Blog

It is not often that we get a request for SIR (Surface Insulation Resistance) and/or ECM (Electro-Chemical Migration) results for a water washable/soluble flux or solder paste, but often enough to

I have been asked to explain why someone would want to use rotary sputtering targets instead of planar sputtering

Folks, Some time ago I wrote a post, “In Search of Tin Whiskers,” Michael responds below. He makes some good points. Dr. Ron, I'm responding to your blog regarding tin

Do you ever have a need for a "low temperature" solder (meaning an alloy that melts at less than 175C)? You may have delicate components that cannot withstand standard reflow temperatures,

Solders, as a class, are "interesting" metals. And the properties of indium-containing solders are exceptionally interesting. Indium’s (and indium's alloys') physical and

Folks, Let’s look in on Patty and Pete and see how they are handling Rex “The Torrent.” Patty wanted to give Pete a little more exposure so she nodded to him to chime

Folks, Patty is getting ready for her meeting on "Copy Exactly" with Mike Madigan……. It was after 6:30 PM and Patty was just arriving home. Since Patty was working late, Rob had

Folks, Let’s look in on Patty and her colleagues…… Sam Watkins, ACME New Hampshire site GM, had just finished meeting with his boss, ACME CEO Mike Madigan. He was embarrassed that

Readers have asked how to visually assess a tabbing ribbon interconnection after a bond test. This image is a cell that has been bond tested after soldering. The first indication that you have a good

With regard to soldering or wetting (coating) with indium, we are often asked to comment on the oxide formation of indium and how to remove it. We are also asked how long will it take for the oxide

We are often asked if it is possible to solder to stainless steel and, if so, what is the best procedure.As you may already know, stainless steel is not easy to solder but it can be done with a

We are frequently asked if it is possible to solder to aluminum.The answer is yes, if the following guidelines are followed: FLUXES: Because it is difficult to solder to aluminum, Indium Corporation

Folks, Let’s see how Patty is doing with the latest crisis…… Upon hearing Claire Perkins inform her that Rob was in the hospital, Patty froze and her face looked ashen.She quickly

Two categories of solder are available to choose from when the in-service environment for a device reaches above 125°C either in continuous operation or thermal cycling accelerated life

Folks, Patty arrived at work an hour early to prepare for her meeting with ACME CEO Mike Madigan.Nineteen days ago, he had asked her to develop an electronics assembly metric that would correlate

Indium and indium-containing alloys see wide use in a multitude of soldering applications. Indium has many attractive properties such as remaining ductile at cryogenic temperatures, compatibility

It is often said that a chain is only as strong as it weakest link, the same can be true for a series of solder joints on a component. When one is bad, the rest are useless. Quite often, voiding is

Indium metal has the unique ability to cold weld (bond) to itself at room temperature. Though this is, technically, not soldering, this property makes it especially useful for low-temperature bonding

Tombstoning (also known as the Manhattan effect, drawbridge effect, or Stonehenge effect) is described (in the simplest, and most common, sense) as occurring when one end of a passive device, such as

Folks, Let's look in on Patty…… Patty was just finishing a report on work that she and Pete had performed with a team of her ACME colleagues on reducing the Head-in-Pillow (HIP)

Here is a list of tricks to help you overcome the issues that can arise while hand soldering silicon-based solar cells (and other applications as