Consumer Electronics Industry Research Articles

Increased High-Temperature IC Packaging Reliability Using Die Extraction and Additive Manufacturing Assembly

Abstract Semiconductor parts are most often specified for use in the “commercial” 0 to 70°C and, to a lesser extent, in the “industrial” −40 to 85°C operating temperature range. These operating temperature ratings generally satisfy the demands of the dominant semiconductor customers in the computer, telecommunications, and consumer electronic industries. There is also a demand for parts rated beyond the “industrial” temperature range, primarily from the aerospace, military, oil and gas exploration, and automotive industries (−55 to +125C, and even higher). However, the demand has not been large enough to attract or retain the interest of major semiconductor part manufacturers to make these parts. In fact, wide temperature range parts are becoming obsolete and functionally equivalent parts are not replacing them. Today, for some applications, it is difficult to procure parts that meet engineering, economic, logistical, and technical integration requirements of product manufacturers, and that are rated for an extended temperature range (typically beyond 0 to 70°C). In some applications, the product is available only in the “commercial” temperature range, with commercial packaging. If the product application environment is outside the commercial range, steps must be taken to address this apparent incompatibility. For example, oil exploration and drilling applications require small, advanced communication electronics to work underground at high temperatures where cooling is not possible. This is where uprating comes into play. Despite the fact that a part can be uprated relative to functional performance at higher than specified temperatures, the original packaging and connectivity may not be reliable with long term exposure to greater than 150C due to Kirkendall voiding and general plastic degradation. However, if the original die with gold wire and aluminum pad bond is extracted from the original plastic commercial package and reassembled into a new ceramic package body, excellent reliability at temperatures exceeding 200C can be achieved. The original gold/aluminum bond interface can be removed and replaced with an electroless nickel, electroless palladium, immersion gold (ENEPIG) process, or a much more economical, automated process can be used. This process is discussed in the accompanying paper and utilizes additive manufacturing to place an aerosol jet silver deposition over the existing gold ball, interfacing with the remaining exposed aluminum. In this manner, a high-reliability connection system can be achieved which is immune to Kirkendall voiding for the temperature range of interest.

Future Directions for Consumer Electronics [Future Directions

Reports on new technologies and applications in the consumer electronics industry.

Challenges to implementing additive manufacturing in globalised production environments

This paper presents the current state of additive manufacturing (AM) implementation in complex supply chains, focusing especially on the globalised consumer electronics industry. A literature review sought to identify bottlenecks to technology transfer, while a qualitative study was carried out using interviews with case company personnel. Finally, an industry survey was used to quantitatively evaluate current production costs and delivery times for AM units. The results highlight the considerable barriers to transferring AM technology to engineering applications. However, there is an untapped potential for manufacturing applications in small-series and pre-series production at the product refinement stages. Furthermore, future projections of AM production throughput and cost reductions will disrupt organisational supply chains. This will lead organisations to create faster design, development and manufacturing cycles, unlocking novel applications and introducing new possibilities to change product architecture at any stage of the product development while compressing the supply chain and allowing for quick responses to changing customer demands.

Fabrication of microoptical freeform arrays on wafer level for imaging applications.

Miniaturized imaging systems combining an ultra-compact form factor in combination with the ability of refocusing and depth imaging have gained much interest in the field of mobile imaging. Therefore, artificial compound eye cameras are an extremely promising approach for the realization of compact monolithic camera modules on wafer level. Up to now, their imaging performance was limited to low resolution in the range of VGA format according to fabrication constrains given by the established microoptical fabrication methods, namely the reflow of photoresist. In order to overcome these classical limitations, the use of refractive freeform arrays (RFFA) instead of conventional microlens arrays is inevitable. To enable high volume and cost efficient mass production of artificial compound eye cameras for mass markets like the consumer electronics industry, their fabrication on wafer level is essential, but has not been published up to now. We present a wafer level based process chain enabling the fabrication of these elements for the first time.

Modular Upgradability in Consumer Electronics: Economic and Environmental Implications

SummaryModularly upgradable product designs have been advocated to offer environmental and economic advantages; however, they are not commonly used in the consumer electronics industry. In this article, we investigate the economic and environmental benefits and challenges of modular upgradability for consumer electronics. From an economic point of view, we posit that the limited adoption of modular upgradability in consumer electronics is owing to various demand‐, technology‐, and competition‐related issues. From an environmental point of view, we posit that modularly upgradable product designs may not necessarily lead to superior environmental outcomes. To reach meaningful conclusions regarding the environmental benefits of modular upgradability, one needs to understand how product architecture affects demand, production, and consumption patterns, which arise from endogenous consumer and manufacturer choices. It is also important to take into account that modular upgradability may have potentially differentiated effects in the production, consumption, and postuse phases of the lifecycle.

A model for crack initiation in the Li-ion battery electrodes

The development of high energy density Lithium-ion batteries is of intense interest due to their application in the electric car and consumer electronics industry. The primary limiter in using high energy density battery electrodes is the cracking of the electrode material due to the severe strain caused by the charging–discharging cycles. In this paper, a linear perturbation model is used to describe the evolution of the electrode surface under stress. The driving force for the surface undulation formation is the reduction in the electrode strain energy. The kinetics of mass transport is described by the surface and volume diffusion. The model predicts that the Si electrode will develop surface undulations of the order of sub-1μm length scale on the electrode surface, showing a reasonable agreement with experimental results reported in literature. Such surface undulations roughen the anode surface and can form notches that can act as crack initiation sites. It is also shown that this model is applicable when the temperature of the system is not constant and the system is not isolated. The limitations of the model are also discussed.

Investigating Synthetic Effects on Ni-Based Oxide As a Cathode Material for Li-Ion Batteries

Lithium-ion battery (LIBs) technology has already disrupted the consumer electronic industry that has a continuous requirement on lighter weight and smaller size. Nowadays, it has been considered as the most promising power source for electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). However, the mass adoption is still hindered by the battery performance and cost. Therefore, there is a definitive focus on increasing the energy density and lowering the cost in addition to ensure the other performance metrics such as in lifetime and safety. In the commercial Li-ion batteries, the layered transition metal oxides, such as LiCoO2, are widely used. Despite of its high theoretical capacity (> 270 mAh/g), LiCoO2 can only deliver about 140 - 170 mAh/g. This limited capacity as well as the high cost originated from the usage of Co has driven the research focus from LiCoO2 to other potential alternatives. The extensive research on the search of an alternative to LiCoO2 has identified LiNixMnyCozO2 (NMCs) (0 < x, y, z < 1) as a category of promising compositions for the use of cathode materials in Li-ion batteries in terms of energy density, cost and safety. Ni content has been recognized to play a key role in an effort to push towards the high-capacity end. There have been renewed interests in this research direction. However, high Ni content causes the tendency of lithium and transition metal cation mixing and propensity to catalyze the electrolyte oxidation. Additionally, there is an evidence of preferential segregation of Ni on the surface for both NMC and Li-rich NMCs. Here we are investigating the synthetic effects on the cation distribution, and electrochemical performance of Ni-based layered oxide in a battery. The influence of synthetic routes on the bulk and surface will be systematically investigated by synchrotron XRD and soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy. These findings will hopefully shed light on the further development of Ni-based electrode materials for Li-ion batteries.

Leveraging the Sustainability Potential of Mass Customization through Product Service Systems in the Consumer Electronics Industry

Companies experience an increasing importance for implementing sustainability concerns into their processes and product offerings. In the consumer electronics industry, traditional manufacturing-focused initiatives to minimize the environmental impacts of products are currently still far from satisfactory. The European research project SMC-Excel aims atenhancing the ecological sustainability in the consumer electronics industry through the integration of new business models based on the ideas and concepts of mass customization. In this paper, first insights of the project revealed during a Business Model Innovation workshop are presented. The main hypothesis derived in this workshop – the suitability of product service systems as a lever for the sustainability potential of mass customization– is discussed with the help of an analysis of the state-of-the-art literature on product service systems and mass customization. The paper concludes that the combination of mass customization patterns and product service system patterns carries a significant potential to foster the environmental sustainability of the full business model, but that this potential is highly context dependent. The insights of this paper set up the basis for further empiric research in the consumer electronics industry.

CEA's Technology and Standards Program: An introduction to some of the benefits of CEA's services to the industry [CEA Insights

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is well known for producing the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the world?s gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technologies. As the proving ground for innovators and breakthrough technologies for more than 40 years, CES brings together more than 150,000 retail buyers, distributors, manufacturers, market analysts, importers, exporters, and media from more than 140 countries?everyone who thrives on the business of consumer technologies. But CEA provides much more than that for the consumer electronics (CE) industry.

Relevant external environmental forces affecting green supply chain in the Philippine consumer electronics industry

The study identified relevant external environmental forces affecting green supply chain management in the Philippine consumer electronics industry through extensive review of literature and the use of the PEST analysis. The research framework was derived from the GSCM model of Hervani et al. (2005), while using the IPO model by Harris and Taylor (1997), to analyse the findings. The identified forces are technically more positive outpointing the adverse effects by a slight margin (eight of the factors contribute positively while six factors play a negative role and one was deemed neutral). It can also be observed that most of the forces are economic in nature (seven in total), while the political aspect is the least with only two. The information gathered can be of great assistance to organisations studying the Philippine consumer electronics industry for business strategy purposes as well as a basis for industry evaluation to determine key areas of focus for a more cost-efficient and sustainable green supply chain.

Reverse supply chain management in consumer electronics: an Indian perspective

The present paper is an attempt to find out the strategic motive of an organisation to undertake reverse supply chain management (RSCM) activities with specific reference to consumer electronics industry in the Indian context. It has identified the facilitating factors as also the inhibiting factors faced by an organisation in pursuing RSCM activities by carrying out questionnaire survey amongst retailers and service providers doing repairing, refurbishing and remanufacturing of consumer electronic goods. This study has attempted to categorise the returned goods in terms of recency, usability and residual value and has tried to find out the percentage figures of individual element within each category of recency, usability and residual value. It has further analysed different return streams in terms of volume and residual value and revealed as to which return stream/s contribute most to the organisations. Finally, this study has analysed each element of RSCM activities in terms of time taken and cost incurred and identified the major activities consuming maximum amount of time and cost.

Ecodesign in Consumer Electronics: Past, Present, and Future

In the past 20 years, the booming consumer electronics (CE) industry has been rapidly changing the economic and social landscape. This phenomenon is partly raised by the development of ecodesign, which is dedicated to improving the environmental performance of CE, throughout its life cycle. The theory and application of ecodesign have both been improved and expanded, owing largely to the development of more environmentally friendly materials, newly emerging technology, and legislation mandating better handling of CE—both in manufacturing and in waste treatment. Yet many challenges and opportunities remain, including the pressure that the huge CE market exerts on resources; new materials and technology such as carbon nanomaterial and the Internet of Things; the need to balance business profit with environmental impacts and benefits; and a significant shift of focus in the processing of electronic waste—from dismantling for recycling to disassembly for remanufacturing. This critical review article can help create sustainable development strategies from a local solution to global opportunities that will elevate ecodesign or design for environment to a new level in new materials selecting, CE industry development, integrated e-waste management, and legislation.

Exporting harm, scavenging value: transnational circuits of e‐waste between Japan, China and beyond

Alternately cherished as a valuable resource and reviled as toxic and/or worthless detritus, depending on one's cultural vantage, e‐waste comprises the scratched, dented, tarnished flipside of the lucrative consumer electronics industry. This article focuses attention on flows of e‐waste from Japan to East Asia, scrutinising channels of production, consumption, reuse and conversion. First, the authors interpret the rhetoric of recycling and sustainability mobilised by Japanese interests to facilitate Asian trade in hazardous wastes, creating what detractors say is a pernicious form of ‘waste colonialism’. Next, the researchers scrutinise the discursively linked creation in Japan, since 2001, of a network of state‐of‐the‐art WEEE processing facilities, in particular Panasonic's flagship PETEC, which they studied in 2013. They then turn to the protean material flows and the makeshift configurations engendered by e‐waste itself – not only pollutant when scavenged but frequently lucrative and welcome in de‐manufacturing hotspots in China – and analyse the circulation of scavenged ‘resources’ in the researchers' fieldsite in the world's most notorious e‐waste processing node, in Guangdong Province, where the team conducted ethnographic fieldwork intermittently during 2012–13. China's grand initiative of converting to state‐controlled formal processing, with Panasonic's assistance, facilitates a cross‐cultural comparison of tensions between formal and informal conversion against the backdrop of the flawed Basel Convention regime, relevant to a range of societies. The paper argues that a relatively ‘neutral’ ethnographic approach to e‐waste furnishes significant insight into thorny issues surrounding reckonings of risk and value in varying contexts and responses from those actually immersed in the processing trade, yielding important policy perspective.

Implementing inbound open innovation in the CE industry. A case study of Philips-branded Televisions

Successful innovation requires a company to participate in open innovation and to be connected with the ecosystems around it. For consumer electronics industry, this article distinguishes knowledge, experience and legislation/certification ecosystems. In order to draw the necessary knowledge from ecosystems for inbound open innovation, companies should involve all functional areas in the gathering information and trends from the ecosystems. While most companies involve marketing, development, and production, two key areas for ecosystem knowledge gathering often remain untapped: purchasing and the participation in external standardisation bodies. Successfully using all functional areas to gather ecosystem knowledge will lead to the right innovations at the right time. Regular cross-functional meetings ensure the appropriate translation of collected information and knowledge into portfolio and development choices. The article illustrates this by the example of TP Vision, the makers of Philips-branded televisions, which has successfully applied this innovation process in the consumer electronics (CE) industry.

In the Eye of the Beholder? The Effect of Product Appearance on Shareholder Value

In times of convergence with regard to product functionality and performance, the appearance of a product constitutes an important source of competitive advantage. Astonishingly, only a few studies have empirically examined the relationship between design‐related aspects and firm value. Moreover, existing studies predominantly use accounting‐based and/or subjective performance measures. Against this background, the present work assesses the contribution of the three most important product design dimensions (i.e., aesthetic, ergonomic, and symbolic value) to the creation of firm value in the context of the automotive and consumer electronics industry. To do so, we examine stock market reactions to the unveiling of a new product's appearance to the public using event study methodology. In particular, we combine perceptual data at the consumer level with stock market data to examine how target consumers' perceptions of the aforementioned design dimensions are related to abnormal returns following the unveiling of a new product. Results reveal that ergonomic value is positively related to abnormal returns, while aesthetic value only exerts a significant positive effect on abnormal returns if the product also exhibits a certain degree of functional product advantage. Finally, symbolic value exerts a negative influence on stock market reactions. These findings have important implications for the allocation of design‐related investments to aesthetic, ergonomic, and symbolic design features.

SUPPLIER SELECTION USING A HYBRID MODEL FOR 3C INDUSTRY

Supplier selection is a good strategy for firms that can reduce operating costs and improve competitiveness for computer, communication and consumer electronics (3C) industry. The major aim of this research is to build a systematic approach for establishing a supplier selection model, and then prioritize improvement criteria in order to best supply chain management. The study proposed a hybrid approach by using the interpretive structural modeling (ISM) method to deal with the interrelationship among criteria, and the analytic network process (ANP) method is employed to recognize the criteria of supplier selection and evaluate with respect to environmental competency for the case of Taiwan's 3C industry. The study shows that the proposed model could be an effective and efficient decision-making tool that can be easily extended to other contexts. Especially, it has provided decision-makers and researchers with better understanding of the differences in supplier selection activity needs and specific management interventions by examining these criteria.

Molecular dynamics simulations of ion-exchanged glass

Chemically strengthened glass is one of the key enablers of the modern consumer electronics industry. Molecular dynamics simulations offer an opportunity to build enhanced fundamental understanding of the ion exchange process used for chemical strengthening. In this work, we apply molecular modeling techniques to investigate several aspects of ion-exchanged glasses that are either inaccessible through experiment or too difficult to probe through experiments alone. In particular, we use atomistic modeling to study the dependence of the linear network dilation coefficient on the concentration of alkali ions exchanged. We also calculate the evolution of elastic moduli as a result of the ion exchange process. Both of these quantities—the network dilation coefficient and the Young's modulus—are critical parameters for determining the final compressive stress profile of the chemically strengthened glass. Finally, we revisit the issue of structural differences between as-melted and ion-exchanged glasses in terms of local atomic number density around alkali ions. The results of this work point to the unique structures attainable through ion exchange that cannot be achieved through melt-quenching alone.

The significance of requirements engineering for the medical domain

This paper aims to raise awareness of the importance of Requirements Engineering (RE) for the successful and efficient development of high-quality systems and products for the medical domain. It does so by providing an introduction to RE from the viewpoints of project and programme management and systems engineering in general and by illustrating the usefulness of a sound RE approach to the development of a local healthcare system in a deprived region in central Africa. The paper concludes that RE is just as crucial for the development of systems and products in the medical domain, as it is for the development of systems in the aerospace industry or software systems in the consumer electronics industry; while the degree of detail and formality of how RE is used has to be tailored to fit the context in question.

Polymer Structural Framework to Enable Embedded High Performance Silicon

The silicon problem Silicon is the next generation commercial material for lithium ion batteries. With a high capacity and promise to revolutionize both the automotive and consumer electronic industries, silicon-based anodes continue to be a focus for the field. However, silicon remains elusive for substantial market penetration due to high cost, difficult-to-manufacture nanostructures, or poor performing, low cost materials. Bulk silicon is an extremely cheap commodity. Below $10/kg, the price is on par with if not better than typical commercial graphite. The cost of silicon-based anodes tend to increase exponentially as specialized 3D silicon nanostructures are needed to achieve enhanced stability. The question remains, how do we create a step change capacity, high stability silicon-based anode that is commercially viable? Carbon as the solution Regarded as a surface passivation technique or a conductivity enhancer, carbon coatings act as a secondary, supporting role in silicon-carbon anodes. Largely ignored, we have found the carbon to be the critical component within high volume expansion anodes. The carbon helps retain needed electrical contact and prevent capacity fade while keeping high energy density. At EnerG2, we have developed a unique, capacity enhancing carbon backbone that both enables the use of cost effective silicon and is electrochemically active. The methods employ our state-of-the-art Carbon Technology Platform, based on polymer structural frameworks. This multifaceted development method allows for the synthesis and structural modification of carbons at the polymer level, leading to extremely high purity and application driven properties. EnerG2 uses basic polymer building blocks to encapsulate silicon protecting against capacity fade without significant costs.A basic demonstration of the anode performance is shown in Figure 1. By embedding micron-sized, commercially available solar-grade silicon into EnerG2 polymer-based amorphous carbon, the stable efficiency pushes the boundaries of 100%. Electrochemically active signals from both the silicon and the carbon are present in the sample, with improved stability beyond pure silicon. The demonstrated capacity is simply controlled through silicon content dispersed within the polymer matrix. The added capacity of the electrochemically active carbon is best seen from the composite performances. Stable capacities of 1500 mAh/g (with respect to both Si and C mass) are seen for composites of 50% silicon loading, significantly higher than 50% of the bare silicon capacity. The capacity boost is attributed to both the advanced amorphous carbon scaffold that alone stores close to 600 mAh/g and to the increased mechanical stability afforded by the polymer-derived framework. In addition to highlighting work on cost effective, commercially available silicon, EnerG2 has developed advanced silicon-carbon structures using our novel mesoporous and macroporous carbons. Synthesized without the need for complex templates, the pore distribution of the carbon is critical in determining the performance of silicon-carbon anodes. The silicon is either coated or embedded into the pores, creating next generation, scalable, 3D structures.EnerG2 continues to push the boundaries of polymer-derived structures both at manufacturing scale and in the laboratory for energy storage. We will discuss both the recent advancements in materials development as well as its profound impact on energy storage and electrochemistry.

18.4: Invited Paper: Development of Eyewear Display Systems: A Long Journey

AbstractThis paper reviews the development of technology for eyewear‐based wearable displays, including the microdisplay, viewing optics, electronics and frame systems, that are necessary for the commercialization of consumer products, and ultimately for the complete integration of the system within eyewear. The eyewear display industry has its origins in projects funded by DARPA, starting in 1990. Today, several technologies have proved viable including LCOS, transmissive LCD, and oLED. In addition to the microdisplay itself, the development of viewing optics that can be incorporated in eyewear has been essential, and several teams have developed optics that will be reviewed here. Supporting electronics must also be incorporated in eyewear, and this is made possible today by the high degree of integration in systems on a chip. Today's technologies allow our industry to satisfy a number of “design rules” for eyewear displays that will be discussed. Additionally, wireless connectivity now provides access to almost unlimited information from the cloud. The final step in the commercialization of this technology is the creation of compelling consumer applications, and the companies that provide this final step will lead an expansion of the consumer electronics industry.