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There are a lot of parameters to consider when choosing the right solder for your application: 1) The operational temperature of the final device 2) The metallizations that you are soldering to 3)

Folks, Let’s see how Pete is handling the wave solder crisis. Pete had to admit that he was surprised by the positive outcome of his meeting with Fred Castle. He had sent Patty a text the day

Today we celebrate the birthday of the co-discoverer of indium, Hieronymus Theodor Richter. Hieronymus Theodor Richter (pictured left) (21 November 1824 – 25 September 1898) was a German

Over the years, solder alloy choices have been pretty stable. In the last century, SN63 and SN62 could be foundat any company making any kind of electronic device, and both alloys were the backboneof

We commonlyreceive questions like: “Can NanoFoil® be used to bond silicon?” or, “What surface flatness do I need to NanoBond® this

NanoFoil® is described as “reactive multilayer foil”. It is comprised of many alternating layers of aluminum and nickel which are each only nanometers thick. These layers are waiting in close

Folks, It's been a while. Let's look in on Patty…… Patty stared, bleary eyed, at her laptop screen. It was the day after the election. She and Rob were following the election

Don’t throw away that solder iron yet! There are many ways to activate NanoFoil® with heat. All that’s needed to start the reaction is to heat the foil to ~200°C at a rate of

If you have ever witnessed one of our NanoFoil® demonstrations at a tradeshow, you may remember we used a 9-volt battery to activate the material. Yes, it can be that simple – especially for parts

One of the key points to understanding a NanoBond® application is understanding the reaction that takes place. When NanoFoil® is activated, the nickel and aluminum bilayers (picture on left) start

The NanoBond® reaction is activated at one or more points and travels throughout the

One of the best parts of using NanoFoil® to create a bond with dissimilar metals or heat sensitive components is that the heat it creates is quickly dissipated before it can heat up areas outside

One of the great reasons to use a localized heating method like NanoBonding is to make sure the entire assembly is not heated – only the bond

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

The easiest way to have NanoFoil® parts customized for your NanoBond® application is to let us cut them for you. There are many ways to trim the foil, each method has advantages and

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

Since the NanoBond® process is almost instantaneous, fluxes are not used. (They just don’t have enough time to heat up to their activation temperature and remove oxides.) So, because this

I’ve spent a fair amount of time aligning NanoFoil® and parts lately, and I’ve learned that aligning the assembly uniformly in z axis is as important as the x and y

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