- History and Aims
- Facilities, Skills and Expertise
- Specialist Products
- Production Processes
- High Reliability Processing : Reliability programme : High Reliability Testing : 100% Screening Options : Lot-By-Lot Quality Assessment Tests (BS9400)
- Reliability Data
- Quality Control: Management : Customers : Design : Purchasing : Production : Ongoing Improvement : BS9400 :IECQ: UL : Demko : RoHS
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History and Aims
Isocom Ltd, a privately owned UK company, was founded in 1982 to design, develop and manufacture optocouplers for the Commercial, High Reliability, Military, Aerospace and Industrial markets.
In 1984 H.R.H. Prince Charles opened Isocom Ltd's new 5,000 sq. ft. custom-built manufacturing facility in the North East of England. The company has since focused its efforts on the production of optocouplers for the High Reliability/Defence sectors.
The result of this commitment was the approval of the facility to BS9000 in 1987. Isocom Ltd then became the first, and only, European manufacturer of BS9400 High Reliability ceramic optocouplers. .
Isocom Ltd's aim is to continue its high-level investment in R & D, manufacture, testing and training to give the worldwide marketplace high quality innovative products. A result of this R & D has been the production of the world's first 6 pin ceramic optocoupler.
Facilities, Skills and Expertise
As a specialist manufacturer, Isocom Ltd has the design, technology and manufacturing skills to satisfy even the most stringent or exacting customer product requirements.
It is this confident ability to undertake the most difficult projects that has earned us the respect of optoelectronics specifiers and technicians the world over.
Isocom Ltd's manufacturing is centred around its purpose built factory in the North East. The 5,000 sq. ft. plant was designed and constructed to satisfy the requirements of both manufacturing efficiency and environmental control.
Throughout the facility, each stage of production, from the initial die attach process through to final testing, is supported by extensive investment in semi and fully automatic assembly and test equipment. Where necessary, Isocom Ltd has procured custom equipment to meet the demands of its unique product range.
Since its inception, Isocom Ltd has based its success on a unique blend of technologies and systems.
The cornerstone of the company's product range is our command of hybrid micro-assembly. Through our own development programmes and experienced engineers, Isocom Ltd is able to ensure that standard operations such as die attach, wire bond and lid seal are completed consistently and reliably. The assembly is based on Isocom Ltd's own range of custom 6, 8 and 16 pin packages.
This expertise is further augmented by the company's extensive knowledge of optoelectronic components and applications. We specify and design a whole range of enabling devices from LEDs through to integrated photodetectors. The techniques for the integration of these optoelectronic devices into the hybrid environment has now been developed to allow reliable, high yielding, yet flexible manufacture.
For many customers the foremost requirement has been for Isocom Ltd to develop products capable of meeting the exacting electrical and environmental requirements placed on them. This has been achieved through extensive in-house development and evaluation testing, and subsequently verified by the approving authorities.
The above activities are, of course, subject to the discipline and control of an approved quality system. This not only regulates manufacture, but through the implementation of appropriate controls, ensures long term continuity by way of disciplined development programmes and structured responses to customer requirements.
Specialist Products
The combination of applications expertise, development facilities and manufacturing skills give Isocom Ltd an incisive problem-solving capability.Our engineers offer cost-effective quality solutions to design problems, drawing on families of 6, 8 and 16 pin packages and a large reservoir of optoelectronic die types, combined with testing tailored to individual customer requirements.
If you have a specific opto-electronic need for multi-channel devices, input current specifications, current transfer ratio selection, channel to channel matching, speed requirements, logic compatibility or custom reliability processing, talk to Isocom Ltd first.Whatever your requirement you can be assured you will receive a professional, comprehensive response from the acknowleged experts in the field.
Production Processes
Isocom Ltd is committed to a quality and reliability that begins prior to any of the assembly stages. Before being released for production, all die are subject to 100% electrical test and visual inspection, and samples are drawn for more detailed electrical characterisation and reliability testing. Isocom Ltd makes full use of manual, semi-automatic, and fully automatic die and wire bonders.
Hermetic lid seal is achieved through solder reflow, and 100% fine and gross leak testing ensures leak rate conformance, and provides a constant feedback of process performance during this key operation.
Use of automatic test equipment, coupled with high temperature handlers and temperature forcing equipment, ensures reliable efficient testing of both sub-assemblies and finished product over the full range of operating temperatures.
Temperature cycle, acceleration testing and burn-in are all an integral part of the company's 100% processing of high reliability products.
High Reliability Processing
Isocom Ltd supplies high reliability devices for applications typically requiring an operational temperature range of -55°C to +125°C, under extreme environmental conditions. In order to meet these requirements the company operates a reliability programme which invokes continual assessment and improvement of materials, processes and technologies.
Reliability programme
High Reliability Testing
100% Screening Options
BS9400: Lot-By-Lot Quality Assessment Tests
Reliability programme
Isocom Ltd's reliability programme embraces all of the following activities:
- Product Design
- Product Evaluation and Qualification
- Material Purchase
- Production Quality and Process Control
- Interim and Final Testing
- Screening (if required)
- Lot-By-Lot Quality Conformance Test
- Periodic Environmental and Quality Assessment Testing
- Defect Analysis and Feedback
- Strong Customer Interface
High Reliability Testing
Isocom Ltd's high reliability test programme is designed to evaluate on a regular basis the continued integrity of our products. Additionally, depending upon customer needs, 100% screening including burn-in under specified conditions can be offered.
Typical 100% screening options, and Periodic quality assessment testing ("Group A, B, C, & D tests") to meet BS9400 and IECQ-CECC requirements are shown in the three tables following.
100% Screening Options
| BS9000 Options | |||||||
| TEST | CONDITIONS | L2 | L3 | L4 | B | C | D |
| Internal Visual Examination | Condition "B" | Y | Y | - | Y | Y | - |
| High Temp Storage | 24h @ + 150°C | Y | Y | - | Y | Y | - |
| Temp. Cycle | -65°C/+150°C, 10 cycles | Y | Y | - | Y | Y | - |
| Constant Acceleration | 49,000 m/s2 (5000 g), Y1 axis, 1 minute | Y | Y | - | Y | Y | - |
| Fine Leak | Tracer gas (helium) - test Qk | Y | Y | - | Y | Y | - |
| Gross Leak | Fluorocarbon bubble method - test Qc | Y | Y | - | Y | Y | - |
| Pre-burn in Electrical test | As detail spec | Y | - | Y | Y | - | Y |
| Burn-in | 160 h (min) at +125°C (as detail spec) | Y | - | Y | Y | - | Y |
| Post burn-in electrical | As detail spec | Y | - | Y | Y | - | Y |
| PDA calculation | Percent defects allowed - as specified (typically 5% or 10%) | Y | - | Y | Y | - | Y |
| Final Electrical Tests | Static characteristics at -55°C, +25°C, +125°C. Dynamic characteristics at 25°C. | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| External visual inspection | As detail spec | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
Lot-By-Lot Quality Assessment Tests
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GROUP A (each lot)
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GROUP C (3-monthly sample)
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GROUP B (each lot)
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GROUP D (6-monthly sample)
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Lot-By-Lot Quality Assessment Tests
GROUP A (each lot)
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Group C (3 monthly sample)
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Group B (each lot)
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Reliability Data
Through device qualification, quality conformance testing and supplementary life testing, Isocom Ltd is constantly assessing the reliability of its products.
The co-ordinated programme of activities is aimed at ensuring the integrity of each constituent element as well as the whole device. Parameters key to long term stability have been identified as:
Input LED:
Power output, forward voltage, reverse leakage.
Output phototransistor:
Responsivity (quantum efficiency), gain, forward and reverse voltage characteristics.
Integrated output detector:
Responsivity, gain, supply current, leakage current.
Total device:
Current transfer ratio, isolation leakage, interconnections.
The long term stability of Isocom Ltd's couplers is illustrated by high temperature endurance data for our devices.
Quality Control
Isocom Ltd's commitment is to design, manufacture and market optoelectronic devices of high quality and reliability. It is the company's policy to:
- provide a high level of assurance to customers
- conform to all contractual requirements accepted by the company
- supply products and service which will enhance the company's reputation
The company is dedicated to the precept that quality must be designed and built into our products, and cannot be "inspected" in.
Isocom Ltd, therefore, operates a system of "preventive" quality control which not only ensures product conformance, but also reduces costs by minimising defects and rework.
Management : Customers : Design : Purchasing : Production : Ongoing Improvement : BS9000 :
Quality of Management
Isocom Ltd's Quality Assurance system is a continuous programme established by management to constantly improve plant efficiency, reduce rework and interior workmanship, focus attention on production problem areas and to establish preventative measures.
Quality Awareness is promoted throughout all phases of design, development and production. This is achieved by the establishment of good communications between all levels of management, and subsequently through an operator's pride of workmanship. In simple terms:- TEAMWORK.
QUALITY ASSURANCE AT ISOCOM LTD IS A PLANNED FUNCTION OF MANAGEMENT, SUPPORTED BY MANAGERS WHO TAKE AN ACTIVE INTEREST IN SOLVING QUALITY PROBLEMS.
Customers
Isocom Ltd's Marketing/Customer Service team liaise continually with our customers, whose feedback initiates design and quality improvements.
Design
Design reviews throughout development and pre-production runs of new products promote participation between engineering, production, QA and Marketing Departments. This participation encourages maximum use of the combined expertise and ensures a smooth transition from product design into a manufacturable product which matches customer needs.
Purchasing
Isocom Ltd's suppliers are an integral part of the quality team. All suppliers are evaluated and their products and services are routinely assessed.
Production
Manufacturing, inspection and testing are closely controlled by a specification system which embraces every stage of manufacture up to final release.
A comprehensive reporting system is used to detect variations in yield at key stages.
Ongoing quality improvement
Isocom Ltd's quality improvement programme involves all elements of the organisation and quality system. Regular evaluations and audits ensure that methods, workmanship, disciplines and technologies are reviewed systematically so that shortcomings or possible areas of improvement can be highlighted and addressed.
BS9400
BS9000 is the UK national specification system for the quality assurance of electronic components. The scheme is administered by the British Standards Institution and the supervising inspectorate is the UK Ministry of Defence. Isocom Ltd has gained BS9000 manufacturers approval (Registered Number 1294/M) and many of our products are available with BS9400 release. (Please see individual data sheets for details).
IECQ-CECC
The IECQ Quality Assessment System for Electronic Components (IECQ) is composed of those member countries of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) who wish to take part in a harmonized system for electronic components of assessed quality. IECQ is also known in some European member countries as IECQ-CECC.
The object of the System is to facilitate international trade by the harmonization of the specifications and quality assessment procedures for electronic components, and by the grant of an internationally recognised Mark, or Certificate of Conformity. The components produced or services provided under the system are thereby acceptable in all member countries without further testing. See Certificate
UL
Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL) is an independent, not-for-profit product safety certification organization that has been testing products and writing Standards for Safety for over a century. UL evaluates more than 19,000 types of products, components, materials and systems annually with 21 billion UL Marks appearing on 71,000 manufacturers' products each year. UL's worldwide family of companies and network of service providers includes 66 laboratory, testing and certification facilities serving customers in 104 countries.
Go to the certificate
Demko
As Underwriters Laboratories Inc.'s (UL's) major subsidiary, DEMKO is part of the world's largest independent, product safety-testing authority. View the Demko certificate.
SGS RoHS Approval
The RoHS Directive stands for "the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment". This Directive bans the placing on the EU market of new electrical and electronic equipment containing more than agreed levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants.
Isocom Ltd optocouplers meet SGS's stringent tests enabling them to be issued with a RoHS compliance certificate.