GEN3’s Dr. Chris Hunt Submits Insightful Paper to Journal of Surface Mount Technology

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GEN3 a British manufacturer of testing and measuring the electronics industry announced that Dr. Chris Hunt, CTO, has written a paper for SMTA on a gage study of an intercomparison evaluation to implement the use of fine-pitch test patterns for surface insulation resistance (sir) testing of solder fluxes. 

SIR is a recognized tool for establishing the electrochemical reliability of electronic assemblies. Currently, the test patterns in the standards reflect coarse pitch components. An intercomparison has been completed with the aim of establishing the introduction of a fine pitch SIR pattern with a 200µm gap. This exercise included the contribution of seven international participants. This new pattern moves the test method forward into the realm of current technologies where components of this pitch are commonplace. The study reported here validates the basis for the introduction of the new pattern and confirms acceptable Gauge R&R for the SIR technique. The analysis also highlights the challenges in controlling humidity to achieve comparable results between different users. The results also point to the challenges in achieving acceptable Gauge R&R when measuring resistances >1011?.

Gen3 alongside Dr. Chris Hunt is active in the development of many IPC standards and has won many awards for this work. Much of this standard work has been in the area of surface insulation resistance measurements and conductive anodic filamentation, of which this paper evidences.