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AIR EMISSIONS FROM LASER DRILLING OF PRINTED WIRING BOARD MATERIALS
Citation:
Darvin*, C H. AND C. Kershner. AIR EMISSIONS FROM LASER DRILLING OF PRINTED WIRING BOARD MATERIALS. In Proceedings, IPC Printed Circuits Expo '99. (1999).
Impact/Purpose:
To characterize gases generated during laser drilling of printed wiring board (PWB) material and identifies the pollutants and generation rates found during the drilling process
Description:
The paper gives results of a study to characterize gases generated during laser drilling of printed wiring board (PWB) material and identifies the pollutants and generation rates found during the drilling process. Typically found in the missions stream were trace amounts of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocyanic acid, and mathane. The electronics packaging industry has traditionally relied on mechanical drilling systems to prepare holes in PWB material. Recently, however, a potentially new and innovative application for laser technology was developed for drilling PWB holes. This application of lasers has the potential to significantly reduce the time and cost of producing PWBs. The process is also predicted to reduce the volume of solid waste product generated during PWB manufacture. The continuing question presented on the use of laser drilling is its potential for producing air pollution which may be generated from thermal decomposition at the laser drilling site.
