SCS Blog
Recent SCS Blogs
Challenges to Parylene
Ultra-thin and pinhole-free, Parylene conformal coatings provide a number of high-value surface treatment properties such as excellent moisture, chemical and dielectric barrier properties, thermal and UV stability, and dry-film lubricity. At the same time, certain challenging variables can influence the Parylene coating process and should be accounted for in coating design and implementation. Given the... Read More >>
Causes of Parylene Delamination
Delamination Problems of Parylene Conformal Coatings Providing a uniform and pinhole-free substrate coating that is ultra-thin, lightweight and durable, Parylene coatings completely conform to targeted components and assemblies. Parylene chemical vapor deposition (CVD) generates a structurally continuous film. With the appropriate pre-treatment, Parylene penetrates deep within substrate surfaces rather than simply attaching to the exterior... Read More >>
What is the Uniformity of Parylene Conformal Coating?
Parylene is often applied to substrates or materials where there is no room for any voids in the protective coating. The applications are subjected to harmful chemicals, moisture packed environments or even the human body. These are often mission-critical devices which cannot allow any environmental factors to alter their performance. Whenever these devices need this... Read More >>
How Can You Validate Parylene Coverage?
Parylene is a transparent, thin (typically applied at 0.1 to 25 microns), well adhering, pinhole and defect-free conformal coating. The coatings are uniformly applied without voids on flat surfaces and component configurations with sharp edges, points, flat surfaces, crevices or exposed internal surfaces. Why is Parylene Difficult to Verify? Because Parylene is transparent and forms... Read More >>
Cleanliness: The Key to Conformal Coating Success
The quality of a conformal coating application is directly related to the cleanliness of the substrate being coated. Clean substrates coat well; contaminated ones do not. The only way to manage this problem is to inspect and clean electronic components before the coating process. Ionic and Non-ionic Contaminants Contaminants come in two broad categories: ionic... Read More >>
How to Remove Conformal Coatings
Despite the protection of conformal coatings, failure of PCBs and other electronic components can occur for several reasons, including: To determine the right removal method, these key factors must be identified: Removal Methods Once these have been identified, determination of the appropriate removal method is possible. The major removal methods include: Industry Standards Industry standards... Read More >>
Conformal Coatings for Electronics
Withstanding operating environment challenges such as corrosion, fungus, oxidation, rain, salt water/mist, snow, temperature fluctuations or vibration is essential to the long-term performance of electronic devices. Without suitable protection, printed circuit boards (PCBs) and similar electronics will malfunction as they are not able to survive harsh environments exposure. Below are operating environments that electronics commonly... Read More >>
Paralene, Paralyne, or Parylene: Correctly Spelling and Using This Superior Conformal Coating
Discovered in 1947 by chemist Michael Szwarc, the polymer Parylene originally bore his name and was known for a brief period known as Szwarcite. Working to thermally decompose the solvent p-xylene at temperatures exceeding 1,000°C, Szwarc identified the monomer para-xylylene di-iodide as the only product resulting when para-xylylene was reacted with iodine. Parylene has developed... Read More >>
Can I Glue to Parylene?
With reliable moisture barrier properties, Parylene (XY) conformal coatings generally have a hydrophobic surface when deposited onto substrates, causing liquids to form separate droplets on film surfaces. While this outcome is useful for many Parylene applications, a greater hydrophilic response, wherein XY molecules form ionic or hydrogen bonds with water molecules, can also be desired.... Read More >>
Implantable Devices and Parylene
Materials surgically-grafted or inserted onto a portion of the body are considered implantables. Although a medical implant may be composed of body tissue such as a blood vessel or tendon, many are made from artificial substances, surgically positioned within the body to improve the patient’s health by upgrading the performance of an affected organ or... Read More >>
