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It seems like a fairly simple thing to do. What could be difficult about soldering a wire to a pad? Well, I hear three common complaints and expressions of frustration: POSITIONING: Typically, in

Lasers and fiber optic waveguides can be used to activate NanoFoil®. Why would you want to use a laser to do this? It lends itself to automation: Imagine a part moving into position, the laser

Folks, In the last posting, we saw how Weibull analysis helped us to determine that SACm® lead-free solder (SAC105 with about 0.1% manganese) has comparable (actually better) thermal cycle

Derivation of the Weibull Graph Folks, Last time we introduced Weibull analysis. Let's now derive the relationships needed to calculate the slope, beta, and characteristic life, eta. F(t) is the

Due to its softness and compressibility, indium is ideal for use in creating a seal. Let's get right into it: Indium preforms are commonly used to create seals. The preforms are made into an

Folks, The Weibull distribution is arguably the most important distribution in failure analysis of leaded and lead-free solder joints. It is the first thought of someone trying to model thermal

Folks, Everyday, we are exposed to the results of surveys and polls. A typical example might be that President Obama is leading Mitt Romney in a poll by 48% to 45%, but the results are not

Here is a picture of an Indium Corporation solder flux pen, sectioned to show you the internals. Who DOESN'T want to see THAT, right?!? Flux pens are commonly used to accurately supply small

Folks, Let’s see how Patty and Pete are making out on their latest adventure…. “Here is the ProfitPro™ output,” Dave Ferris said as he pointed to a PowerPoint slide on the

Calculating the exact amount of solder paste needed for a given circuit board or for a full production run can be difficult for several reasons, including: print deposit variations paste left on the

Folks, It has been a while, let’s look in on Patty…… Patty had to admit that she was very fortunate. She had yet to turn 30 and she was a Senior Vice President at ACME. There was

Folks, There is a lot of interest in cleaning PCBs that have been assembled with no-clean solder pastes. Recently I discussed the topic with my good friend Mike Bixenman of Kyzen. Dr. Ron (DR) Mike,

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