Micro-Milled Step Stencils

Stepped stencils, or stencils where the foil thickness is locally decreased to apply more precise volumes of solder to smaller components or increased to provide greater volumes to larger components, can accommodate the needs of smaller or larger components while still depositing appropriate volumes to standard parts.   Stepped stencils have been used for decades, but the technology that creates the steps has changed in the past few years.

Micro-Machining is one of the newest technologies used to create multilevel stencils for today’s demanding requirements.  This process provides Z-Axis accuracy of +/- 5 µm, allows angles to be placed on the step edges, is burr free and the surface roughness or Ra of the micro-milled surface is < 0.50 µm, similar to the virgin metal.