Summer 1992
Uniformity of Etching
The etching requirements for lead frames have continuously
increased in the past few years with the advent of the fine pitch
surface mount devices such as the plastic leaded chip carrier
(PLCC) and the plastic quad flat pack (PQFP). These devices
typically have lead counts from 28 to 208 pins while the older
technology dual in-line packages usually run from 8 to 48 pins.
Texas Instruments has been etching lead frames in volume for
twelve years in Attleboro, Massachusetts. For most of that period
we have supplied only in house Texas Instruments lead frame
needs. However, in the past two years, we have expanded to serve
several outside trade customers as well.
Don Ball, Chemcut Corporation
