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For reasons that I will discuss in a post later this year, a common factor that is emerging in the area of copper-pillar microbump 2.5D and 3D joining, is the adoption of thermocompression (TC)

Indium wire is ideal for many sealing applications, especially cryogenic

Folks, I have occasionally written on calculating solder alloy density, as there is surprisingly more interest than I thought there would be in this

Today I received an interesting email that could be useful for my readers. Here goes: “Dear Jim, I saw your recent blog. I am in the process of prototyping a photovoltaic application. I am

On behalf of our solar PV team here at Indium Corporation, I’d like to mention how excited we are to see you at Intersolar in

In the last few months, it seems I have been often reminded how powerful the universe can be.Today, checking my email, I found some fantastical photos of Puyehue volcano, in Chile, erupting.This

Included in a solder paste‘s Product Data Sheet, among other things, are general guidelines which aid the customer in designing an SMT reflow profile. The data sheet gives general

Recent test results show that solder fluxes handle high reflow temperatures (>450°C), providing better-than-expected visual results of flux residue! Solder fluxes have not traditionally been

Solder starvation is a serious electronics assembly issue – with a very simple solution. Solder starvation occurs when adequate volumes of solder are not available to effect a perfectly-shaped

Unbeknowst to me, the refrigerator where I store my solder paste and fluxes that I use for SIR (Surface Insulation Resistance) testing was being moved. One of my colleagues showed up at my desk with

Based on a recent post I published regarding the use of bismuth (Bi)in solder alloys, John writes: "If Bismuth comes from the production of Pb, and if the use of Pb is being reduced, won’t

As a tech guy, I couldn’t be more excited about testing these 8 different c-Si solar cell / metallization designs! Why? Well, testing at customer sites is limited to only a few cell types

Folks, A few people asked some questions after my last post on bismuth solders.Here they are: 1. The low melting point of these solders is encouraging.What are realistic field use conditions? Bismuth

This post was prompted by a Korean customer, who this month asked what thelimitations are for aqueous (water-based) cleaning for fluxes used in copper-pillar flip-chip applications. How low can the

Power amplifiers and transistors come in many shapes and sizes. The performance requirements vary as well. Attaching them can be a critical aspect of your design. Both Pb and Pb-free alloys can be

Sampling, receiving, and testing indium Heat-Spring® compressible thermal interface materials are easier than ever!Not only are standard samples (solder research bundle kits) available for

In my last Secret Life of Engineers post I mentioned that you will need to travel to become a true expert in your field of

Folks, When the industry was preparing to transition to lead-free solders almost ten years ago (can it have been that long), tin-bismuth solders were serious candidates.Their low melting point, of

I always imagined being an engineer would require me to sit in front of the same computer, in the same chair, in the same room, day after day after… (you get the point). Not only was this a

A few weeks ago Brandon Judd and I had an opportunity to show 4 middle/high school students what it is like to be an engineer. In preparation, we decided the curriculum should be ‘what everyone