Colonial uses MacDermid's Black HoleŽ direct plate system in lieu of the conventional electroless copper process for metallization of through holes. This process offers the ability to produce a higher aspect ratio hole with greater reliability than ever before. Black HoleŽ is processed through a horizontal conveyorized line manufactured by MacDermid Equipment. This line uses flood head technology for more positive solution movement through the drilled holes. Desmear is accomplished on multilayer boards using a conventional permanganate system.

Colonial also employs the latest in electroplating technology. All copper plating is performed using our own custom airless manual copper plating system. Manual plating allows for greater flexibility, more operator control, and more timely throughput for small quantity and prototype orders. To enhance the quality of our copper plating, we use reverse pulse rectification by Kraft CPS, Ltd., which is computer controlled for accuracy and consistency.. The benefits of reverse pulse plating include:

• surface to hole copper thickness ratios of 1:1, even on high aspect ratio designs
• increased capacity by minimizing the need for seriously reduced current density for dense designs
• superior distribution across the panel
• more consistency in plating, which minimizes solder mask and nomenclature issues over high plated traces
• consistently high tensile and elongation quality of the copper deposit

Solder leveling is achieved with the help of our QuickSilver hot air solder leveler from CemCo, Ltd. Dual pin fixturing and a 24" solder pot allow us to accommodate panels up to 24x24. Insertion of boards into the solder pot is effected by means of a rodless air cylinder, and controls for insertion speed, withdrawal speed, and air knife pressures are all available to the operator. A side clamp mechanism is also available for processing profiled panels where it is not possible to encroach within the circuit image area.

Gold is where you find it. At Colonial, we find it in the Technic FFP mini tab plater, where we plate nickel typically up to 200 microinches and hard gold typically up to 50 microinches. We also find it in our deep nickel/gold process, where we can panel plate selective nickel and soft gold, which is especially adept for wire bonding applications.