play a crucial role in developing and evaluating new materials and processes, supporting existing materials, building confidence among key stakeholders, and advancing new ideas to implementation in a timely fashion.