The original SMT stencil was manufactured primarily by photolithography and then by chemical etching. Of course, laser cutting or electroforming is used to process the SMT stencil. In the process of continuously producing and processing SMT steel mesh, it is found that the three processing methods have their own advantages and disadvantages. The advantages and disadvantages of these three SMT steel mesh processing methods are compared below:

First, the chemical etching method is the earliest processing method used in SMT steel mesh processing.

Advantages of chemical etching: Chemical corrosion is performed on the SMT steel mesh, which requires no expensive equipment investment and relatively low processing cost.

Disadvantages of chemical etching: The corrosion time is too short. The hole wall of the SMT steel mesh may have sharp corners. When the time is too long, the hole wall size may be enlarged, and the side corrosion also makes the hole wall smooth. Accuracy is not accurate enough.

Second, the laser processing method is currently the most commonly used SMT steel mesh processing method, which relies on laser energy to melt the metal, and then cuts the opening in the stainless steel plate.

The advantages of laser processing: the processing speed is much faster than the chemical etching method, and the opening size of the steel mesh is also well controlled, especially the added hole wall has a certain taper (the taper is about 2 degrees) and is easier to take off. mold.

Disadvantages of laser processing: When the opening of the SMT stencil is dense, the local high temperature generated by the laser sometimes divides the adjacent hole wall, and the roughness of the metal hole wall formed by melting is not high, so if necessary, Hole wall trimming is required. In addition, the laser processing method increases the processing cost by requiring dedicated equipment.

Nowadays, the SMT stencil processing method is completed by laser cutting, and the laser cutting is made by using file data with high precision and small tolerance.

Third, the electroforming method is a process of continuously accumulating and accumulating metal metal materials (mainly nickel) to form a metal SMT steel mesh.

Advantages of electroforming: The SMT stencil made by the method not only has high opening precision and smooth hole wall, but also facilitates the quantitative distribution of printing solder paste, and the opening is not easily blocked by solder paste, thereby reducing the number of times of cleaning the SMT steel mesh. Disadvantages of electroforming: The cost of manufacturing SMT stencils by electroforming is high and the manufacturing cycle is long.

Through continuous research and practice, it is found that the SMT stencil processed by chemical etching or laser cutting will have different degree of clogging phenomenon during printing, and the SMT stencil needs to be cleaned frequently, so the electroforming method becomes a thin pin. Pitch component solder paste printing SMT steel mesh main processing means.