Capabilities ( https://marketing.sunstone.com/c/AQix0RUQn981GOf3qZABIMzDpw0o6aibFYQE5WPzUdhqhuOBoot4LWgZF11xNN1PXt1HzVl-rjYj ) | Resources ( https://marketing.sunstone.com/c/AQix0RUQn981GOf3qZABIM3Dpw0o6aibFZOKiXaoQrWsk8h4Qm1Ea0ATk4s5sD52ZOXhZW2W4_q0 )
Quote Now ( https://marketing.sunstone.com/c/AQix0RUQn981GOf3qZABIM7Dpw0o6aibFThIDZnLQZNhEe4sAS8gzD0SFcbyT8zWP7OoWTtNJ3ha )
Chemical vs. Plasma: A Look Inside the Drill Hole
Ever wonder how your material selection suddenly dictates our specific manufacturing workflow? It often comes down to a critical, yet invisible, step: Desmear.
When a high speed drill hits your PCB stackup, it can create immense friction. This heat melts the resin, which then "smears" across the face of the inner layer copper interconnects. If the microscopic layer of plastic isn't removed, your plated through hole won't actually connect to your internal traces. It’s the difference between a solid metallurgical bond and a "cold" connection waiting to fail.
Here is how ASC Sunstone tackles that smear, (depending on your design):
Chemical Desmear: The "Wet" Process
For standard FR-4 and many high-temp resins, we utilize a multi-stage chemical bath.
The Swell: We use a solvent to soften the resin surface.The Etch: A potassium permanganate solution chemically "eats" the smeared resin and slightly etches the hole wall.The Result: This creates a "honeycomb" topography on a microscopic level, which gives the subsequent copper plating a high-surface-area "tooth" to grab onto.
Plasma Desmear: The "Dry" Process
When you spec advanced materials like PTFE (Teflon) or Polyimide, chemical baths often slide right off without doing anything. This is when we need to move to a vacuum chamber.
The Science: We use a mixture of Oxygen, Nitrogen, and CF4 (Tetrafluoromethane) gases, excited by RF energy to create plasma.The Scrub: These highly reactive ions "sandblast" the resin at a molecular level.The Advantage: Plasma is incredibly thorough. It can reach into high-aspect-ratio holes where liquid surface tension might prevent a chemical bath from entering.
The Fabricator's Perspective
While the design engineer usually doesn’t "choose" the desmear method, the material physics does, it’s important to know that Plasma is often a "double-pass" process. If you are using a hybrid stackup (like FR-4 bonded with Rogers 4350B), we may run both processes to ensure every layer is perfectly cleaned.
The Bottom Line: You design for signal integrity and thermal performance; we choose the desmear chemistry to ensure your design survives the physics of the manufacturing floor.
BOM to Board
Get immediate pricing on assembly components and labor in real-time.
Quote Now » ( https://marketing.sunstone.com/c/AQix0RUQn981GOf3qZABIM7Dpw0o6aibFThIDZnLQZNhEe4sAS8gzD0SFcbyT8zWP7OoWTtNJ3ha )
ITAR Certified
Certified for quality, registered for defense. We combine ITAR-compliant security with industry-leading reliability.
Learn More » ( https://marketing.sunstone.com/c/AQix0RUQn981GOf3qZABINDDpw0o6aibFWJDZIYnNCI9833Mm6NeT2sf7M3YT74izkmkE9lH2xua )
Contact Sunstone Support
1-800-228-8198 ( 1-800-228-8198 )
email ( support@sunstone.com?subject=Support%20Inquiry ) & chat ( https://marketing.sunstone.com/c/AQix0RUQn981GOf3qZABINHDpw0o6aibFXfprP-zZGwN6WQjdTZnNgbb_utYEw4Wo_ENwi9lWEoU )
To unsubscribe from our email, click here https://marketing.sunstone.com/uns/AQix0RUQn981GOf3qZABIOmomxV_4wEVf8Zg-DysSURYyBXQmAGDSDAOtWWLirDZMrEv7Q
Copyright © *2026
ASC Sunstone
All Rights Reserved
Unsubscribe https://marketing.sunstone.com/uns/AQix0RUQn981GOf3qZABIOmomxV_4wEVf8Zg-DysSURYyBXQmAGDSDAOtWWLirDZMrEv7Q | View in browser https://marketing.sunstone.com/cr/AQix0RUQn981GOf3qZABMOmomxWYgmU9AWQKwqNQnLJ1GhLKRPRbij-itZIt_M3TnJ_LVA
13626 S. Freeman Road, Mulino, OR 97042