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Photo Etched & Formed Screening Cans

Name: Advanced Chemical Etching Ltd (ACE)
Price range: $$$

Case Study

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To reduce Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) and increase Electro-Magnetic Interference (EMI) protection using Photo Etched & Formed Screening Cans in electronics settings.

Customer Overview

Customer: A leading manufacturer of compact wireless communication devices
Industry: Electronics
Product: High-frequency communication modules
Challenge: EMI shielding in densely populated PCB layouts without sacrificing space or design flexibility

Problem Statement

As the need for device miniaturisation increased, the customer's latest line of modules encountered significant EMI cross-talk between components, affecting signal clarity and causing performance reduction. Traditional manufacturing processes such as stamped shielding cans posed several problems:

Limited Design Flexibility

Difficult to accommodate intricate & complex layouts and multicompartment shielding.

Higher Hard Tooling Costs

Expensive hard tooling and time-consuming to adapt designs for multiple product variants.

Suboptimal Heat Dissipation

Stamped shields lacked airflow slots or custom openings without additional tooling or machining costs.

The Solution

Etched & Formed Screening Cans

The customer partnered with Advanced Chemical Etching Limited (ACE) to transition from stamped screen cans to photo etched and formed screening cans.

Key Features Of The Solution

Photo Etching

Enabled high-precision, burr-free perforations and complex design features (slots, logos, ventilation holes, fold lines).

Material Flexibility

Used thin nickel silver, which offered excellent solderability and corrosion resistance without the need for plating.

Rapid Prototyping

Small volume batches fast turnaround on some flat parts in days using low-cost digital tooling, reducing time-to-market within days.

Forming

Using either ½ etched fold lines or hard formed corners as well as spring fit lids if required.

Volumes

Small volume through to pre-production and serial volumes

Implementation

Design Phase:

Collaborative CAD modelling and DFM (Design for Manufacturability) with some input from ACE.

Integration of multiple compartments within a single can to shield several ICs.

Prototype Validation:

Etched (flat) samples delivered within 5 days.

Passed all EMI suppression tests and thermal performance benchmarks.

Production Rollout:

Full-scale production ramped up within 6 weeks.

Implemented easy-to-remove lid variants for debugging and rework flexibility.

Customer Testimonial

“The shift to etched screening cans was transformative. Not only did we eliminate persistent EMI issues, but the flexibility and cost savings from rapid prototyping accelerated our development cycles significantly.”

Lead Engineer, Wireless Division

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Conclusion

By transitioning to etched & formed screening cans, the customer gained a competitive edge in both product performance and manufacturing efficiency. This approach is now being standardised across their upcoming device families.