Thermoset resin flow models for printed circuit board laminates

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10169499-B2
Application number	US-201514798818-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 14, 2015
Priority date	Jul 14, 2015
Publication date	Jan 1, 2019
Grant date	Jan 1, 2019

Abstract

In an example, a method includes storing thermoset resin rheology data associated with a thermoset resin at a memory. The thermoset resin rheology data includes a plurality of sets of dynamic fluid flow properties that are measured for the thermoset resin. The method includes receiving, at a computing device, information associated with a printed circuit board (PCB) laminate design. The method also includes receiving, at the computing device, a first set of PCB lamination parameters. The method further includes storing, at the computing device, a first thermoset resin flow model. The first thermoset resin flow model is generated based on the thermoset resin rheology data, the information associated with the PCB laminate design, and the first set of PCB lamination parameters.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
storing thermoset resin rheology data at a memory, the thermoset resin rheology data including a plurality of dynamic fluid flow properties that are measured for a thermoset resin;
receiving, at a computing device, information associated with a printed circuit board (PCB) laminate design;
receiving, at the computing device, a first set of PCB lamination parameters;
storing, at the computing device, a first thermoset resin flow model that is generated based on the thermoset resin rheology data, the information associated with the PCB laminate design, and the first set of PCB lamination parameters;
sending first instructions to a PCB lamination device; and
forming a first printed circuit board laminate according to the first set of PCB lamination parameters.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining, based on the first thermoset resin flow model, whether a first PCB lamination process that is based on the first set of PCB lamination parameters is expected to result in resin starvation.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising, in response to determining that the first PCB lamination process is expected to result in resin starvation, modifying at least one parameter of the first set of PCB lamination parameters to generate a second set of PCB lamination parameters.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein modifying the at least one parameter includes modifying a temperature, a pressure, a rate of temperature change, or a combination thereof.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the thermoset resin rheology data includes:
a first set of dynamic fluid flow properties for the thermoset resin, the first set of dynamic fluid flow properties corresponding to the first set of PCB lamination parameters; and
a second set of dynamic fluid flow properties for the thermoset resin, the second set of dynamic fluid flow properties corresponding to the second set of PCB lamination parameters.

6. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
generating a second thermoset resin flow model based on the thermoset resin rheology data, the information associated with the PCB laminate design, and the second set of PCB lamination parameters; and
determining, based on the second thermoset resin flow model, whether a second PCB lamination process that is based on the second set of PCB lamination parameters is expected to result in resin starvation.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising storing, at the computing device, the second set of PCB lamination parameters responsive to determining that the second PCB lamination process is not expected to result in resin starvation.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that formation of the first printed circuit board laminate according to the first set of PCB lamination parameters results in resin starvation;
modifying at least one parameter of the first set of PCB lamination parameters to generate a second set of PCB lamination parameters;
sending second instructions to the PCB lamination device; and
forming a second printed circuit board laminate according to the second set of PCB lamination parameters.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that formation of the first printed circuit board laminate according to the first set of PCB lamination parameters results in a dielectric thickness between adjacent layers of the first printed circuit board laminate that does not satisfy a dielectric thickness threshold;
modifying at least one parameter of the first set of PCB lamination parameters to generate a second set of PCB lamination parameters; and
sending second instructions to the PCB lamination device to form a second printed circuit board according to the second set of PCB lamination parameters.

10. The method of claim 1 , whcrcin:
the first set of PCB lamination parameters is associated with a PCB lamination process that includes a plurality of process stages, the plurality of process stages including at least a first process stage and a second process stage;
the first process stage corresponds to a first set of process conditions;
the second process stage corresponds to a second set of process conditions that is different from the first set of process conditions; and
the thermoset resin rheology data that is stored at the memory includes a first set of dynamic fluid flow properties for the thermoset resin, wherein the first set of dynamic fluid flow properties are determined by monitoring fluid flow properties of the thermoset resin during application of the first set of process conditions during a first time period and the second set of process conditions during a second time period.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the first set of dynamic fluid flow properties includes dynamic viscosity values for the thermoset resin as a function of temperature and reaction state, and wherein the dynamic viscosity values are measured for the thermoset resin during the first time period and the second time period.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the first set of process conditions includes a first temperature and a first pressure, and wherein the second set of process conditions includes a second temperature and a second pressure.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first temperature is different from the second temperature.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first pressure is different from the second pressure.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage device comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform operations including:
receiving information associated with a printed circuit board (PCB) laminate design that includes multiple layers associated with a thermoset resin;
receiving a first set of PCB lamination parameters;
retrieving first stored thermoset resin rheology data including a first set of dynamic fluid flow properties for the thermoset resin;
generating a first thermoset resin flow model based on the first set of dynamic fluid flow properties for the thermoset resin, the information associated with the PCB laminate design, and the first set of PCB lamination parameters;
sending instructions to a PCB lamination device; and
forming a printed circuit board according to the first set of PCB lamination parameters.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 15 , the operations further comprising:
determining that formation of the printed circuit board according to the first set of PCB lamination parameters results in resin starvation; and
modifying the PCB laminate design by selecting a thermoset material with an increased thermoset resin content to replace at least one layer of the multiple layers associated with the thermoset resin.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 15 , the operations further comprising:
determining, based on the first thermoset resin flow model, that a first PCB lamination process that is based on the first set of PCB lamination parameters is expected to result in resin starvation;
modifying at least one parameter of the first set of PCB lamination parameters to generate a second set of PCB lamination parameters;
retrieving second stored thermoset resin rheology data including a second set of dynamic fluid flow properties for the thermoset resin; and
generating a second thermoset resin flow model based on the second set of dynamic fluid flow properties for the thermoset resin, the information associated with the PCB laminate design, and the second set of PCB lamination parameters.

18

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Kuczynski Joseph
• Sinha Arvind K
• Splittstoesser Kevin A
• Tofil Timothy J

Classifications

• G06F30/23 Primary

  using finite element methods [FEM] or finite difference methods [FDM] · CPC title

• G06F17/5068

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F17/5018 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F30/39 Primary

  Circuit design at the physical level (physical level design for reconfigurable circuits G06F30/347) · CPC title

• G06F2115/12

  Printed circuit boards [PCB] or multi-chip modules [MCM] · CPC title