Konstantine "Gus" Karavakis, Vice President

Advanced Process Development for Averatek

He is instrumental in the development and application of the Averatek Semi-Additive Process (A-SAP™) that enables ASC to manufacture Ultra HDI product.

With over 30 years of industry experience, Gus Karavakis has special expertise in additive technologies, IC Packaging, IC packaging substrates, advanced processes, flex and rigid-flex PCB manufacturing and materials, Interconnects and Probe cards. He is the author/ co-author of more than 80 patents. Prior to his work at Averatek, Gus was Director of Process Engineering and Quality at Altaflex/OSI Systems and have managed R&D, Process Engineering, Reliability, Manufacturing and Quality teams. He holds a BE in Chemical Engineering from CCNY and an MS in Chemical Engineering from Columbia University.

Industry awareness of ultra HDI is growing, and a significant share of the market is looking into designing with these ultra-fine features. Why do you feel that this new technology is important to the industry?

Ultra HDI is not actually all that new – it is just new to the industry mainstream in North America.

For the past 30 years, every segment of the electronics industry has been looking into lightweight and reduced size devices. Ultra HDI substrates and PCBs accomplish that by reducing layer count and overall size.

It all started in 1992, with the development of Multichip Module Laminate (MCM-L): today, we call these “chiplets”. They are the result of development of the micro-BGA and the Semi-Additive Process (SAP) for Flex IC packaging substrates, using sputtered copper. When the industry adopted the

 micro-BGA and SAP, that started the evolution toward miniaturization – which continues today.

What key information points are critical to shortening the cycle for adoption - to more quickly begin taking advantage of the benefits of ultra HDI?

·        Education: PCB and systems Designers need to learn that their multilayer PCBs with >75 um lines and spaces can be reduced to a few layers and smaller size (more boards per panel).

And they must learn how to redesign their boards to finer features.

·        Investment: fabricators need to invest in equipment that has the capability for <10 um lines and spaces and <50 um vias - Phototools, AOI, Test, Lasers, etc.

(Note: at this point, the only North American ITAR-certified fabricator to have made that investment is ASC.)

As an expert that has navigated through multiple waves of technology advancements, what advice to you have for those who are looking at learning new techniques?

·        Ultra HDI is a whole new world – very different that the conventional PCB.

Those who are resistant to change won’t succeed in this new world!

·        It is critical to select the right Engineers, Technicians and Production people to be fully trained in these new techniques – and to do it quickly.

·        Detailed instruction on the critical process steps is a must: communication between Designers and Fabricators is key.

What are your outside interests - the hobbies that help you reboot?

Right now, managing the innovation process at Averatek is enough for me to reboot every day!

Ask how we can enable new Design freedoms for your work on Defense, Medical, and Commercial applications:

Contact John Johnson at jjohnson@asc-i.com