Bi/Sn/Ag: The Perfect Tabbing Ribbon Coating Solder Alloy?
Let’s quickly review the advantages of Bi/Sn/Ag alloy tabbing ribbon coating before we discuss them further: Low temperature melting point Pb-fr...
Solder Alloys
Practical suggestions for solder preform design
Have you ever found yourself knowing where you want to go, but not sure how to get there? This can be frustrating and time......
Calculating Solder Paste Usage
Many people try to determine the volume of solder paste that they will use on a given circuit board or during a full production run. Calculating...
Is the PC Dead?
Folks, Let’s see how Patty is recovering from her conflict with Hal Lindsay……. Patty saw a link on one of the daily SMT Tech new...
IMAPS 2013: International Symposium on Microelectronics
The 46th International Symposium on Microelectronics will be held in Orlando, Florida, September 30th through October 3rd, 2013. I will be attending b...
Important Classes for Understanding Solder
Solder seems pretty simple, and, honestly, it doesn’t always need to be overly technical. But, many SMT, semiconductor, thermal management, and ...
Panning for Gold
Panning for gold is a thrill, just like scratching off a lotto ticket or playing a game at a casino. In a similar way, I am looking for gold every tim...
Manufacturing Indium with Pride
I recently caught up with Brent Boek, Supervisor of the indium cell at our Utica Business Park manufacturing facility in New York. Brent and his crew ...
NanoBond® is a Room Temperature Bonding Process
As I mentioned in an earlier post, some soldering applications require a fluxless process. In this line of work you see an assortment of odd soldering...
A Variable Zero Stress Point
We have observed that the temperature at which two materials are bonded will set the base temperature that any subsequent CTE is measured from. T...
Reflow of Copper Pillar Microbumps
Wafer bumping processes have evolved in the last 10 years. The semiconductor assembly industry has gone from bumping processes using solder paste prin...
The Limits of Mixing: A Chocolate Chip Example
Folks, We tend to think of mixing as something that can completely even out those things being mixed. As an example, let’s assume you are ...