May 16, 2017 
BTU International, Inc., a leading supplier of advanced thermal processing equipment for the electronics manufacturing and alternative energy markets, today announced that it has installed a PYRAMAX™ 100A demo unit at Silicon Valley-based NextFlex. A public-private consortium of companies, academic institutions, nonprofits and governments, NextFlex’s mission is to advance US manufacturing of flexible hybrid electronics (FHE). With this installation, BTU is now able to provide customer demonstrations on the West Coast, located conveniently in the heart of Silicon Valley.
“PYRAMAX’s industry-leading thermal uniformity and unwavering process repeatability make it a great fit for the NextFlex Technology Hub,” said Paul Lancaster, director of sales, Americas for BTU International. “These flexible hybrid circuit products have low thermal mass, making them more challenging to heat uniformly, and this PYRAMAX system, outfitted with BTU’s proprietary closed-loop convection technology, is perfectly suited for this application,” added Lancaster.
The PYRAMAX 100A was chosen for this lab because of its combination of high yield and low running costs providing a tremendous cost-of-ownership advantage. The oven features 100" of heated length and eight zones, along with 350ºC maximum temperature. The system provides excellent thermal uniformity through BTU’s exclusive closed-loop convection control.
“NextFlex will be utilizing the BTU PYRAMAX to cure conductive inks and adhesives on flexible substrates, a key step in the FHE manufacturing process,” said Jason Marsh, Director of Technology for NextFlex.
NextFlex®, America’s Flexible Hybrid Electronics Manufacturing Institute, is a leading force in the Manufacturing USA network. Formed through a cooperative agreement between the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and FlexTech Alliance, NextFlex is a consortium of companies, academic institutions, non-profits and state, local and federal governments with a shared goal of advancing U.S. manufacturing of FHE. For more information, visit www.nextflex.us and follow NextFlex on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. For more information about NextFlex, visit www.nextflex.us.
BTU International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amtech Group (Nasdaq: ASYS), is a global supplier and technology leader of advanced thermal processing equipment and processes to the electronics manufacturing and alternative energy markets. BTU equipment is used in the production of printed circuit board assemblies and semiconductor packaging as well as in the manufacturing of solar cells and nuclear fuel. BTU has operations in North Billerica, Massachusetts, and Shanghai, China, with direct sales and service in the U.S.A., Asia and Europe. Information about BTU International is available at www.btu.com.
