Halogen-Free Assembly Blog

By Tim Jensen

I recently attended and spoke at the IPC’s conference in Boston titles “It’s Not Easy Being Green.” There was tons of useful information and the attendence was great (200+). One thing that I felt would be useful to share was feedback relative to what two major OEMs are planning for their halogen reduction plans in an effort to become more “green.”

Lenovo: Phase out BFR’s and PVC on select models starting in 2009. They are also restricting red phosphorous flame retardants.

Apple: Restricting all Br and Cl for all new products beginning in 2009.

This shows that the industry is still divided on how to deal with halogens. The Lenovo approach is to focus on the materials of greatest concern. This is less restrictive, but is more difficult to test for individual BFR’s. Apple decided to eliminate all Br and Cl. This means a more difficult process of eliminating materials, but a simpler test and verification process.

The drama continues…

Indium Corporation’s industry leading semiconductor bloggers are hosting a Meet the Bloggers session on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at Indium Corporation’s Semicon West exhibit, booth #7834, from 2-3pm PST.

The technology experts will lead discussions on topics including:

·Flux deposit measurement using non-contact metrology
·Two upcoming white papers (currently under development):
Wafer Flux Spin-Coating Topography
Wafer-Level Flux Printing
·Recent hot semiconductor blog topics, including:
Semiconductor assembly materials
Future trends in first- and second-level assembly
Halogen-free semiconductor assembly materials
Engineered solders in MEMS assembly
Thermal interface issues
Solar device assembly

Indium personnel who will be discussing these topics include Jim Hisert, Paul Socha, Fez Sayed, Dr. Andy Mackie, and Rick Short.

All attendees are welcome to participate in, or observe, the session. Snacks will be served, too!

Indium’s blogs can be seen at www.indium.com/blogs

If you can make your way to Orlando in August, Dr. Ron Lasky and I will be presenting a 1/2 day workshop on halogen-free. It is tutorial #T21 on Monday, August 18th from 8:00-11:30AM.

We will be discussing the environmental and legislative drivers pushing electronics manufacturers toward halogen-free. In addition, we will address all assembly materials which could potentially contain halogens and the process impact of using these materials.

For more information, check out the SMTAI website: SMTAI Website.

Also, check out Dr. Ron’s Blog for some insightful commentary on the electronics world we live in.