Manufacturing of the Raspberry PI to move to the UK

One of the biggest holdups to owning a Raspberry Pi was its stuttering availability, so much so that it even prompted a few copycat boards. Creator Eben Upton and equipment makers Premier Farnell might have found the solution, teaming up with Sony to produce an initial run of 300,000 of the educational computers at the company's UK Technology Center, in Pencoed, near Bridgend in Wales. Upton hopes to keep the cost at $25 and $35 for two boards, thanks to employing Sony's "lean manufacturing techniques," and the Japanese company has already spent £50,000 ($80,000) on new package-on-package assembly equipment -- ensuring that we'll all be able to get our hands on one soon enough.

Premier Farnell, Sony, team up to move Raspberry PI manufacturing to the UK -- Engadget:

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RoHS the world over

Through the draft Regulation on the Declaration of Conformity for Pollution Control in Electrical and Electronic Product Enterprises of 18 July 2012 (公开征集《电子电气产品污染控制企业符合性声明规范》意见), China is taking one-step further action on the implementation of advanced RoHS control system. Amongst others, the draft Regulation of 18 July 2012 would provide all EEE producers and importers with a harmonized method of proofs and declaration on their conformance with voluntary and mandatory RoHS scheme in China.

Israel finally adopted the Environmental Treatment of Electrical and Electronic Equipment Law 2012 (חוק לטיפול סביבתי בציוד חשמלי ואלקטרוני ובסוללות, התשע"ב-2012) which is combination of the EU Directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE2 recast) 2012/19/EU of 4 July 2012 and Directive 2006/66/EC on waste batteries and accumulators. The Law will require manufacturers and importers of electrical and electronic equipment (including batteries) to meet take-back and recycling targets as well as reporting and record keeping obligations as from 1 January 2014. EU WEEE Recast Directive 2012/19/EU of 4 July 2012 will extend WEEE requirements to all EEE placed on the EU market as from 15 August 2018.

Peru Supreme Decree No. 001-2012-MINAM approving the Regulation on the Management of Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment (Decreto Supremo No. 001-2012-MINAM que aprueba el Reglamento Nacional para la Gestión y Manejo de los Residuos de Aparatos Eléctricos y Electrónicos) starts requiring producers, importers, and/or distributor of electric and electronic equipment to have or enroll in a WEEE management system as from 28 June 2012. The draft European Commission Regulation of July 2012 implementing Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to ecodesign requirements for computers and computer servers is another big issue for electronics companies and may potentially impact:
- desktop computers;
- integrated desktop computers;
- notebook computers;
- desktop thin clients;
- workstations and mobile workstations; and
- small-scale servers and computer servers.

• [Cyprus] Recovery and recycling obligations of packaging extended to more companies
• [EU] Directive on energy efficiency proposed
• [Lithuania] Online registration required for EEE producers and importers of electric and electronic equipment
• [South Korea] Electromagnetic wave labeling required for wireless equipment
• [Thailand] WEEE management policy and regulation under consideration
• [UK-Scotland] New system for environmental regulation proposed
• [China] WEEE treatment fee imposed on producers and importers
• [EU] Calculation method of recycling efficiency for waste batteries and accumulators provided
• [China] Further hazard prevention and health record- keeping required
• [China] Revised China RoHS II Proposal released
• [Estonia] Suppliers and retailers of energy-related products must now comply with new framework for labelling and product information
• [France] WEEE and waste batteries management further harmonized with EU requirements
• [Germany] Recommendation on Risk assessment of nanomaterials at workplaces released
• [Turkey] WEEE Regulation entered into force
• [EU] Eight substances under consideration as substances of very high concern (SVHC)
• [Germany] Energy related products shall bear energy efficiency label
• [Venezuela] Electric and electronic waste take-back pilot program launched

Global EHS Compliance Insight

From Proactive EHS Compliance to Lobbying

Young & Global Partners

8 September 2012

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=rn7iveeab&v=0015qKm9V6FEG5UNsMk_8S9PQxire7yO1uSEJLJsGMHqHK1k9bu_Vs-dIF7wcuyqeB8fWibTCabdY3dvdfkbBVvF0KGcYGZb1nbfRLWmX0KfIQKhtakPayz6brI6aj5-F5I_5Wy8x4-5tme7nJ_VarvLeWDnrQKeWWzfXnRXfwwgCyrBDXWuqbagdArDe9iFvBfujuaeD0SstucqNGqGla32rjvF90O0-W8iJhdMJwkAhy8owNoX15nxuO4K6IOcAwmujAgIfDRmiw5_RSJVPv3aYOEWWAkHytCGA-evONQkemN-Hf_CwkUYFdzziPCqFmjx49Q2SMbP1GjaJAG6SFc2vIMhRQo9tYMmp_wiFsZpUU%3D

Weak demand in electronics solders forces stall in recovery of Tin price

Tin prices are expected to stay in the $19,000 – 21,000/tonne range in the short-term, with some potential for an increase in price through the final quarter of the year into 2013. The main factors constraining an increase an increasingly gloomy world macro-economic outlook and weak demand in electronics solders.  However, some Chinese solder companies have reported that their business has improved since August and think the worst time in the year has been passed. A government transition is rumoured to be happening in the end of September. We expect that Chinese consumption will be better in the last quarter of this year.

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment: call for evidence

Open date: 28 May 2012

Closing date: 23 Jul 2012

Call for evidence to seek data from key stakeholders that can be used to assess the compliance costs to existing Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) system.

Following the 2012 Budget, BIS committed to consult on preventing excessive compliance costs for business arising from the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations.

This call for evidence aims to improve the evidence we have regarding compliance costs arising from the UK WEEE Regulations. It aims to help to inform our decisions about alternative policy proposals to reduce burdens on business whilst ensuring environmental objectives are achieved.

Following the closure of the call for evidence on the 23 July 2012, we will assess the results against the data that we already hold and use these to develop proposals. We will issue a formal consultation on these proposals early next year. This consultation will enable the proposals to be introduced alongside changes required to transpose the requirements of the recast EU WEEE Directive agreed in December 2011.

Section 7 of the below call for evidence document includes the call for evidence questions. Three pro-forma excel spreadsheets are also provided below for data collection intended for producers of electrical and electronic equipment, Producer Compliance Schemes, and WEEE treatment facilities



Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment: call for evidence | Consultations | BIS:

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The Worldwide Electronics Manufacturing Services Market Report (2012)

by New Venture Research Corp.

The most comprehensive study available on the global EMS market

For further information, please download the brochure and / or contact frank.klomp@alerta-intelligence.com
The worldwide electronics manufacturing services (EMS) market continued to expand at a very healthy rate of nearly 13 percent in 2011. This was after an explosion of growth in 2010 of approximately 37 percent. The EMS market doesn’t show any signs of slowing down and growth over the next five years will continue in the double digits.

New Venture Research (NVR) has followed this industry for over 20 years and is pleased to offer - The Worldwide Electronics Manufacturing Services Market, 2012 Edition—the most comprehensive market research report on the EMS industry. This report focuses on the leading players, market segments, total available market (TAM), and emerging manufacturing opportunities going forward.

The report begins with a forecast of the worldwide electronics assembly market in terms of cost of goods sold, thus providing a baseline for the manufacturing value of electronics products. This forecast is developed by looking at 45 individual product segments in the automotive, communications, computer/peripherals, consumer, industrial, medical, and aerospace and defense industries. NVR estimates that total electronics assembly value was $1.1 trillion in 2011 and will grow to approximately $1.5 trillion in 2016–a 6.8 percent compounded annual growth rate. Fueled by this huge market, NVR believes that the EMS industry will grow from $413 billion in 2011 to $654 billion in 2016.

To support this conclusion, the report analyzes the EMS industry in a variety of ways. First, the report reviews the total market for EMS and OEM electronics assembly by
industry and product. Second, the report analyzes the EMS industry, including a breakdown of the market leaders and relative share by industry and region. Third, the market opportunity for emerging growth is presented by product and country. The most promising product manufacturing opportunities are analyzed and forecasted.

All of these products and markets are summarized from 2011–2016 in terms of EMS revenue, TAM revenue, and regional trends by country and cost. No other report gives such detail by country and product opportunity. This database is also sold in Excel format to allow for easy internal analysis of the critical data.

The report includes an EMS financial performance analysis and examines a variety of critical financial metrics for the best-performing companies. A chapter also details EMS mergers and acquisitions for the past few years and the impact on their growth of the industry.

The report concludes with profiles of selected EMS and ODM firms (94 companies) from all over the world. These reviews summarize the market focus of each company, its leading customers, and each company's financial performance statistics. The intent of these profiles is to serve as a global directory and competitive analysis tool.

The Worldwide Electronics Manufacturing Services Market, 2012 Edition is the product of thousands of hours of research. The report sells for $3495, with extra single-user licenses at $250 (contact us concerning corporate licensing). This report is only available in PDF format and is delivered by email. With the purchase of the report, an Excel spreadsheet of all data and tables may also be obtained for an additional $750.
http://www.alerta-intelligence.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=103151:available-now-the-worldwide-electronics-manufacturing-services-market-report-2012&catid=51&Itemid=289


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Draft Version of New China RoHS Published - Measures for Administration of the Pollution Control of Electronic and Electrical Products

The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has published draft Measures for Administration of the Pollution Control of Electronic and Electrical Products (known as new China RoHS) for public consultations. The deadline for comment is 10 July 2012. The old measures issued in 2006 will be revoked once the new measures enter into force.

New China RoHS also restricts the use of certain hazardous substances such as lead, mercury, cadmium, and hexavalent chromium and flame retardants such as polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) or polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) in electrical and electronic equipments and their packaging materials. However, there are a few changes(for example, change of product scope, new labeling requirement and flexible certification mechanism) in the new China RoHS that companies might need to know before placing electronic and electrical products on the Chinese market.

Change of Product Scope

Old China RoHS regulates electronic information products which are referred to as electronic radar products, electronic communication products, broadcast and television products, computer products, household electronic products, electronic measurement instrument products, security products for electron, electronic component products, electronic application products, electronic material products, and other relative products and their accessory parts.

Products affected by new China RoHS include electrical and electronic equipments which are designed for use with a voltage rating not exceeding 1000 Volt for alternating current and 1500 Volt for direct current(similar to EU RoHS) and its accessory parts.  Many home appliances (Washing machines, refrigerators) that fall out of the scope of old China RoHS will now be regulated by new China RoHS.

New Labeling Requirement

New China RoHS requires that manufacturers and importers of electrical and electronic products provide information about the impact of a product on environment and human health when the product is misused or disposed of in addition to the name and concentration of hazardous substances, the name of parts that contain hazardous substances, and whether a part or product can be recycled.

Flexible Certification Mechanism

Under the old China RoHS, products listed in the Key Administrative Catalog for the Pollution Control of Electronic Information Products (“Catalog”) will need to be tested by one of the approved labs in China and obtain CCC accreditation (China Compulsory Certification).

Under the new China RoHS, the Catalog will be renamed as Target Administrative Catalog for the Pollution Control of Electrical and Electronic Products. Various government bodies will set a timeline to prohibit the use of certain hazardous chemicals for the products listed in the Catalog. In the future, various certification mechanisms might be available. It is possible for companies to issue a self-declaration or ask independent third party to carry out the certification.

Reference

http://zfs.miit.gov.cn/n11293472/n11294912/n11296182/14644981.html

http://www.cirs-reach.com/news/Draft_Version_of_New_China_RoHS_Published.html

Tin and silver - the new electric metals

Canadian Mining Journal: And he forecasts major tin shortages by 2018

“We found that even with all the projects that we could identify globally that desire to come to market by then, the world will be in tin shortfall,” he concludes. “At that point we have a serious problem with respect to tin supply. We have a serious problem with respect to the provisioning of solders that will meet RoHS requirements. We have a serious problem getting our iPads and our iPhones. And this is an interesting dilemma.”

Recent discussions with one solder company confirmed Hykawy’s suspicions that the electronics industry isn’t prepared for the impending tin shortages. The company admitted that there were issues with future tin supply but said they were looking into substituting tin with materials like bismuth. When Hykawy told the company that production of bismuth was 1,500 tonnes per year compared with 150,000 tonnes of tin, and that bismuth was only marginally less toxic than arsenic, the response was that they "were working on it."

“Tin and silver and especially tin are likely to come into shorter and shorter supply and that’s going to put a squeeze on prices in the near term [and] it’s going to be potentially disruptive in the longer term,” he cautions. “The reasons that we’re going to have higher prices is that most of the really good deposits are gone. We have been mining tin and silver for a very, very long time. And the best grades, the easiest deposits to find, the most metallurgically amenable deposits — our grandparents and our great grandparents got those.”

IPC Technology trends study reveals changes in store for pCB fabricators and suppliers

EMSNow: IPC"s PCB technology trends study was conducted in late 2011 in English and Chinese. Forty-one PCB manufacturing companies participated, including many of the leading companies in Asia, Europe and North America. They represent 16.5 percent of the world PCB market. The IPC study sample is representative of the global industry in terms of company size and product mix.

Between 2011 and 2014, high-density interconnect (HDI) board production is expected to grow 26 percent for the companies that participated in IPC"s PCB Technology Trends study. They also anticipate greater use of stacked and staggered microvias, leading to any-layer microvias and "via anywhere" capability. While miniaturization and the demands of high-speed technology are driving these trends, companies cite solder mask registration and assembly as the two most common factors limiting the miniaturization of circuitry dimensions.

Most of the companies are evaluating new surface finishes, especially electroless nickel, immersion palladium and immersion gold (ENIPIG). The report also confirms that the high price of gold is having an impact on changes in PCB processing, with nearly one-quarter of the participants trying alternative metals. Seventeen percent of respondents are trying to use reduced thicknesses of gold, including some who claim that the price of gold is having no impact on their material selection.

Of the two primary substrate materials used today, multi-function epoxy resin is expected to grow to be used in more than half of panel area produced by 2014, while the use of glass fabric is expected to decline. Companies" data on laminates used today along with forecasts for 2014 show laminates moving toward higher-temperatures thermal properties. They also predict the use of more low-loss materials. It is expected that by 2014 nearly half of the panel area produced will be halogen free and nearly three-quarters will be lead free.

The industry anticipates significant increases in the production of hybrids or modules, and in the use of printed electronics and optical technology in producing printed boards by 2014.

PCB Technology Trends 2011 is available free to companies that participated in the survey. Other companies may purchase the report by visiting IPC"s online store at www.ipc.org/pcb-tech-trends-2011. The price for IPC members is $675 and the standard price is $1350. The report will also be published in Chinese next month.

PCB Technology Trends 2011

PCB Technology Trends 2011: This global study of technology trends in the PCB industry is based on an extensive survey in which 41 leading PCB companies from all regions of the world participated. It covers issues in PCB technology today and expectations for developments through 2014. Topics include trends in high-density interconnect (HDI) and microvias, miniaturization in PCB production, solder mask, final finishes, metals, substrate materials, laminates, embedded technology, printed electronics, optics and manufacturing equipment. Sales growth drivers, the impact on sourcing, technical challenges and unmet technology needs are also explored.

China Becomes the Hot Spot for Global Electronics Manufacturing Giants

EMSNow: According to the statistics released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the main business revenue of China's electronic information manufacturing enterprises above designated size in 2011 achieved RMB7490.9 billion Yuan, a year-on-year growth of 17.1 percent. Going through the global financial crisis, China is making steady progress in its electronics manufacturing industry scale

Through continuous development and optimization, Air Products' Inert Wave Soldering Technology Gen II enables customers to reduce manufacturing and material costs, including reduced nitrogen flow rates; significantly increase soldering joint quality; and transition to lead-free soldering technology with minimal effort, addressing the major issues faced by the electronics assembly and packaging industry.

This technology proven to be cost-effective: Saving up to20-40% of solder consumption, reduction up to 60-90 % in dross formation, reduction up to 10-30% of flux volume per board consumption, reduction up to 70-80% in equipment maintenance, reduction in soldering defects and rework, and easier post-soldering cleaning.

The Future of Solder Materials

SMTONLINE: Dr. Ning-Cheng Lee of Indium Corporation and Guest Editor Dr. Jennie S. Hwang discuss lead-free solder development on the show floor at IPC APEX EXPO 2012, as well as the future requirements of lead-free materials.

Andy - this is an important interview and would be good to summarise in a news item.

Note for example the discussion of 'Beyond Solder' at he end...

Video

IPC Roadmap 2012 to be released at APEX

SMTONLINE: BUZZ sessions, February 28-March 1, will cover critical industry topics such as process defects; embedded technologies; conflict minerals; supply line issues of obsolescence, quality and compliance of parts and counterfeit parts; breaking research from academia; the industry’s first solar standard for electronics assemblies; and the just-released IPC International Technology Roadmap.

On February 28, the IPC Government Relations committee will hold an open forum to provide an update on IPC’s advocacy efforts to protect PCB designs for military products under ITAR and offer the latest information on the impending conflict minerals regulation.

On the show floor, attendees will be able to get free, unbiased help with their process-related issues at the NPL Defect Database Clinic. In addition, participants can visit the New Product Zone for a sneak preview of the equipment, materials and services that are breaking new ground in the industry, and then go to cheer on the competitors in the IPC APEX EXPO Hand Soldering Competition and IPC Grand Championship.

Packaging Community Takes on New Challenges through Industry Collaboration

SEMI.ORG: The collaborative work of the packaging programs committees has also produced outstanding sessions focused on the intersection of semiconductor packaging technology and business.

In the second half of 2011 alone, the Americas Advanced Packaging Committee developed sessions which brought together industry leaders in 3D and 2.5D as well as heterogeneous integration of devices, while at the same time keep a focus on developments on packaging technologies that are needed in the near term.

The SEMI Taiwan Packaging & Testing Committee developed the inaugural SiP Global Summit, which was a three-day intense look at 3D-IC packaging and test technologies as well as embedded substrates.

The Advanced Packaging Committee of Europe delivered two half-day sessions at SEMICON Europe which took a hard look specifically at manufacturability with respect to technologies, materials, processes and equipment.

And the Japan Packaging Committee developed two sessions of strong technical content covering 3D-ICs, TSVs, system scaling and integration, and interconnect in conjunction with the SEMI Technology Symposium (STS).

IPC releases PCB industry results for September 2011

EMSNow: "Sales and orders were both under last year's levels in September," said IPC President & CEO Denny McGuirk. "Bookings have been especially sluggish and that has caused a drop in the book-to-bill ratio … although it is still very near parity, which suggests that flat sales is the likely near-term scenario."

Solder paste maker Shenmao raises product prices

digitimes: "Shenmao Technology has raised its quotes for solder paste products by a double-digit rate recently and could continue to hike prices in May due to rising tin prices in the global market, according to industry sources"

Tin prices have reached US$33,000 per ton recently, increasing over 6% on average from the levels recorded in March, the sources noted.

Shenmao revealed that it has received more orders for BGA solder balls recently as the supply chain has been affected by the Japan earthquake. Based on its current capacity, Shenmao will be able to fulfill all orders and have to wait until May to see if its sales have been affected by the quake.

However, order visibility of PV ribbons for solar panels has shortened to one month compared to three months in the first quarter as a number of countries have reduced their subsidies for the installment of solar power devices, the company noted.

Shenmao has also decided to invest US$2 million to set up a solder paste plant in Huizhou, China. To finance the investment project, the company plans to increase its capital by issuing 7.5 million new shares and also issue NT$400 million (US$13.79 million) worth of convertible bonds. The new shares will be priced at NT$40 per unit.

Worldwide wave soldering overview

EMSNow: "EMS providers and OEM board level assemblers have an increasing number of procurement options to choose from when selecting a wave solder equipment supplier. As the effects of globalization continue, the competitive landscape is changing as a number of formerly geographic focused wave solder equipment suppliers enter the international capital equipment supply chain."

Alpha: Metal Costs Surge to Record Highs

Circuits Assembly "Strong global demand for metals such as tin and silver is driving up metal costs to all time highs, says Alpha.

Investors relying particularly on silver as an alternative investment are creating an additional price pressure, says the firm.

In early March silver surged to more than $36 per troy ounce.

In March 2007, tin had surged from $7,000 metric ton to $14,000 per metric ton. Today's levels are more than $28,000 per metric ton, says Alpha"

TMC.net There is additional price pressure created by investors relying, particularly on Silver, as an alternative investment choice to shield their investments from perceived higher risk alternatives. Alpha is sensitive to the dramatic impact escalating metal costs have on the electronics assembly industry. Cost of Metals is a critical driver to Alpha's entire business model and effectively managing this issue is at the very center of our organization's long term viability.

In May 2005, Alpha introduced Cost of Metals surcharges as our business was no longer able to absorb the severe increases in this critical raw material set to our product technologies. These metal surcharges are based on a series of Tiers linked to bands of Silver and Tin cost levels. In early March silver surged to over $36.00 a troy ounce.

Since there is no way to reliably predict the trends of metal prices, as the last six years have demonstrated, this surcharge program was designed to minimize daily fluctuations for our customers and allow reduced costs when the costs of metals return to more traditional levels.

In March 2007, Alpha introduced Tin metal surcharges. At that time tin had surged from $7,000 metric ton to $14,000 per metric ton. Today's levels are over $28,000 per metric ton. These extensive price increases have forced Alpha to share the increased cost of our Raw Materials with our entire channel to market.

The total impact of Silver and Tin cost increases, as well as the inter-day price swings, have a significant impact on our business. In order to maintain our current levels of technical support and the research and development that our customers expect, we will continue to implement the Silver and Tin surcharges.

Commodities - EIU's quarterly tin outlook

Factiva: "Cookson Group (UK), the world’s leading producer of solders, has reported that its underlying sales of solders rose by 23% year on year in the first half of 2010 (solder-making is the largest single market for tin, driving over 50% of total demand). Moreover, in its recently released interim management statement, the company commented that the global electronic equipment production market had experienced a strong third quarter. The rise in sales of solders has been driven by higher orders from manufacturers of consumer electronics. For example, global shipments of personal computers were 24% higher in the first six months of 2010 than in the same period of 2009, according to Gartner, a US-based information technology research company. Global shipments of mobile-phone handsets were 13% higher on the same comparison, according to Nokia (Finland). However, it should be recognised that growth rates slowed in the second half of 2010. For example, global shipments of personal computers are expected to have increased by around only 10% in July-December 2010"

Japan Solder Makers Accelerate Production Shift to Overseas

Factiva: "Japanese solder makers are shifting production overseas, mainly to China. Tin supply from Indonesia, the largest tin exporter to Japan, is recently tightening. The supply is concerned to tighten more in 2011. Meanwhile, in China where many Japanese solder makers have production sites, supply and demand balance of tin is loosing. The market condition is better for Japanese solder makers.

Assembly product makers have shifted manufacturing bases to overseas. Along the movement, solder is mainly consumed at overseas to bond electronic parts on printed circuit boards. Several years ago, when lead-free solder became adopted widely, lead-free solder was mostly produced in Japan and exported. In recent years, the production has shifted to overseas.

This movement may be accelerated by current tin supply and demand balance. In Japan, tin supply temporarily tightened for April-July 2010 due to export slowdown from Indonesia. The export restarted and the material shortage was relieved."

Outlook and Trends 2011: A Perspective

EMS007: "Smaller, Faster, Lighter, Less Expensive

The mantra of smaller, faster, lighter, cheaper will continue unabated. This trend has been unyielding now for nearly a generation. The demand created is well satisfied by breakthrough products like Apple’s iPad and iPhone. These devices have achieved unprecedented packaging density, with the iPhone 4’s PCBs having a silicon area/PCB area of 1.52 (Reference 1), meaning that the area of the silicon die is 52% greater than the area of the PCB. This tremendous density is accomplished by package-on-package (PoP) technology, in addition to 0201 and even 01005 passives and 0.3mm CSPs. Small passives like 01005 have been slower to arrive than first thought, most likely due to the difficulty in assembling them. Perhaps 2011 will be the year they become more widely established."

Most of the above improvements are evolutionary, but a revolutionary technology change is slated to emerge in 2011, 3D wafer stacking (http://www.tezzaron.com/about/about.html). This technology connects wafers directly, avoiding the additional PoP.

Lead-free Reliability will Become Accepted as Reasonable for Consumer Products

Two papers (Reference 2 and 3) at SMTAI in October last year demonstrated that lead-free reliability exceeds that of lead-containing solder in both drop shock testing and thermal cycling from 0 to 100°C. In addition, some lead-free assembled products were introduced in the late 1990s with no significant yield or field reliability problems. Adding these two facts together, it is time to accept that reasonable lead-free reliability for consumer products with something like a three to five year service life has been established.

The more harsh requirements of automobile and military environments, evaluated at thermal cycling regimes of -55°C to 125°C, for greater than five years do not look as promising for lead-free reliability. I expect that products in these types of environments will have lead-containing solder exemptions for years to come.

Convergence of Lead-Free Alloys will be Elusive

There are numerous “flavors” of lead-free alloys in use. SAC305 (3.0% Ag, 0.5% Cu, the balance Sn, followed by SAC105 and the tin-copper alloy (99.3% Sn, 0.7% CU with traces of Ni and Ge) ) is most commonly used in wave soldering. In the mid-2000s, it appeared that SAC305 would be the alloy of choice; however, SAC105 was shown to have superior drop shock performance, which is a great benefit to portable devices. In addition, work by Lee (Reference 4) has shown that additions of about 0.1% of Mn and other elements to SAC105 can increase its drop shock performance by as much as a factor of ten. The downside of SAC105 is that its melting temperature is about 6-8°C higher than SAC305. The tin-copper alloy is used in wave soldering because of its much lower cost. All of these things taken together suggest that it is highly unlikely that lead-free assembly will converge on one alloy.

Ronald C. Lasky, PhD, PE, Senior Technologist, Indium Corporation