What Is The 5Dx Automated X-Ray Inspection System; How It Works - Agilent Technologies 5DX Service Manual

What is the 5DX Automated X-ray Inspection System?

What is the 5DX Automated X-ray Inspection System?
The 5DX System uses X-ray Laminography to examine solder joints on plated
through-hole, single and double-sided surface mount technologies (all common
package types), solder paste and grid arrays (solder bump, Ball Grid Array,
connectors), as well as, fine pitch Chip-On-Board assemblies.
The 5DX System can operate inline with the Printed Circuit Assembly
manufacturing process equipment and is designed to be used on PCA's only.
X-ray Laminography is used to separate solder joints into individual layers, the
resulting detailed slice images are easily analyzed through gray level (256 gray
scale) processing.
The 5DX System is capable of a testing a single or double-sided board or a panel
of boards with an area of up to 455 x 455mm (17.5 x 17.5 inches).

How It Works

X-ray Laminography produces high-resolution cross-sectional slice images of
solder joints of a printed circuit assembly (panel). An electron beam generated by
the X-ray Tube is magnetically steered in a circular synchronous motion. The
electron beam is 180° out-of-phase from a rotating capture device called the
Rotary Scintillator. The Plane of Focus is produced in the area between the source
and the scintillator, thereby, imaging a slice image on the scintillator of the Rotary
Scintillator Assembly.
When a PCA is positioned within the Plane of Focus, the X-ray beam acts as a
penetrating source of illumination that forms a negative shadow on the scintillator.
The phosphor molecules coating the scintillator become excited and radiate light.
The light is then viewed by the X-ray Image Camera and information is passed to
the imaging subsystem. The process of image averaging blurs out objects that
occupy areas above and below the Plane of Focus, while the area within the Plane
of Focus is clear. By this means various layers of the solder joints can be imaged
by moving the panel up and down through the Plane of Focus.
1-4 Introduction and Overview
5DX Series 3