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IPC's SPVC Releases Data on Lead-free Alloy Comparison
November 4, 2004 |Estimated reading time: 1 minute
Bannockburn, Ill.—The IPC and its Solder Products Value Council (SPVC) announce the release of a white paper, summarizing Phase 2 of a three-phase, million-dollar research and testing program on tin/silver/copper lead-free alloys.
In its ongoing efforts to reduce confusion regarding alloy choice and achieve a worldwide consensus on a standard alloy for the electronics industry, IPC's SPVC lead-free technical subcommittee has recently completed a down-select process of solder pastes and subsequent results of PCB assembly using lead-free alloys.
"The SPVC is moving forward to complete this detailed reliability testing program, in what we hope will be an alloy that the industry can use with confidence," says Peter Palmer, SPVC chairman and VP of global marketing at Cookson Electronics. "The final report will be issued in early 2005, and the entire project is a perfect example of what the industry can achieve when we work together."
Down-selection Process
In order to preserve anonymity, six solder manufacturers submitted solder paste samples to IPC, which were then forwarded to Engent of Norcross, Ga. for testing. Tests performed included reproducibility of printed paste volume, solder paste wetting and spread, interconnect voiding, and solder paste down-select. As a result of the down-select process, one solder was chosen based on rank order of performance.
PCB Test Assembly Process
Two IPC member companies, Flextronics International and Solectron Corp., volunteered to use the down-select solder pastes and a tin/lead control to produce lead-free test assemblies. Criteria used in the assembly process included test and inspection, rework and repair, solder paste handling and storage, print operations, reflow process, and cleaning. Based on the statistical analysis of the assembly data, no significant difference in assembly performance was found between the lead-free solders.
The third and final phase of the program will include a summary of all tests completed to date as well as the results and analysis of long-term and thermal-shock reliability testing.