Blog

Support

Flux Activators: What they are / What they do

A colleague in California was on the phone last week: "We need a flux with greater activity!" He said. Choking down comments like "Maybe we can take it jogging next time you're in

Products

Dispelling 10 Myths about Nitrogen Reflow (part II)

…and we’re back with more nitrogen and inert soldering myths.Part I of this post can be found here. Myth 6: “I turned on the nitrogen flow, so my oven is now inerted”Fact: It

Products

Dispelling 10 Myths about Nitrogen Reflow (part I)

In my twenty years in the electronics manufacturing industry, I have heard a lot of claims made about the use of nitrogen in inerted soldering processes: many of them completely

Products

SAC vs. Sn/Ag for Solar Soldering

As a discussion point (read "please feel free to disagree – that's what the comments section is for"), 96.5%Sn/3.5%Ag is NOT the most well suited pb-free alloy for tabbing. I know

Products

The End of the Professor’s Second Visit to ACME

Folks, the adventures of The Professor continue……… So far the meeting with The Professor had proven very valuable John thought.He was anxious to hear the other suggestions that The

Products

What is Bus Ribbon?

Bus ribbon is a very specialized interconnect for photovoltaic modules. Much like tabbing ribbon, bus ribbon is made of a copper ribbon or flat wire which is coated in solder. The solder protects the

Products

No-Clean Flux

You may notice that many of the solar grade fluxes and solder pastes are designated 'no-clean'. This classification is used to describe a flux or flux vehicle that does not need to be removed

Products

Au/Sn Perfected

Fact: To achieve a strong, reliable solder joint, it is important to remove all oxides from the substrate as well as the solder. Generally this is done using a compatible flux. Reality: Sometimes

Products

The Professor Returns to ACME

Folks, Two weeks passed quickly and The Professor returned to ACME. Patty met him at the door. “Professor, it’s great to see you,” Patty said with enthusiasm. “We collected

Products

Beyond The Theory of Constraints

Folks, Business was good at ACME. Even in these challenging times, the company's three assemblylines could not keep up with demand.John, themanger of the assembly lines, decided to request the

Products

Soldering to Gold

In previous posts, we have mentioned soldering to gold, but never discussed the unique processing aspects related to this. Soldering to copper is straight-forward.It is done all the time and the

Products

Common Cause vs Special Cause Defects

Folks, In teaching process optimization and failure analysis, one of the most helpful concepts is understanding he difference between common cause and special cause defects. A special cause defect,

Products

Photovoltaics in EMS Sector

http://circuitsassembly.com/cms/component/content/article/199/7190-photovoltaics-in-ems-sector This article isn’t ‘hot off the press’, but it is worthy of review. In the October

Products

Photovoltaics in EMS Sector

http://circuitsassembly.com/cms/component/content/article/199/7190-photovoltaics-in-ems-sector This article isn't 'hot off the press', but it is worthy of review. In the October 2008

Products

Au/Sn Sputtering Targets

In addition to Au/Sn sputtering pucks, Indium Corporation can also manufacture full size Au/Sn sputtering targets. 80Au/20Sn is a versatile solder that is used in a wide variety of specialty

Products

Solderspatter: Solder Paste in Unexpected Places

Figure 1: Solderspatter (soldersplash) on Gold/Nickel Figure 2: Phase Inversion during Reflow Most people are aware that solder paste is a mixture of solder powder and a flux

Products

Theory of “Ball Drop” Sphere Placement

After transferring flux, align the stencil Setup print parameters to minimize doubles and missing solder spheres Remove stencil, substrate/die should be ready for inspection and reflow Spheres can be

Products

Is Sn/Cu Alloy a Good Choice for Solder Paste?

Folks I was chatting recently with Indium Corporation's Mike Fenner about Sn/Cu alloys for solder paste.Mike has many years of experience and I value his opinions greatly. Here is a summary of

Products

Indium and Flip Chip Bonding

Au stud bumped flip chip attachment? Low temperature assembly requirements? Indium is your answer… Indium can be used in many ingenious ways to attach flip chips. It can be used for solder

Products

Indium Phase Diagrams

If you deal with indium, this is a book for you. “Phase Diagrams of Indium Alloys and Their Engineering Applications” has information about pure indium and indium

Products

Solderability Testing of Die-Attach Solder Paste

Diagram of Solder-Dipping Test Apparatus Solder-wetting Curve Interesting question from a Power Semiconductor customer this week about how to test solder paste for use in Power die-attach

At Indium we research, develop, and manufacture advanced electronics assembly materials solutions to the challenges of today, tomorrow, and the future.