Specialized Products Division
Welcome to StenTech’s leading specialized products division PhotoStencil. the foremost authority in electroform stencil technology for laser-cut & nickel-based stencils.
Contact our expert
Call us: 719-599-4305
Welcome to StenTech’s leading specialized products division PhotoStencil. the foremost authority in electroform stencil technology for laser-cut & nickel-based stencils.
Contact our expert
Call us: 719-599-4305We are driven to provide our customers with the highest print performance laser-cut and nickel stencils in America and across nations. Photo Stencil’s new factory is equipped with clean rooms, R&D labs, proprietary new plating lines, and precision fabrication equipment, Advanced Nano coating, LED direct imaging (LDI) and AOI inspection.
PhotoStencil is the foremost authority in electroform stencil technology for laser-cut & nickel-based stencils and the only domestic provider of the most complex paste, flux, epoxy and special materials printing solutions.
We design and manufactures high performance stencils and tooling for a wide range of industries including some of the world’s largest semiconductor, defense, automotive, medical device, and electronics manufacturers.
Photo Stencil delivery times typically range from one to seven days depending upon the complexity of the job and the volumes required by the customer. Reiable and fast!
Photo Stencil is a division of StenTech the leading multi-national SMT printing solutions company and with over 20 locations across the US, Canada and Mexico we provide unsurpassed solutions and service wherever you are located.
A single stencil with varied thicknesses to print through.
• Thin area for small devices
• Thick area for large devices and
• Providing relief for raised areas on board
Photo Stencil’s step stencils offer significant flexibility in achieving the proper solder paste height and solder paste volume for the overall paste printing process. Photo Stencil is pioneer in the field of Step Stencil technology with all processes contained in house for the most comprehensive service available in the industry. Available in all stencil technologies; Electroformed, Laser Cut and Chemical Milled.
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Applications:
1. Print for miniature components like 0201 metric and on large pads simultaneously using single stencil.
2. Relief-Step Board Side provides –
Barcode Relief:
When the bar code is too close to PCB pads it can cause a gap between the stencil apertures and the pads. The relief pocket allows the stencil to cleanly gasket to the PCB. Raised via Pads: Raised via pads can prevent the stencil from gasketing to the PCB surface. A relief-step pocket around the vias prevents this situation.
Relief for Paste (Two-Print Stencil):
Used as 2nd stencil in two print process.
This stencil has steps to provide relief on already printed material on board.
• Steps stencils are also used for multi-level printing.
Step stencils can have steps on
1. Board side
2. Squeegee side
3. Both board and squeegee sides
Advantages:
• Available as ‘step up’ and ‘step down’ squeegee side, ‘step up’ PCB side or on both sides.
• Ideal for providing bar code relief and thus maintaining the maximum gasket.
• Matched Slit squeegee blades allow for flexure over the raised pocket areas.
• Multi-thickness steps available.
Match with Photo Stencils range of E-Blade™ squeegees for maximum life and performance.
Photo Stencil is the exclusive manufacturer of the patented AMTX electroformed stencil (including all improvements since 1998).
The mirror aperture walls provided by growing Nickel, atom by atom, around photo resist pillar in the Electroform Stencil process, release solder paste much easier than the walls of a Laser-cut apertures.
Applications:
Extensively used for SMT, µBGAs, Flip Chip, Wafer Bumping and various R&D stencils.
Advantages:
• Quick turnaround for large aperture count.
• Smooth aperture walls promote excellent paste transfer.
• Lower area ratios of the order of 0.43.
• Improved underscreen cleaning (USC) performance and reduced cleaning frequency.
• Excellent tensile strength and hardness:
• Increases stencil life.
Thickness:
Available in 75um (3mil) to 250um (10mil)
thicknesses with 2.5um (0.1mil) increments.
NiEX are Electroform Nickel Stencils , with electroformed Apertures, harder than our standard electroform Ni stencils.
Applications:
• Typically used for wafer bump stencils and other stencils in the thickness range 25um to 75um
• Paste print and Flux print stencils for wafer bumping, 3D stencils, Accuscreens, etc
Advantages:
• Superior hardness to our AMTX™
• Precise Aperture Sizes
• No need for post processing
• Higher process yields
• Smooth, trapezoidal aperture sidewalls maximizing material release.
• Increased stencil life due to unsurpassed tensile strength and hardness
Thickness:
Available in 13um (0.5mil) to 75um (3mil)
thicknesses with 2.5um (0.1mil) increments.
NiCut™ stencils are our standard Electroform (AMTX) Nickel Stencils with Laser Cut Apertures.
Photo Stencil’s range of NiCut stencils are the premier laser-cut stencils in the industry. These stencils utilize our electroform blank foil material to obtain the smoothest cut from our fiber optic laser system.
Applications:
• Ideal for applications with high density and mixed components.
• NiCut is ideal for fine pitch components including BGAs, QFNs and resistor networks.
• This stencil is surpassed only by our electroformed stencils.
Advantages:
• Highest accuracy
• Quickest turn-around available.
• Uniform stencil thickness independent of stencil density
• Economical high performance stencil.
• Proprietary E-Form process coupled with latest laser technology delivers smooth aperture walls.
• Improved paste transfer.
A single thickness electroform stencil , with relief areas not to damage the protruded sections on the board or unit.
Photo Stencil’s 3-D Electroform stencils are ideal for printing on substrate surfaces that have protrusions rising above the print surface. An example of this type protrusion might be a flip-chip device already mounted on the PCB prior to solder paste printing.
A single thickness Electroform Stencil is formed with a raised relief pocket positioned over the protrusion. A squeegee blade with a 25micron slit is ideal for allowing the squeegee blade to raise up over the raised pocket but still be able to print in front of and behind the raised pocket. In some cases where there are no apertures in front of or behind the raised area a notched squeegee blade is the ideal solution.
Applications:
Ideal for printing on substrate surfaces that have protrusions or pre-assembled components rising above the print surface.
Advantages:
• Successful solder paste or flux printing
• Simplified process for multi level printing.
• Single stencil requirement – multi function design.
• Higher assembly yields from successful solder paste printing.
Squeegee Blade requirement:
A squeegee blade with a 25micron slit (or appropriate to pocket height) to allow the squeegee blade to raise up over the raised pocket.
A special case of single thickness 3D electroform stencil used to print into a recessed pocket of the board. Stencil grown using the electroform process followed by – laser cutting of apertures (optional).
Applications:
• Typically used when depth of cavity is larger than can be accommodated by step stencils.
Advantages:
• To print into cavities for LED assembly.
• Print into open cavities for die assembly in embedded packaging.
Note:
Please contact our expert staff for any questions or aggressive values of cavity depth
Wafer bumping stencils are electroform stencils used to obtain bumps on wafer pads. The stencil usually has from 25,000 apertures up to 500,000 apertures.
Photo Stencil produces two different sets of stencil to achieve this (a)Paste Print stencils: A print process where solder paste is printed on die pad on the wafer, the wafer is then reflowed, melting the solder paste to form truncated spheres (bumps) on the wafer die
Applications:
Useful for bumping of wafers of various sizes and bump count and bump size (<200um).
Advantages:
Typically used when pitch is at least more than 2 times the bump diameter. (b) Flux print +Ball Drop Stencils: Set of two stencils.
A high performance metal mask/screen fabricated using an additive process (Ni). Each large area is printed by mesh of apertures to control print volume. Primarily used for printing on flexible electronics, to print varieties of pastes and inks. Technical Information:
• Various mesh sizes and wire thicknesses are available with the standard sizes such as
• Additional thickness and screen variation are also possible.
Applications:
• Accuscreens are designed to replace traditional stainless screens for printing thick film inks and other materials
• Accuscreens are printable on uneven surfaces and on flexible surfaces
• Accuscreens are used for controlled printing on large pad areas using a mesh pattern.
Advantages:
• Durable and chemical resistant than traditional screens.
• Perfectly flat squeegee-printing surface compared to the woven wire knuckles for woven screen mesh products.
• Tailor different mesh patterns can be used, as per paste/flux properties. Eg: hexagonal, oval, rectangles, squares, circles
• Mesh shape can be adjusted to material flow properties and viscosity
• Greater print deposit uniformity and higher printing yields
• Less pattern distortion since flat electroformed mesh does not stretch like screen wire mesh
• Longer life, up to 10 times longer than traditional screen
• Aggressive cleaning solvents can be used; there is no emulsion to wash-out
This is the second stencil from the set of Flux and ball-drop process used in wafer bumping. Flux is printed on to wafer pads using 1st stencil followed by using a wafer ball drop stencil to drop solder balls directly onto the connection pads of a wafer. Since flux is printed onto the wafer pads before the ball is dropped, it has optional relief or standoffs placed on contact side.
Stand off on wafer Ball drop stencil can be obtained by:
1. Laminating a mask (photoresist)on the wafer side of the stencil to keep the stencil from contacting the flux.
2. E-form Nickel rib layer is grown on wafer side
Applications:
• Ball drop stencils are used for different wafer sizes, sphere size and pad pitch.
• Easy to use, regular solder paste printer can be used for manual ball drop.
• Ball drop process is also preferred when the wafer pad is larger or pitch is tighter to use paste printing application.
Advantages:
• Used instead of wafer bumping using paste printing
Photo Stencil’s Applications Engineering Team includes some of the world’s foremost experts on stencil printing Whatever your printing challenges; poor paste release, tiny aperture requirements, printing for next-generation components, etc., members of our team are here to help you solve them. We consider ourselves to be an extension of your R&D team. Please click below to learn more about how we can work together to ensure you are achieving the best printing results possible.
