Our Business | IBIDEN's Principal Products

Printed Wiring Boards (FVSS, Full Via Stacked up Structures)

What is Printed Wiring Board?

Overflowing electronics devices surrounding us: In addition to mobile phone and personal computer of every day use, automobile is now included as electronics device. And even for very small electronic devices almost nothing can be made without printed wiring boards.

Printed wiring board is a substrate on which various electronic devices are mounted, also providing passage for electrons to flow on its surface and interiors (Substrate itself is an insulator not capable of flowing electrons).
Original form of Printed Wiring Board has been created in 1930s. Since then, as electronic devices mounted on the PWB are progressively changed to vacuum tube, transistor, and IC for increased functionality and higher integration, PWB also has advanced from single to double sided format, and further onto multiplayer scheme.
If wirings are crossed on the same plane, they will be shorted. When the devices mounted on the board are complex and downsized, wiring must be three dimensionally routed to avoid short, thus necessitating multi-layering.

Point 1

Built-up substrate and FVSS

Build-up Substrate, FVSS

Built-up substrates are mainly adopted for small electronic devices including mobile phones. For standard multi-layer substrates, thru-holes are used for connecting top and bottom surfaces.
On the other hand, for built-up substrates, just as the name implicates, it is built by stacking each layer, so when adding a layer a fine hole (via) is bored and plated to make connection to the lower layer. There is a merit, enabling to make a small hole due to the use of laser, but there is also a demerit because another via cannot be placed on the core layer's thru-holes or built-up layer's via.
FVSS, developed by our company, solved this problem: bored via was filled by plating thus enabling to stack up vias.

IBIDEN established volume production of this next generation built-up substrates, FVSS, in Japan and now the construction of new plant in Beijing, China is underway.

 Cutaway Photo of the Board

Cutaway Photo of the Board
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Where are IBIDEN's products utilized?

One is for mobile products such as mobile phones and digital camera.
Nowadays, anyone can carry mobile phones, but when sold for the first time in market, it was like a shoulder carrying type, far from being called portable telephone.
However, today's unit is not only small enough to put on the palm but also possessing multitude of options such as full-color LCD display, camera, internet, music, etc. Accordingly, each component becomes not only smaller but also the corresponding PWB is multiplayer type (5-8 layers are main stream for mobile phone) advancing more towards a type called built-up substrate (see "Point") of high density (wiring is finer than ever and micro-sized)
Furthermore, IBIDEN products are used for high speed digital communication network servers and routers. They are mostly multi-layer substrates consisting of as many as 20 layers – even over 30 layers for some. Of course, the market still needs double sided substrates with leads only on top and bottom surfaces, but IBIDEN's mainstream products are built-up substrates and multi-layer types of high layer counts.

This is our strengths! FVSS

Simple design makes customer's development faster.

It is indispensable to be able to announce new products, ahead of competitors, to the mobile phone maker customers, or timely commercialize products in order to follow market trend.
More advanced version of Built-up substrates, FVSS, does not have forbidden rules such as avoiding thru-holes in designing circuits. Thus, designing becomes easier making customer's development work faster, which is an advantage.
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What about growth potential for Printed Wiring Boards.

It is unlikely that PWB becomes obsolete as long as electronic devices continue to exist. Take mobile phone case as an example here.
User interface devices such as switches, keypads, and speakers reproducing sounds cannot be dispensable components. Also, these interface components need printed wiring boards for mounting.
According to the mobile phone market analysis, in developed countries including Japan where mobile phones have become widely used, there is a replacement demand to acquire new functions. On the other hand, mobile phones usage in fast developing countries such as BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) is increasing at a high pace. For these reasons, annual 10% growth is expected for global market.

 Number of mobile phone soled in worldwide.

Number of mobile phone soled in worldwide.
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Tell us IBIDEN's future targets.

Printed Wiring Boards are strategically important products along with the IC packages to our Electronics division. The Production Plant No.2 was completed as the Chinese manufacturing base in IBIDEN Electronics (Beijing) Co., Ltd., in December 2006. Production capacity will be increased stepwise responding to the needs. This plant becomes not only the forefront of FVSS manufacturing (see "This is the Strength") but also brand new plant which adopts environmental consideration such as water treatment facilities.

IBIDEN grows while collaborating with world leading companies. We have been manufacturing products near our customer sites to provide flexible customer services and the latest technologies, and the policy will remain as our managing style now and shall not change in the future.
American industry magazine chose IBIDEN's electronics businesses including IC packages as the world No.1 in 2006 PWB production, and IBIDEN group intends to continue to further grow in the global market.

We would like to take this opportunity asking for understanding and support from our share holders.

 Beijing Production Plant No.2

Beijing Production Plant No.2
This is our strengths! Environmental Consideration

PWB compatible with lead-free solders.

Solder materials for electronic devices contain lead. It causes serious environmental effects unless treated properly after discharged.
Introduction of lead-free solder is being promoted for electronic components industry, but due to high temperatures required for this type of solders, thermal resistance of substrate needs to be improved.

IBIDEN took up this issue of lead-free solder earlier, and further proceeded for developing halogen-free substrate in order to prevent dioxin emission.
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