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Article: Managing lead-free compatibility: compatibility issues are critical to consider for a smooth transition to lead-free soldering.(Materials)
- Article from:
- Circuits Assembly
- Article date:
- November 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 UP Media Group, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The industry is now converging on a tin-silver-copper (Sn-Ag-Cu, or SAC) alloy for reflow and a Sn-Ag-Cu or Sn-Cu alloy for wave soldering. The lower cost of Sn-Cu as compared with Sn-Ag-Cu makes it an attractive alternative alloy for wave soldering, especially for cost-sensitive products. Further, because some products in volume production use SAC for reflow and Sn-Cu for wave soldering on the same board, methods for inspection, rework and accelerated testing must be compatible for both alloys (Figure 1).
[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]
Flux must be reformulated for a lead-free alloy to accommodate the characteristics of the lead-free alloy. The chemical reaction ...