IMS at International Symposium

IMS was looking forward to exhibiting at the International Microwave Symposium (IMS2020) in Los Angeles, June 21-26 2020. The International Microwave Symposium is the flagship conference of the Microwave Theory & Techniques Society (MTT-S) of the Institution of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). In light of the IMS 2020 Symposium having been cancelled, we look forward to seeing you at IMS2021, June 6-11, 2021 at Atlanta’s Georgia World Congress Center.

2023-11-05T20:00:23+00:00May 21st, 2020|Press Release, Uncategorized|

New Models for Attenuators and Resistors Released by Modelithics

Modelithics® and International Manufacturing Services® (IMS) Release New Models for Attenuators and Resistors Tampa, Florida and Portsmouth, Rhode Island (January 31, 2019) – Modelithics and International Manufacturing Services (IMS) have completed the development of eight new broadband Microwave Global Models™ for IMS attenuator and resistor families. The models were developed through the Modelithics Vendor Partner (MVP) Program under a 6-year collaboration plan recently established between Modelithics and IMS. New models are now available for the following IMS components: RC3-0402PW, RC4-0302PW and NDX-1020EZW high frequency resistor families, A-0402WA-C/IMS2652 and A-0603-C/IMS2533 high frequency attenuator families, and the VDR-3725SG very high-power attenuator series. The VDR-3725 attenuator model is validated up to 2 GHz, while all other attenuator and resistor models are validated to 40 or 50 GHz. The new models are substrate scalable, pad scalable and part value scalable, with the exception of the 50-ohm single-value NDX-1020EZW resistor model. The models are available for use with multiple EDA tools*, including Keysight ADS, Keysight Genesys, NI AWR Design Environment/Microwave Office™, ANSYS® HFSS™, Sonnet® Suites™ and Cadence® Spectre® RF. (*Model availability may vary by simulator) IMS is a Sponsoring Modelithics Vendor Partner (MVP) and as part of this program, is sponsoring FREE 90-day trials of [...]

2023-11-05T20:00:16+00:00January 31st, 2019|Press Release, Tech Info|

Modelithics and IMS Establish 6 Year Collaboration

Tampa, Florida and Portsmouth, Rhode Island (April 30, 2018) – Modelithics and International Manufacturing Services (IMS) have entered into a long term collaboration commitment that includes development of simulation models for numerous IMS device families, as well as funding Sponsoring Modelithics Vendor Partner (MVP) status for at least 6 years. High frequency, scalable models for multiple IMS resistor and attenuator families are planned under this initial agreement. As a Sponsoring MVP, IMS will sponsor FREE 90-day trials of all available Modelithics models for IMS components. Modelithics is looking forward to developing the new models and to having IMS components represented in the Modelithics COMPLETE Library. Larry Dunleavy, president and CEO of Modelithics stated, “We are very happy to have IMS as a new MVP. The 6-year plan sets a new precedent for the confidence and trust we are enjoying with our vendor partners. This arrangement was established to provide a long term strategic roadmap for model development and multi-year MVP sponsorship while spreading out the total budget over several years. It is a great arrangement for everyone.” J.J. Silvia III, IMS Vice President of Operations, is looking forward to the collaboration as well, stating, “We have been considering how to [...]

2018-05-01T12:39:53+00:00April 30th, 2018|Press Release|

IMS Achieves AS9100D

International Manufacturing Services, Inc. (IMS) in Portsmouth, Rhode Island is pleased to announce the company has achieved quality certification to AS9100D. The AS9100D certification is an internationally recognized quality management standard for aerospace, aviation and defense industries, managed by the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG). It encompasses the ISO 9001:2015 standards with additional requirements specific to the aerospace industry and is endorsed worldwide by all major aerospace OEMs and suppliers. Upgrading to AS9100D was the result of a lengthy audit process conducted by TUV Rhineland N.A., demonstrating a level of excellence in all areas of the company’s quality management system. The AS9100D certification exhibits IMS’ continued commitment to ensuring the highest level of operations and production standards, and enables the company to continue to exceed customer expectations. This achievement strengthens their position by validating established processes that consistently meet stringent aerospace qualifications which few other organizations in the industry have achieved. Founded in 1974, IMS is the industry leader in the design, development and production of passive electronic components. Supplying the aerospace, defense, communications, and medical industries with thick and thin film chip resistors, attenuators, couplers, thermal management devices and other RF and microwave components. IMS has continued its growth [...]

2023-12-20T13:56:56+00:00December 21st, 2017|Press Release|

Advantages of Partial Wrap Resistors

As sensitive inline RF performance influences new designs, designers are scrutinizing components quite differently. One popular technique being utilized by designers is “planarizing” the components so they align in the same plane as the transmission line in RF applications. Keeping the resistor and the transmission line in the same plane reduce losses and minimizes the effects of capacitance. At DC, the resistor is simply governed by ohms law. However in an RF environment, certain parasitic effects and contributions must be accounted for. The same resistor that performs termination functions adequately at DC or low frequencies can often exhibit different performance at higher frequencies due to unwanted capacitance and inductance present when utilizing various package designs. When using a wraparound, (WA) termination, the resistor forms a small series inductance and the chip terminals form a small shunt capacitance. As frequency increases the capacitance value eventually becomes dominant and must be managed. The partial wrap, PW resistors are designed to be mounted face down and therefore have better parasitic performance than the WA style under similar layout and operating conditions. The terminals are partially wrapped around the side of the chip so when they are mounted face down, the solder joint can [...]

2017-11-07T17:18:49+00:00October 25th, 2017|Tech Info|

Advantages of Multi-Metal Terminations for Non-Magnetic, High Temperature Solder Applications

Introduction Contemporary electronic board designs are becoming more challenging for designers than ever before. In today’s thick film, component applications designers are often faced with a trade-off between process flexibility and component performance. In terms of magnetic sensitive applications, this often requires the use of components that are sensitive to processing or attachment methods and therefore limit options for installation. At times this restricts the use of certain solders, temperatures or multiple re-flow operations. In applications where extreme processing is used with vulnerable components, failure modes can include component detachment or intermittent loss of continuity due to metal leaching of contacts and terminals. In order to understand this challenge and its factors, it is helpful to list the perfect performance characteristics of a thick film component. 1) Withstands high heat 2) Resists high Sn content solder 3) Non-magnetic 4) RoHS compliance 5) Affordability 6) Value diversity In designs where magnetism and RoHS compliance are in demand (i.e. medical imaging) resistance to high-temperature solder which can only be matched by a product similar to a freeze dryer (this is found in a science laboratory). It also has “non-magnetic” properties are critical. Unfortunately, they oppose each other from a process perspective. Traditionally, [...]

2017-10-25T15:31:41+00:00June 25th, 2017|Tech Info|

ThermaBridge™ Specialty Thick Film Component

A ThermaBridge™ is a specialty thick film component developed and offered by IMS for use in the thermal management of electronic devices and modules. These products operate under the simple principle of conducting as much heat energy as possible, while simultaneously serving as an outstanding insulator of electrical energy and signal. The combination of these characteristics makes the ThermaBridge™ a very useful and flexible component that designers use to move heat either in, out, or to balance the temperature between two locations. ThermaBridges™ accomplish this without any fans, power, or moving parts making them useful for every electrical design sensitive to the effects of thermal energy. ThermaBridges™ operate by providing an electrically isolated, thermally active link between high heat generating areas and low temperature heat sinks or other locations within a circuit. According to Fourier, maximizing heat flow from one high temperature area to a lower one is made efficient by limiting the distance between the two points, maximizing the area of the conductive path and optimizing the material’s conductive heat properties. ThermaBridges™ do this by using Aluminum Nitride ceramic and offering a variety of thicknesses, lengths and widths to suit any thermal/mechanical requirement. For example if we take the [...]

2017-10-25T15:42:03+00:00May 24th, 2017|Tech Info|

IMS A-Series Thin Film Attenuators for High Frequency Applications

Attenuators are passive two-port devices that reduce or attenuate the high level output of a signal generator. They are often used to provide a lower level signal to an antenna input of a sensitive radio receiver or similar device. Attenuator accuracy and overall effect on a system is also important to know particularly in applications for test equipment or other sensitive electronics. Improving Frequency Response The IMS A-0402WA attenuator has been characterized up to 40GHz. When this component is mounted upside down with the resistor and the transmission line in the same plane, improvements can be gained which reduces losses and minimizes capacitance effects. Face down mounting has several other advantages such as reduced current loop area, lower ESL, improved power handling and reduced overall insertion loss. Figures 1 and 2 demonstrate the improvement of physical mounting geometry with respect to insertion loss.   As seen in the plots above, the two mounting techniques provide the same level of response up to about 8 GHz, at which point the ‘face down’ attenuator begins to outperform the face up attenuator. The improvement becomes more dramatic as the frequency increases. Improvement through controlled device impedance For greater improvement to the performance, the [...]

2017-12-11T20:53:48+00:00February 23rd, 2017|Tech Info|

Measurement of High Ohmic Value Resistors

High ohmic valued chip resistors exhibit characteristics of both insulators and normal resistors. As a result, a chip resistor may have a significant voltage coefficient of resistance, i.e., the resistance may vary with the applied voltage. This mandates that a fixed voltage source rather than a fixed current source be utilized when measuring these devices. Resistances can then be computed as volts/amperes. The applied voltage for a high ohmic value chip resistor is often specified as appropriate for the application to assure correlation. Typical values of applied voltage are 1 and 5 volts DC. This requirement leads to the measurement of very low currents and the attendant problems of such measurements. The problems of low current measurements include: 1. Noise currents generated in the connecting cables when flexed (triboelectric effect) 2. Noise from sources other than the cables 3. Cable, fixture and probe leakage currents 4. Cable, fixture and other stray capacitances 5. Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) 6. Characteristically high Temperature Coefficients of Resistance (TCRs)   These problems can be minimized by: 1. Properly connecting the resistor to the measurement system. 2. Properly guarding and shielding to reduce or eliminate electrostatic noise. IMS recommends that all meters be calibrated to [...]

2017-11-02T14:25:48+00:00January 24th, 2017|Tech Info|

Passive SMT Mounting Techniques: Face-up vs Facedown and Performance Trade-offs.

The choice of mounting orientation, termination styles, pad dimensions and sizes used for surface mount passive resistive components are some of the factors that contribute to the device’s performance in an RF circuit layout. Determining the trade off between these factors in addition to ease of component-to-PCB assembly, solderability, ruggedness and other design optimization for power and RF performance could be an onerous task for RF engineers. The purpose of this technical note is to shine light on the advantages and/or disadvantages of these mounting techniques and termination styles in high frequency applications. Fig. 1A & 1B above are simple illustrations of an SMT resistor wraparound termination style. At DC, the resistor is simply governed by ohm’s law’s Current, Resistance and Voltage relationship (R=V/I) whose impedance Z is simply equal to R. However in an RF environment, certain parasitic effects and contributions must be understood and accounted for as shown in Fig 2 below. The equivalent circuit diagram of Fig 2 below is a more appropriate representation of the simple resistor described above. From the equivalent circuit, C1 is the shunt capacitor that is formed between the input and output pads of the full wraparound termination style device. This capacitor [...]

2017-10-25T15:56:28+00:00December 25th, 2016|Tech Info|
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