Global electronic components distributor Digi-Key Corporation and CogniMem Technologies today announced an exclusive global partnership in which Digi-Key will be the only global distributor of CogniMem's unique cognitive memory products.The products are available today on http://www.digikey.com/.CogniMem is an innovator in neural network architecture built to resemble the synapses of the human brain, creating reactive memory components that use high speed and parallel pattern recognition to 'learn' versus being programmed. The company's unique neural network architecture products feature embedded embed intelligence into miniature sensory devices to enhance their performance in speed and power consumption. The products also scale to allow for fuzzy matching of data patterns in data mining."Our customers are searching for innovative memory solutions ideal to support advanced technology applications such as natural language computing, adaptive optics, robotics, consumer electronics and security products," said Mark Zack, Vice President, Global Semiconductor Product at Digi-Key. "Now, we're able to respond to this growing customer demand with innovative new products from CogniMem."Visit Digi-Key.com (http://www.digikey.com/) to view all available products from CogniMem.

Heraeus Precious Metals, business group of the German precious metal and technology group Heraeus, has purchased the Ferro Corporation's solar paste business unit. Heraeus acquires the assets including intellectual property associated with development and production of metallization pastes for solar cells. The former Ferro activities will be integrated in the Photovoltaics Business Unit of Heraeus, a leading innovator and supplier of metallization pastes for solar cells. With the signing of the contract on February 06, 2013, Heraeus continues its long-term commitment to photovoltaics."We are confident in the future growth of the photovoltaic industry. The merger of Heraeus' innovation and industry leadership with Ferro's PV history and technology will strengthen our competence as a supplier to the cell producers globally", said Dr. Ralf Droste, Executive Vice President of Heraeus Precious Metals.Ferro has more than a thirty year history of developing thick-film pastes for the photovoltaics industry. Heraeus has produced thick film pastes for over forty years and solar pastes since 2008.Heraeus, the precious metals and technology group headquartered in Hanau, Germany, is a global, private company with over 160 years of tradition. Our fields of competence include precious metals, materials and technologies; sensors; biomaterials and medical products, as well as dental products, quartz glass, and specialty light sources. With product revenues of EUR4.8 billion and precious metals trading revenues of EUR21.3 billion, as well as more than 13,300 employees in over 120 subsidiaries worldwide, Heraeus holds a leading position in its global markets.

Global electronic components distributor Digi-Key Corporation, recognized by design engineers as having the industry's largest selection of electronic components available for immediate shipment, announced the addition of Holt Integrated Circuits, Inc., a leader in data bus communication IC production, focused primarily in the military, aerospace, and industrial markets.Holt Integrated Circuits is a major supplier of Integrated Circuits for the aerospace industry. For over twenty years, Holt has manufactured data bus and display drivers for both commercial and military users worldwide. From F-16 to A-350, Holt ICs are found at the heart of flight control, navigation, engine management, communications, safety equipment, and in-flight entertainment systems. Over 400 avionics manufacturers rely on Holt's proven track record of customer service, unsurpassed quality and cost-effectiveness, and technical excellence."The demand for Mil/Aero products has never been higher, and a prominent supplier such as Holt is ideally placed to serve this growing market," said Mark Zack, Vice President, Global Semiconductor Product at Digi-Key. "Their high-quality product provides unsurpassed value for our customers and we are pleased to add them to our customer offering."Holt designs and tests all its products in-house, providing innovative, cost effective, mixed signal solutions for microprocessor-based embedded applications. Holt's product lines include MIL-STD-1553, ARINC 429, Discrete-to-Digital sensing, Controller Area Network (CAN), analog switches and RS-485/422. Holt's range of ICs supporting the ARINC 429 standard is the widest in the industry, ranging from simple line receivers to full protocol solutions with integrated RAM. The latest line of ARINC 429 products are fully functional terminal ICs designed to operate from a single 3.3V supply, resulting in a significant reduction in system complexity and board space."Holt is delighted to add Digi-Key to its worldwide sales distribution network," said David Mead, Executive VP and COO at Holt Integrated Circuits. "Digi-Key's well-known brand and respect among the design engineering community will enable us to broaden our customer base and provide a world-class online resource to promote Holt's products".Holt Integrated Circuits' full selection of interconnect products are available on Digi-Key's Global Websites: http://www.digikey.com/

Official support for UEFI BIOS by Windows 8 facilitates the standardized firmware interface migration that has already been implemented for a long time in the industry. UEFI BIOS design differs from its legacy counterpart by significantly enhancing BIOS features and functionality that help improve innovative firmware layer design for embedded and intelligent systems, in addition to PC-based applications.Phoenix Technologies, having focused on the BIOS market for decades, launched a new version of Phoenix SecureCore Technology (Phoenix SCT) 3.0 at the end of 2012 that included EDK II support. With its security, manageability, and connectivity features, Phoenix SCT actively supports the diverse applications of UEFI BIOS for embedded systems, while helping embedded system developers devise increasingly differentiated and value-added products.UEFI BIOS will drive the next generation of embedded applications and developmentCompared to the BIOS traditionally written in assembly language, Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) BIOS is written in C language with a modular architecture that has better graphics capability and cross-platform support, bringing a new change to the long developed BIOS technology.Terry Chen, VP, Development Engineering at Phoenix, indicated that since UEFI BIOS was adopted for laptops in 2008, the industry has experienced a painful period of more than four years during the process of migration to UEFI BIOS. The official support by Windows 8 has further reinforced this trend from the beginning of this year.The x86 architecture dominates the embedded market and the UEFI BIOS migration trend has been gradually emerging. Terry Chen pointed out that, due to the long life and diverse applications of the embedded devices, both new and legacy BIOS architectures will co-exist in the market for a long period of time. For the new generation of connected embedded systems focusing on intelligence, connectivity, and security, innovative design is possible for the firmware layer by utilizing UEFI BIOS to improve the features and functionality of embedded systems. This not only strengthens vendors' customization design capabilities, and improves their after-sale services for their products, but also highlights the importance of BIOS firmware for embedded design.Phoenix SCT 3.0 helps vendors enhance differentiation of embedded systemsWhile UEFI BIOS has technologically driven new development, a number of standardized specifications have been developed for software that presents challenges never faced in the past for BIOS vendors having proprietary technology. Terry Chen said that a unified BIOS technology will make an impact on vendors placing importance on proprietary technology, but the improved features of UEFI BIOS will open up more possibilities.UEFI BIOS is written in a way that is different from the one used for the serial architecture of legacy BIOS. While legacy BIOS is based on interrupt architecture, UEFI BIOS works in timer polling mode with the time-sharing concept where a core hosts the execution of each process. UEFI BIOS also features a shell and file structure, meaning it can be considered a light operating system. Terry Chen said that Phoenix Technologies is committed to the advanced development of UEFI BIOS, and offers more cost-effective and differentiated firmware solutions depending on end-user requirements, instead of only providing BIOS technology.Phoenix SCT 3.0 has a comprehensive development environment with advanced featuresPicken Hu, Senior Product Manager at Phoenix, pointed out that Phoenix SCT 3.0 is a comprehensive solution with a complete build system and development tools. It enables development of diverse customizable solutions, which is the main advantage Phoenix Technologies has over its competitors. In addition, Phoenix SCT 3.0 supports native EDK II used by the next generation of Intel-based platforms and provides backward compatibility with EDK 1117 for developers needing to seamlessly transition to EDK II in a more efficient manner.Picken Hu explained that the differences between EDK I and EDK II include the package, build system, library, and deployment. For customers, more costs and resources are needed to support different code bases. Furthermore, in an embedded system application, the lifecycle of a customer's terminals is usually more than a decade. Even if the core computing platform is upgraded, ensuring compatibility with the user interface, security mechanism, management features, and hardware as well as software integration, must be maintained. Phoenix SCT 3.0 can provide support for firmware features developed with EDK I on the new EDK II platform without any modification, effectively reducing risks and enhancing cost-effectiveness.Touch featureTo support the touch features of Windows 8, Phoenix SCT 3.0 is also optimized for touch-enabled devices, providing the new Windows-8 style GUI BIOS Setup and GUI customization tools for a seamless user experience that bridges Windows 8 and Phoenix SCT 3.0 BIOS.Terry Chen indicated that Windows 8 helps improve the visibility of the touch interface for embedded devices, such as ATM, POS, KIOSK, HMI, Interactive Signage, and Intelligent Retail devices. Consumers can look forward to enjoying better touch features in the future.Phoenix SCT 3.0 supports programmable touch hot zones. Embedded device vendors can set these hot zones as specific hotkeys or use them to run commands for easily recognizable product differentiation. For example, different hotkeys can be defined for different positions on the screen to run predefined applications, such as BIOS setup, system diagnostics, or to connect to a remote control interface.User interfacePhoenix SCT 3.0 has a Windows-8 style GUI BIOS Setup interface, which supports touch and multiple languages with graphics effects.Picken Hu said that Phoenix Desktop Manager (PDM) is Phoenix Technologies' unique customizable GUI BIOS core engine, which has a development environment identical to Windows x86 and provides a WYSIWYG GUI SDK with support for various fonts, color settings, and a virtual keyboard. For BIOS developers who struggle with graphic design, the customizable user interface design process can be greatly simplified with PDM.In addition, PDM can be used as a platform for differentiation. Customers can run their own or third party UEFI applications in PDM, such as a calculator, QR Code, music player, or even POS system. PDM can also connect to networks and work with features (such as file explorer) developed with UEFI BIOS by Phoenix.SecurityPhoenix SCT 3.0 also provides security and system integrity that are important for connected embedded devices. Picken Hu indicated that for remote devices, Sure Boot, provided by Phoenix SCT 3.0, ensures that these devices can automatically restore to the default BIOS settings or a stable version for a normal boot when a problem occurs. This effectively improves system reliability when they are used in an extreme environment or left unattended.Unlike Dual BIOS mode of the past, Phoenix SCT 3.0 provides Safe Recovery BIOS2 to further save space and costs for embedded devices without the need to have 2 pieces of Flash ROM. With hidden sectors, two BIOS images can co-exist. When the primary BIOS image is corrupted, the system switches to the secondary BIOS image for restoration. Two sectors are split on the same ROM to reduce space and complexity for hardware design while reducing power consumption and space.With these added features, you can create a new user experience for embedded systems. Through the UEFI architecture, some simple features, such as a clock, map, thermometer, music player, or calculator, can be integrated in a BIOS application package and directly used during the pre-OS phase, without the need to boot the OS.Terry Chen explained that, as the UEFI sees BIOS as a firmware OS, with an Internet connection and Sure Boot, the basic features required by a small cloud connected device can be provided without a complete OS. This can bring a noticeable cost-effectiveness for cost-sensitive applications.Phoenix Technologies' BIOS solutions have been widely used in various embedded devices, such as POS, KIOSK, factory automation, digital signage, networking equipment, the military, and in-flight entertainment systems. Globally renowned industrial PC manufacturers, such as Kontron and Emerson, are their customers. In the future, Phoenix Technologies will aim at customized support services to improve the features of embedded systems.Picken Hu, Senior Product Manager at PhoenixTerry Chen, VP, Development Engineering at Phoenix

In 2012, Chilisin broke its 3rd consecutive record high in revenue. In a difficult year for many passive component makers due to decline in PC demand and price erosion, Chilisin, one of the largest inductor manufacturers in the Greater China region, achieved an outstanding 7% revenue growth year-on-year. Chilisin was able to outperform most industry peers due to various reasons; most importantly, its early penetration into China's hand-held device market and its newly developed relationships with Chinese and Korean customers contributed to its outstanding performance in 2012.Sales to smartphone customers accounted for roughly 20% of Chilisin's total revenue in 2012. Last year, in response to smartphone market's quick rise and hand-held device miniaturization trend, Chilisin was able to successfully offer many new products, including its LVS Series wire-wound power inductor as well as 0402-sized chip beads and inductors. Digitimes Research estimated that smartphone shipments in China will reach 189 million in 2012, achieving a 137% growth rate year-on-year compared to 2011, and continue to grow 36% to drive shipments to reach 256 million in 2013. Jack Chung, Chief Operating Officer at Chilisin, states that in light of its continued growth momentum, smartphone sales will become one of the main factors that will support sustainable growth for the company.Continued success in 2013 will depend largely on Chilisin's technological capability in offering new products, production capacity expansion, as well as market penetration into new regions and applications. In anticipation of the thinness and lightweight trend of hand-held devices, Chilisin successfully developed the AME/MHCD Series high-current molding power inductor and 0201-sized chip beads and inductors in 2012. Sources from the industry have stated that focus in 2013 will be on battery performance enhancement within hand-held devices. Ready for full production this year, the AME-MHCD Series is set to become a main driver of growth. Alongside the AME/MHCD Series power inductor, the TFL Series thin-film chip inductor was developed last year for high-precision smartphone and tablet RF application. Production is expected to ramp up significantly in 2013 as demand for high-end hand-held devices continue to grow. Another product development highlight will center on the multilayer and thin-film type Common Mode Chokes for USB 3.0 and HDMI application. Currently in testing phase, these new products lead the way among various other inductors to be developed in 2013.Growth in sales will be boosted by capacity expansion of both newly developed and mature products. In the months transitioning from 2012 to 2013, roughly 80% of Chilisin's production lines operated at full capacity. Since November 2012, Chilisin has already expanded its workforce by 20%, and is projecting to invest roughly 15 million US dollars in 2013 to expand and enhance its production facilities in both China and Taiwan.Further growth in 2013 will be driven by market penetration into new geographies and applications. Sales to the Greater China region in 2012 accounted for 82% of Chilisin's total revenue. After its strategic entry into China's handheld device market in 2011, Chilisin is expecting to enter into new markets beyond the greater China region. The 2012 CEATEC Exhibition in Japan was a hallmark for Chilisin's entry into the Japanese market, through which Chilisin established relationships with both Japanese and International distributors and customers. Chilisin expects to receive substantial orders from Japan in the coming year as Japanese end-product manufacturers face increasing price pressure. Continued marketing efforts in the US and Russia is also expected to yield promising returns in the coming year. Apart from hand-held devices, automotive and lighting applications will be an important working point for Chilisin to diversify its product application.Chilisin has had a successful run since 2009, almost doubling its revenue in 3 years. Through strategic planning in terms of market penetration, product development, and capacity expansion, Chilisin has been able to break its own revenue record year on year since 2009. By focusing on its core strengths, Chilisin seeks to achieve its fourth consecutive record revenue in 2013.

Acer and Intel have announced the Acer Liquid C1 smartphone based on Intel's Atom Z2420 processor for the Asia Pacific region. The smartphone will be available with a special promotion during Mobile Expo from February 7-11.The smartphone will be available in retail channels at a price of THB9,990 (US$335) in the weeks following. Acer Liquid C1 smartphone specifications Item Detail CPU Intel Atom Z2420 (1.2GHz) Modem Intel XMM 6265 slim modem with quad-band capability Display 4.3-inch IPS qHD touchscreen (960 by 540, 16:9 ratio) OS Android (Ice Cream Sandwich) Camera 8-megapixel main camera at 5 frames per second, AF & LED 0.3-megapixel front camera Storage 4GB Wireless support Wireless LAN 802.11 b/g/n (/n HT20) GPS / Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR Source: Company, compiled by Digitimes, February 2013Acer Liquid C1 smartphonePhoto: Company

Apple has announced a 128GB version of the fourth-generation iPad with Retina display. The 128GB iPad with Wi-Fi and iPad with Wi-Fi plus cellular models provide twice the storage capacity of the 64GB models.The fourth-generation iPad features a 9.7-inch Retina display, Apple-designed A6X chip, FaceTime HD camera and the iOS 6.1 operating system. The iOS 6.1 includes support for additional LTE networks around the world, and iTunes Match.The new 128GB versions of the fourth-generation iPad will be available starting February 5, in black or white, for a suggested retail price of US$799 for the iPad with Wi-Fi model and US$929 for the iPad with Wi-Fi plus cellular model, Apple said.Apple to release a 128GB iPad 4Photo: Company

At the beginning of 2013, MSI, which just brought home 11 awards for products from the 21st Taiwan Excellence Awards, has set its sights on the market for NBs with high portability and high functionality. Its answer: the slim S30.This beautifully built laptop boasts a minimalist chassis characterized by flowing lines. And its extensive functionality, green-energy design, and extended battery life make it the ideal work station for anyone on-the-go. The Intel third generation Ivy Bridge Core i3 processor and friendly multimedia are just part of the reason the S30 stands a cut above the multitude of other laptops out there.Mobile platform for home, work, anywhereEric Kuo, associate vice president for global sales, MSI Notebook, points out that the slender new S30, a continuation of MSI's tradition of minimalist design, packs a lot into a small package. The aluminum magnesium alloy casing is both light and sturdy. The HDMI and USB3.0 ports ensure that using and sharing large multimedia files is quick and efficient. The touchpad is 20% larger than traditional ones for smoother, easier use and the multi-touch finger technology let you accomplish more. In addition to coming preloaded with Windows 8, the S30 sports a full array of I/O ports, including a card reader, BT4.0, and LAN. The powerful S30 is the ideal choice for on-the-go word processing, professional multimedia reading and editing, or young people who like online social networking.Intel 3G Core i multi-core processorThe S30 features the Intel 3 Gen Ivy Bridge Core i3 processor employing the latest 22nm production technology, enhancing frequency and performance, while reducing power consumption by 50%. It is 15% faster than the previous generation in terms of the production and online sharing of videos. It supports DDR3-1333 DRAM and comes with USB3.0 for data transfer that is 10X faster than the previous generation.Newest Intel integrated chipThe S30 packs Intel's latest HD4000 integrated chip, greatly enhancing the fluidity of 3D gaming graphics. It racked up over 4200 points on the 3D Mark 06 test. The all-new IGP supports the new Microsoft DX11, OpenCL v1.1, and OpenGL 3.1 and the QuickSync Video 2.0 codec is twice as fast as the previous generation.Intel Rapid Start on TechnologyThe optional SSD saves power and boots the S30 up five times faster than traditional hard drives for a more efficient mobile experience. SSDs also protect your data against shock, further enhancing mobility.Crystal clear sound outputThe 1.4-kilogram S30 may be diminutive, but it packs high fidelity speakers which, with the THX TruStudio Pro wrap around sound, provide you faithful sound for a more enjoyable movie, music, and gaming experience. MSI's own sound positioning technology ensures that the user can clearly distinguish subtle differences in sound whether watching films or enjoying music. The sound quality, regardless of frequency, is crisp and clear, making the S30 ideal for the distinguishing ear.MSI S30

DFI recently launched the industrial grade EC800, DFI's first ultra-compact palm-size fanless embedded system. Powered by the Intel Atom processor, its low power consumption design offers energy-efficient performance ideal for the embedded computing market.EC800 supports a range of Intel Atom processors, from the power efficient Intel Atom N2800/N2600 processor for low power solution application to the enhanced Intel Atom D2550 processor for applications that require maximum performance. It offers CFast and mSATA high speed interfaces for maximum storage. The powerful video processing capability integrated in the Intel Atom processor delivers high performance multimedia applications through the DVI-I interface.Wireless communication is significantly important in vehicle solutions. To ensure efficient communication, the system supports Wi-Fi and 3G/GPRS via optional modules. It is also equipped with a SIM slot and 2 antenna holes making the system suitable for environments that require wireless applications.EC800 comes standard with 9~24V wide range power input voltage. It is capable of supporting up to 36V (via the optional battery pack) for in-vehicle applications. By utilizing 2 Intel Gigabit LAN, it doubles network capabilities and reduces CPU workload thus offering better network reliability. This makes the EC800 ideal for network-intensive applications.EC800 leads the market with its unique thermal design for optimized cooling. Due to the low power consumption of the processor and the system's mechanical design, it is able to work in temperatures ranging from 0~60 degrees C and supports extended temperature from -20~70 degrees C as an option. With DDR3 memory onboard and its ruggedized cable-free assembly, it protects the system against shock and vibration.EC800 takes full advantage of the Intel NM10 Express chipset which is packed with high performance I/O capabilities to provide increased mobile computing. The 2 DB-9 ports support RS232/422/485 with RS485 supporting auto direction control. One of the DB-9 ports also supports isolated 4-bit DIO for device controls (selectable via a jumper). 4 USB 2.0 ports at the front panel provide easy access for inserting USB devices.With dimensions at 161mm x 32mm x 108mm, the slim and sleek design of this compact system will fit perfectly into almost any type of vehicle and space-critical environments. Designed for vehicle application, the optional battery pack is rechargeable and supports wide power input voltage from 9~36V. This ensures continuous connectivity and safe operation even on extreme vibration and shock while on the road.DFI has extensive long-term experience in the design and production of advanced technology and high quality embedded systems. EC800 is the perfect solution for applications requiring power computing while maintaining low power consumption in a compact size system equipped with rich I/O and expansion. It is ideal for applications such as vehicle, factory automation, and self-service kiosk.EC800 is low power consumption design offers energy-efficient performance ideal for the embedded computing market.

Flexible printed circuit (FPC) coverlays are meant to overlay and protect the fine circuits, giving them flexibility and sheltering them from damage by temperatures, humidity, pollutants and erosive substances. Coverlay development has so far resulted in three types: the dry-film coverlay, screen-printing coverlay and photoimageable coverlay (PIC).Dry-film and screen-printing coverlays generally involve low yield rates, high costs, imprecision and poor flexibility, and more importantly, these solutions do not thoroughly address the quality issue of through holes filling. PICs are technologically more advanced than the other types and can more precisely locate the position for soldering on flexible circuit boards, making it a superior solution for precise soldering for the creation of fine-pitch circuits and an even coating thickness. PIC is used to fill through holes by lamination instead of a coating with ductile solder mask ink. Currently, US-based DuPont, Japan-based Hitachi, Coastes ASI, Taiyo Ink Mfg., Asahi Chemical and Taiwan-based TeamChem Materials have all been engaged in R&D and production of PICs.Lamination for PIC through hole filling processFor Taiwan-based FPC makers, the filling of through holes has been the biggest technological challenge hindering their advancement to the high-end of the precision FPC market. If Taiwan-based FPC makers want to enter this market segment, which is dominated by Japan-based FPC makers and covers applications such as hard disk drives (HDDs), inkjet printers, precision medical instruments and aerospace devices, they must resolve the technological challenge of through hole filling. The solution, however, entails three precision procedures. First, a ductile solder mask needs to be precisely coated over FPCs to make the FPCs soft and flexible, and the mask also needs to seep into the through holes to form a protection layer there. Second, FPC makers' expertise is required for using either the screen printing or roller coating coverlay process or there will be a high chance of seeing products with poor quality. Third, production efficiency should be high; without an efficient production, the output scale and production schedule will both be stranded. Advanced material R&D companies in the US and Japan, which are pioneers in the FPC industry and have a large portion of the global FPC market, now use lamination to solve problems faced with the through-hole filling process. Using this type of solution can shorten the time for manufacturing FPCs, reduce material cost by one-third and increase yield rates and production efficiency.The importance of PIC for the FPC industryPICs are important because they can change the FPC production model as well as the FPC industry ecosystem by affording Taiwan-based FPC makers the opportunity to compete against Japan- and US-based makers in the high-end precision FPC market. TeamChem Materials, headquartered in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan, in early 2012 decided to step into development and production of PICs with a goal of resolving issues associated with Japan- and US-produced PICs, such as implementation difficulties, high equipment costs, time-consuming manufacturing processes, and high unit prices. TeamChem Materials chairman Todd Yeh points out that the company wants to provide a type of PIC that is based on a low-temperature manufacturing process utilizing FPC makers' existing equipment, with a low price point below NT$400 (US$13.7) per square meter.In early 2013, TeamChem Materials already completed its pilot production for PICs and is now ready for mass production. R&D personnel at some FPC makers are already testing TeamChem's coverlays on their communication antenna and light bar FPC products for tablets and smartphones. Commenting on PICs' future development, some R&D engineers at FPC makers have pointed out that traditional FPC production consists of 11 steps - micro-etching the circuit, pre-tacking, lamination, baking, hole punching, sandblasting, applying photoimageable solder masks, pre-baking, exposure, developing and baking again. With TeamChem Materials' new PICs, the process can be reduced to only five steps - micro-etching the circuit, lamination, exposure, developing and baking - a streamlined process that saves time and personnel costs. Moreover, makers will not have to purchase expensive vacuum laminators, greatly increasing their competitiveness in obtaining OEM/ODM orders.TeamChem PIC R&D focuses on ease of useTeamChem Materials is the first Taiwan-based maker to have successfully developed ductile solder masks specifically for use in FPCs. It has been working with various handset FPC makers to develop specialty ink, and has also identified key problems FPC makers face using PICs. Current PICs are expensive, with costs escalating even more when vacuum and high pressure laminators are necessary for their production. There are other problems, such as: poor image development, which could fail to leave a clear land pattern on the FPC; and material absorption during the back-end electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG) and gold plating processes due to weak chemical resistance. These problems have deterred PIC use from becoming popular among Taiwan-based FPC makers due to inexperience in handling such processes. Sunny Han, president of TeamChem Materials' sales and marketing department, points out that the company has many years of experience working with major FPC makers and has for many times developed special inks exclusively for certain FPC clients. TeamChem believes that its initiative to start R&D and production of PICs will create a win-win model for itself and FPC makers. FPC makers can provide specification requirements and product samples, and the FPC solder mask expert TeamChem Materials will be happy to work with them.TeamChem Materials' PIC