Neoganth® X Activator vs Neoganth® U Activator: Coverage performance comparison on three different base materials

Berlin, 1 September, 2017: A major cost driver for PCB manufacturers with horizontal plating lines is the palladium consumed within the activation step. Atotech developed a new activation system, Neoganth® X Activator, which runs at a very low palladium set-point and can offer a clear cost saving in palladium compared to conventional processing.

Neoganth® X Activator

“The new activator has been designed to ensure a comparably excellent palladium absorption and coverage on a wide variety of different base materials to its predecessor, the de-facto industry standard Neoganth® U Activator,” explains Lars-Eric Pribyl, Product Manager at Atotech’s plating through hole (PTH) business technology team. “Neoganth® U Activator runs at a palladium bath concentration of 225 ppm. The standard set-point of Neoganth® X Activator is only 80 ppm enabling significant cost savings.”

Neoganth® X Activator is for horizontal multi-layer and HDI manufacturing, ideally in Uniplate® plating equipment. The easy drop-in solution is perfectly suitable for all existing Uniplate® LB lines, and fully compatible to all Neoganth® Pre Dips B, U and W. It further fulfills all standard reliability requirements such as solder shock tests, thermal cycle test and interconnect stress test.