Knocking Down the Bone Pile: Gold Mitigation for Class 2 Electronics
Punching Out: Your Financial Preparation for a Sale
Nolan's Notes: The Next Killer App in Component Manufacturing
Averatek to Present 'Reliability of Solder Joints on Flexible Aluminum PC Boards' at SMTAI
October 6, 2021 | AveratekEstimated reading time: 1 minute
Averatek is pleased to announce that it will present a paper during the during the SMTA International Conference Nov. 1-4, 2021 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Divyakant Kadiwala, Nazarali Merchant, Ph.D., and Benny Lam co-authored “Reliability of Solder Joints on Flexible Aluminum PC Boards.”
Most surface mount technology has primarily focused on developing products for mounting SMDs onto copper-based rigid or flexible printed circuit boards (Cu-PCBs). Aluminum has several advantages compared to copper: it is less expensive, and has about one-third the density of copper, making Al-PCBs much lighter than Cu-PCBs.
Surface treatment of aluminum includes Electroless Nickel Immersion Gold plating (ENIG), which is extensive wet chemistry, and cost-prohibitive for mass adoption. Conductive adhesives like Anisotropic Conductive Paste (ACP) are an alternative, but result in component-substrate interfaces that are inferior to conventional solders in terms of performance and reliability. An advanced surface treatment technology will be presented to address all of these constraints: a breakthrough pretreatment that allows for soldering to aluminum as easily as to copper - with significant benefits over traditional methods of soldering to aluminum.
Additionally, the presenters will discuss functional aluminum circuits, study of solder-aluminum bond, shear results and SEM/ EDS analysis. They will explain how these mounted assemblies on Al/PET containing various resistors and other components pass the surface insulation resistance test (SIR) as well as temperature cyclic tests between -40° C to 105° C for more than 500 cycles. The solder joints formed are quite strong and in the shear tests, the failure occurs at the Al/PET interface. The solder fillets formed using low temperature solders (138° C melting point) are robust, with minimal voiding as evidenced from X-ray studies and cross-section optical microscopy studies.
Share on:
Suggested Items
Indium’s Karthik Vijay to Present on Dual Alloy Solder Paste Systems at SMTA’s Electronics in Harsh Environments Conference
05/06/2025 | Indium CorporationIndium Corporation Technical Manager, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East Karthik Vijay will deliver a technical presentation on dual alloy solder paste systems at SMTA’s Electronics in Harsh Environments Conference, May 20-22 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
SolderKing Achieves the Prestigious King’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade
05/06/2025 | SolderKingSolderKing Assembly Materials Ltd, a leading British manufacturer of high-performance soldering materials and consumables, has been honoured with a King’s Award for Enterprise, one of the UK’s most respected business honours.
Knocking Down the Bone Pile: Gold Mitigation for Class 2 Electronics
05/07/2025 | Nash Bell -- Column: Knocking Down the Bone PileIn electronic assemblies, the integrity of connections between components is paramount for ensuring reliability and performance. Gold embrittlement and dissolution are two critical phenomena that can compromise this integrity. Gold embrittlement occurs when gold diffuses into solder joints or alloys, resulting in mechanical brittleness and an increased susceptibility to cracking. Conversely, gold dissolution involves the melting away of gold into solder or metal matrices, potentially altering the electrical and mechanical properties of the joint.
'Chill Out' with TopLine’s President Martin Hart to Discuss Cold Electronics at SPWG 2025
05/02/2025 | TopLineBraided Solder Columns can withstand the rigors of deep space cold and cryogenic environments, and represent a robust new solution to challenges facing next generation large packages in electronics assembly.
BEST Inc. Reports Record Demand for EZReball BGA Reballing Process
05/01/2025 | BEST Inc.BEST Inc., a leader in electronic component services, is pleased to announce they are experiencing record demand for their EZReball™ BGA reballing process which greatly simplifies the reballing of ball grid array (BGA) and chip scale package (CSP) devices.