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Halogen: The Latest Green Initiative
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
By Laura J. Turbini, Ph.D., Research in Motion
This January, I attended the Intel/IPC Halogen Free Symposium. The meeting drew 240 people representing 140 companies and 13 countries. I had expected that the focus would be on halogen-free laminates, and that I could learn about the latest materials. I was surprised at the breadth of components this "halogen-free initiative" covered.
The move to halogen-free (HF) product in the near term 2008 to 2009 is being driven by the marketing arm of the major computer manufacturers as part of their "green initiative." Dell, HP, Apple, and Lenovo see all new products being HF as "inevitable and irreversible." They are focused on every aspect of the product including PCBs, soldermask, underfill, solder flux/paste, components, cables, connectors, plastics, etc. Now that the environmentalists have taken the lead out of solder, they want to remove halides from electronics.
To begin with, the term "halogen-free" is a misnomer. Fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, and astatine are all halogens, but the only elements considered in this discussion are chlorine and bromine. Teflon is safe for now.
Are we to remove these halogens from our everyday lives as well? That would mean no more salt on your French fries, and no more chlorine used to kill micro-organisms in your backyard pools. And what about the chloride ions that are needed as part of your nerve impulse mechanism? We can still keep the fluoride in our toothpaste because this is not one of the targeted halogens.
Halogen-free also is inaccurate because low levels of halogen are allowed. The amount is defined differently by different groups: JPCA define it as having bromine (Br) levels lower than 900 ppm, chlorine (Cl) below 900 ppm; IEC and IPC prefer Br 900 ppm max, Cl 900 ppm max, Br + Cl 1500 ppm max. Perhaps we should call this "halogen-light".
At present, the only halogen compounds restricted by RoHS are polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE). There is no legislation announced or in place for the broad range of applications promoted by the computer manufacturers. For TBBPA (tetrabromo bisphenol A), which is a precursor in the synthesis of FR-4, the EU found no risks associated with this chemical in their human health assessment. In the PCB, this chemical is organically bound within the epoxy.
Intel is committed to the change and has implemented HF materials in most of their packages and will complete implementation for it in the core laminate by the end of 2008. Other companies such as ON Semiconductor and Amkor spoke of their development work.
There are serious implications related to this proposed change. To begin with, the implementation of lead-free solder was preceded by more than 10 years of research on the properties of these new alloys and numerous reliability studies were undertaken. HF laminate development began in the late 1990s and still is under development with new and improved materials from the vendors each year. It is impossible to do reliability studies when the characteristics of the material supply keep changing.
Another area of concern is HF sheathed cables. There is only one HF material available for cables and this only became available one year ago. Material characteristics will need to be examined by all of those who use these cables and this will take time.
Cost is another factor. The customer is demanding more features at reduced cost. But HF materials cost more than traditional laminate. That cost could be 1.5 to 3× the original, and more, depending upon the application, the number of layers in the board, the complexity of the design, etc.
Manufacturing processes for HF materials must be adjusted to their properties. For example, HF laminates are more rigid and the drill shape needs to be modified. Also, the number of hits before the drill bit is replaced will drop. This increases the overall cost of PCBs.
The availability of these materials is a problem for any ramp up. Suppliers of flame retardants are unwilling to increase their production until they are sure that the market will be there. This is a traditional catch 22.
Most component suppliers do not want to have an HF line as well as a traditional technology line. Thus, we could all be forced to use HF parts or pay a 10× premium to get traditional parts.
ConclusionIt is interesting to note that the original drive for HF materials came from Japan cell phone makers who claimed that the appearance of "green technology" gave them a marketing and sales advantage.
If Mother Nature gave us chlorine and bromine as two of the 88 naturally occurring elements, do you think she made a mistake?
Laura J. Turbini, Ph.D., is an SMT Advisory Board Member, an adjunct faculty member at the Universities of Toronto and Waterloo, and Chemistry Lab Manager and Principal Scientist at Research in Motion. She also serves on the Board of Directors at the SMTA. Contact her at (519) 888-7465, ext. 77744; lturbini@rim.com.