AIM’s Dr. Mehran Maalekian to Present at IPC APEX 2018
January 15, 2018 | AIM SolderEstimated reading time: 2 minutes

AIM Solder is pleased to announce that Dr. Mehran Maalekian, Research & Development Director, will present at the IPC APEX EXPO 2018 taking place February 27 – March 1, 2018 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California.
Dr. Maalekian will share his extensive knowledge of and review the industry needs for solder alloys that can execute effectively in harsh service conditions and examines potential solutions for failed or flawed applications. With the extensive adoption of Sn-Ag-Cu (SAC) alloy as the de facto lead-free solder standard, the limitations of this alloy and its family are more clearly revealed. Specifically, SAC305 has shown poor creep resistance in harsh service environments. If aged or exposed to high service temperatures SAC305 undergoes substantial microstructure evolution leading to degradation of mechanical strength of the solder joint. In this work, effects of thermal aging and silver content on mechanical performance, intermetallic growth rate and reliability of SAC alloys are reviewed. Then, a lead-free solder alloy is introduced that exhibits superior performance for demanding applications. The new alloy, with higher strength and stable creep properties shows superior thermal fatigue resistance compared with SAC305. It is demonstrated that the new lead-free high reliability alloy can be a good solution for harsh environment electronics applications.
About Dr. Maalekian
Dr. Maalekian is experienced in materials engineering with a focus on physical metallurgy, soldering, modeling in materials engineering, metal forming and thermo-mechanical processes. Dr. Maalekian has received numerous recognitions including the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Award, the International Henry Granjon Prize (IIW), and IWS-Sossenheimer Award. He has been awarded the honor of Speaker of Distinction by the Surface Mount Technology Association (SMTA). Dr. Maalekian has published many scientific and technical papers, serves as a reviewer of several scientific journals, and is on the editorial board of “Science and Technology of Welding and Joining.”
About AIM
Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, AIM Solder is a leading global manufacturer of assembly materials for the electronics industry with manufacturing, distribution and support facilities located throughout the world. AIM produces advanced solder products such as solder paste, liquid flux, cored wire, bar solder, epoxies, lead-free and halogen-free solder products, preforms, and specialty alloys such as indium and gold for a broad range of industries. A recipient of many prestigious SMT industry awards, AIM is strongly committed to innovative research and development of product and process improvement as well as providing customers with superior technical support, service and training. For more information about AIM, click here.
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