Good point Syed, How about adding 'Molding' to differentiate from 'Potting' [and I just know I will take heat for this] on the basis that when 'molded', the component generally does not take the mold-form with itself in its finished state, whereas if potted - the 'mold/pot' becomes part of the finished assembly. Steve -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Syed Ahmad Sent: Friday, June 05, 2009 11:27 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] Coating, Encapsulation, and Potting So the chip "encapsulation" to make a semiconductor package is actually potting as the material is forced into a cavity around the chip? -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John Burke Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2009 11:46 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] Coating, Encapsulation, and Potting Very good So a definition might be: Encapsulation: covering with a material which conforms to the general shape of the surface being coated and the plane on which it is situated but such material is not otherwise bounded in 2 or 3 dimensions. Potting: covering with a material which completely covers the item being treated; and which material takes the shape of and is bounded in 2 or 3 dimensions by the shape of the container in which the item being treated is situated. John Burke (408) 515 4992 -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Woolley, Mark D. (Mark) Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2009 4:31 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] Coating, Encapsulation, and Potting Can it be defined by geometry? If you fill a box it's called potting, but if you coat an item is called encapsulation? mark mark Mark Woolley |PTRL Laboratory | Avaya | 1300 West 120th Ave | Westminster, CO 80234 USA |email: [log in to unmask] | -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Joe Fjelstad Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2009 1:04 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] Coating, Encapsulation, and Potting Interesting question Doug 1) My mental image is that it is that the term is related to processing and potting is most often done atmospherically, with occasional vacuum assist and encapsulation under pressure but it is pretty fungible with lots of fuzziness between the two. A potted assembly is definitely encapsulated when finished. 2) Likely? Yes but don't know where 3) Thickness of the coating seems reasonable but don't know where to draw the line. 250 micron? 100? 500? Perhaps a percentage of total thickness? 5%? 10%? 4) In neither (or both depending on process). The other two generally provide complete coverage of the device or assembly underfill is by definition partial. Joe In a message dated 6/4/2009 11:33:27 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, [log in to unmask] writes: Good afternoon all, All this talk of underfill sparked a reminder of an IPC action item of mine. Unknownst to most of you , I signed you all up on some of my committees. There will be a new task group addressing potting and encapsulation, which will meet at the Fall IPC. We already have conformal coat task groups. So, I wish to initiate a series of questions and illuminating debate. Pardon me if I fall short on the illumination part (leave it alone Dewey). 1. What would you consider to be a definition of "potting" and a definition of "encapsulation"? 2. Are there standard definitions for these somewhere? They don't exist in IPC as far as I know. 3. What would you consider to be the boundary between conformal coating and "potting or encapsulation"? I have my own opinions but want to hear yours. 4. In what class would you consider an underfill to be in? That's enough homework for now. Doug Pauls Rockwell Collins --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ----------------------------------------------------- **************Limited Time Offers: Save big on popular laptops at Dell (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1221354145x1201369495/aol?redir =http:%2F %2Fad.doubleclick.net%2Fclk%3B215221161%3B37268813%3By) --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 -----------------------------------------------------