AT&S World

Leading Edge Research and Development
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Leading Edge
Research and Development
A world leader in highend
printed circuit
boards thanks to
ongoing development
of technologies in use
Since its foundation in 1987, AT&S has established
itself as the largest printed circuit board manufacturer
in Europe and India. We are also among
the leading international suppliers of high-tech
HDI microvia printed circuit boards worldwide,
and are constantly extending our presence in this
market.
One reason for this success is undoubtedly our
ongoing development of the technologies in use,
which has allowed us to achieve technological
leadership in high-end printed circuit board
manufacturing. Last financial year some 6% of revenues
were invested in applied research and technology
evaluation. Our goal for the future must be
to further differentiate ourselves from our competitors.
The importance of internal technology
development to the Group is also demonstrated by
the fact that in the last financial years – despite the
economic disruptions – expenditure on research
and development actually increased. The results
speak for themselves: AT&S quickly emerged from
the crisis, and is stronger than before.
R&D structure
AT&S has a two-part innovation process: our development
centre in Leoben-Hinterberg is where
we work on new solutions for materials, processes
and applications. In the second stage, the research
results are optimised for industrial production in
the plants. Because of their size and focus, the facilities
in Shanghai have a special status: in addition
to the work being done on optimising and
industrialising new applications, development
of HDI technology is systematically advanced in
close cooperation with the technology headquarters
in Leoben.
Research network
AT&S’s R&D activities frequently involve some of
our many business partners. Customers generally
inform us of their requirements and their ideas
for future products, but we also devise new techniques
based on future applications we foresee,
such as the embedding of components inside printed
circuit boards. In addition to our own resources,
we use collaborative agreements with research institutions
and suppliers wherever practicable and
necessary. This network of expertise enables us
to master the most complex challenges extremely
effectively.
R&D focuses and selected research projects
Our R&D activities can be grouped into four general
project areas: high-end HDI, Made in Austria,
ECP ® technology, and Photovoltaics.
High-end-HDI
AT&S is pursuing a number of approaches to further
development of high-tech HDI printed circuit
board technologies. Further miniaturisation
requires a special focus on finer track layouts and
reducing the thickness of the printed circuit board.
Parallel efforts involve the development of new
production processes, which are necessary both
in order to manufacture the new products and to
replace old existing processes with newer, more
cost-effective ones.
With the aim of opening up new possibilities in
this area, in the past financial year AT&S decided
to establish a cooperative venture with Panasonic
Electronic Devices Ltd. The main purpose of the
venture is to combine AT&S’s high-end HDI technology
with Panasonic’s ALIVH ® technology. Integrating
and using both technologies in one product
is an additional option for creating the next generation
of printed circuit boards. The new technology
will meet the future requirements of mobile
appliances in full, and has the added advantage
of offering a more environmentally friendly manufacturing
process.
Made in Austria
This area includes a number of projects for the development
and implementation of new production
technologies to make printed circuit board production
both more flexible and more effective. The
aim is also to find ways for the Austrian plants to
produce smaller volumes and more complex products
more simply and profitably.
2.5D technology research project
This technology focuses on incorporating structural
recesses (cavities) into and onto printed
circuit boards, facilitating deeper embedding
of electronic components, and making thinner
PCBs possible. It also makes it possible to produce
rigid-flex PCBs for flex-to-install applications.