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.