Board Level EMI Shield Targets Wireless Communication Applications

 

A multi-cavity board level shield from W.L. Gore is dubbed Gore™ snapSHOT™ and provides EMI shielding for wireless communication devices. The technology utilized consists of a lightweight, metalized plastic shield that can be thermoformed for virtually any design and an innovative attachment mechanism using solder spheres as individual mechanical snap features. The shield is metalized with tin on the outside only (leaving the surface insulative), which results in narrower ground traces, less space between components, and reduced overall thickness as compared to existing shielding solutions. Solder spheres are reliably installed to ground pads on the PCB, directly after solder paste is applied, using a modified stencil printer. The rest of the SMT process, including pick-and-place and reflow, remains unaffected. Gore™ snapSHOT™ shields are snapped onto the PCB after reflow, allowing for easy component inspection, repair, or removal by hand. Manual, semi, or fully automated solutions are offered. Find more product specifics at the W.L. Gore website.

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