Semiconductor development tools and their RoHS status

This is a guest post by Gary Nevison, Head of Legislation, Farnell, A trading division of Premier Farnell UK Ltd.

UK: Seems to be a bit of a fuss in mainland Europe at present in respect of semiconductor development tools, their RoHS status, and why are some manufacturer’s still supplying non-compliant parts.

Back in 2006, I can clearly remember the concerns around “semiconductor evaluation boards” often referred to as “development tools”.
Were they in scope of the RoHS Directive or not?

Certainly, manufacturers hoped not, and many believed not. This eventually resulted in NWML, the UK enforcement agency, posting guidance on their website.

They concluded that “most evaluation boards are included under category 3 -- IT equipment”.

That provided clarity, but in some other countries such as Germany, the debate has run and run.

With the publication of the so called “RoHS2” proposals the subject is again on the agenda.

Here are some simple guidelines:
* RoHS2 does not impact any current inventory of development tools.
* Any evaluation boards that are in scope at present should not contain the current six RoHS substances except where exemptions apply.
* Future substance restrictions will only apply to products put on the market (POTM) after the date that will need to be specified by the European Commission (EC).

The process for restricting additional substances could take several years and will follow on from the implementation of the “revised” RoHS Directive. At present it is not known how long this will take.

The EC should allow a transition period after the decision to restrict an additional substance has been agreed and published. New POTM dates applicable to additional substance restrictions are unlikely to be before 2012 and could be much later.

Evaluation boards may contain some of the phthalates BBP, DBP and DEHP for example in PVC wire, sealants, inks, adhesives and lacquers.

In summary, there is no need to worry about current inventory, and those POTM before 1/7/06 are out of scope anyway. However, if the 4 proposed substances do fall within scope then manufacturers will need to start looking for alternatives in future products.

In any event, manufacturers should be ensuring that finished equipment such as emulators and the small, open PCBs that provide a prototyping area and often offer a basic programming facility, comply with the directive.

Farnell banking big on India

Farnell Electronics, a part of the Premier Farnell group of companies, recently established its sales presence in Pune, as part of its phased rollout plan, post the launch of the company in June 2008.

Headquartered in Bangalore, the company has already established seven other branch offices in cities, including Bangalore, Coimbatore, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, New Delhi and Mumbai, and, plans to set up another branch in Kolkata.

Harriet Green, CEO, said, "We have put up a new India Web site, which has over 450,000 products. Our site also supports live chat. We also have eight call centers. Our support is largely for the SMEs. We are a publicly filed company in India." The company has over 2 million customers worldwide.

On Farnell, she further added: "We have a great supply chain ecosystem for our customers. This is total care for customers. As an example, we stock all of TI's 40,000+ products. We take a Web order every 8 seconds. We are extending this investment in India."

Ravi Pagar, Director, Farnell Electronics, added that users are able to search on the Indian Web site for components and products by part numbers.

The company has two technology centers, one in China and another in Bangalore, India. According to Green, Farnell's goal is to achieve $1 billion for the Indian market.

She added: "We have already invested Rs. 200 million in the purchase of Hynetics, besides hiring people and on infrastructure. We will spend another Rs 200 million on branches, warehousing, etc."

Complying with RoHS, REACH and WEEE
With so much of focus nowadays on green electronics, it is natural for Farnell to be one of the leading proponents. Green said, "Our components are REACH, RoHS and WEEE compliant."

She added: "Unfortunately, the lead content in Bangalore is quite high. We will also work with the environmental agencies here and work on resolving this problem."

Farnell is said to be the only components distributor in China, which is stocking products that are RoHS compliant. "We give a guarantee on our invoice that our products are RoHS, REACH and WEE compliant. In China, each province has zones where electronics products are dumped," she said.

According to her, all major components manufacturers were now becoming environment compliant. "The supply chain is more now in balance as the electronics environment is maturing."

Speaking on partnerships, she noted: "We are exclusive partners with Altera in Asia. We also have a special partnership with TI. We have over 4,500 authorized partnerships globally, with companies in semiconductors, passives, electromechanical, connectors, wires, screens, ICs, repairs, power, displays, flexible substrates, optos, etc."

Pagar added: "Sony Ericsson is setting up a design center in Chennai. We are partners globally, and they wanted to replicate that in India. We have a similar kind of relationship with GM."

Highlighting the fact that India has a great design industry, he felt that if more distributors like Farnell were to enter India, it would only go on to help the country.

Impact of RoHS

If any one of you has had the opportunity of attending any major electronics trade show across the Asia Pacific region, you cannot remain untouched by the impact that the RoHS (removal of hazardous substances) directive has had on suppliers.

The RoHS directive, which aims to restrict the level of hazardous substances used within new electronic and electrical equipment in the European Union (EU), is said to have had a "huge effect" on the industry so far, according to an expert.

It reminds me of a discussion I had with Man Yue, said to the seventh largest supplier of aluminum electrolytic capacitors late last year. Now Man Yue is huge and has the capability to invest in the expensive machinery required for RoHS.

Man Yue's competitive edge is strengthened by its compliance with RoHS. It has been RoHS compliant since Q2-2004. The supplier had placed orders for ICPE-9000 machine, which was scheduled for delivery by end of 2006. This machine grinds the capacitor into powder and checks for banned substances.

The spokesman told me Man Yue has a RoHS lab as well. Man Yue has four XRF machines. It was planning to purchase the GCMS-QP2010 Plus, another high-end testing machine, which checks for banned substances. It will purchase the UVmini-1240 machine as well.

Now, I understand that investing in such machinery needs substantial amount of capital. Having seen suppliers across Asia Pac at close up, I hope many have managed to make the transition to buying and maintaining expensive machinery to check for banned substances.

I haven't seen any leading articles on RoHS in India so far. However, I'm sure that the Indian manufacturers of electronics products have also made the shift.

Time for solid polymer capacitors!

Well, aluminum electrolytic capacitors may sound boring to many... but the level of expertise that goes into producing one, rather, developing a new technology, is fascinating. However, components as a subject is quite tough, and not many are willing to write on it, or even keen on doing interviews. Even I struggle at times, to be honest.

Some of the leading makers in Hong Kong, which is also home to Man Yue, the seventh largest maker in the world, are actually quite good at aluminum electrolytic capacitors, and now, the solid polymer capacitors.

Man Yue has been working jointly with one of Mainland China’s most prestigious universities, the Tsinghua University, Beijing, to set up a research institute in Shenzhen focusing on chemical technology and material science.

Man Yue is offering conductive polymer aluminum solid capacitors under X-Con brand name. These are suitable for computer motherboards and other high-end circuit boards. X-Con conductive polymer aluminum solid capacitors are suitable for all LCD/PDP control panel, high-end video card, sound card, peripherals, electronic devices in cars, etc. Man Yue launched the X-Con series in 2006, in partnership with Tsinghua University.

The X-Con comes in three series – general-type, low ESR and surface-mount. Man Yue expects demand to pick up, mainly for motherboards, graphic cards, high-end circuit boards, etc.

The best thing about conductive polymer aluminum solid capacitors is that the electrolyte would not leak out as it is solid and there will be no explosions. The characteristics of the conductive polymer aluminum solid capacitors include very low ESR and very high ripple current.

I remember Stanley Wong, business development director, Man Yue, mentioning that plasma TV makers were thinking of switching from electrolytic to solid capacitors. Prices of conductive polymer aluminum solid capacitors are said to be about five to 10 times higher than electrolytic type aluminum capacitors.

Man Yue is also working on the R&D for high-end capacitors, which are useful for alternate energy applications, called super capacitors. Some friends of mine from Taiwan and Korea would be more than willing to add their observations on super capacitors, I'm sure.

Man Yue has ISO9001:2000 and ISO14001 certifications. It would be certified ISO/TS16949 by Q2-07. It has been RoHS compliant since Q2-2004. Wong said it had placed orders for ICPE-9000 machine, which was scheduled for delivery by end of 2006.

"This machine grinds the capacitor into powder and checks for banned substances," he added. "We have the RoHS lab as well." Man Yue has four XRF machines. It is planning to purchase the GCMS-QP2010 Plus, another high-end testing machine, which checks for banned substances. It will purchase the UVmini-1240 machine as well. Goodness me! So much of sophistication is required, which makes me believe that not all folks would be able to offer such products. Would be interesting to see.

According to Raymond Lee, sales manager, Fujicon, another leading maker from Hong Kong, most customers request for RoHS products. Fujicon produces PET (6P) aluminum electrolytic capacitors. Some specific Japanese customers request these products.

Lee said: "For the RoHS requirements, we call it 3P. PET meets the 6P standard. This is currently applicable in Japan. Soon, it would become the requested standard globally."

According to him, PVC was not environment friendly. Lee added that soon, all toy products would also require 6P products. Fujicon can offer both 3P and 6P aluminum electrolytic capacitors. It assigns testing of product samples to companies such as SGS in Hong Kong.

Fujicon has developed a new series of V-chip capacitors for high voltage. Regarding the use of electrolyte, Lee said, there had been several developments to improve the electrolyte that would make capacitors safer, with lower ESR.

Fujicon is collaborating with some other aluminum electrolytic capacitors to produce solid polymer capacitors. Lee said these capacitors can function better, having characteristics such as very low ESR and impedance, at high frequency.

Ok, over to my friends for more on this subject.