Investigating the Lead Free Manufacturing Process

Over the last several years there has been many very detailed studies of the electronics industries lead free manufacturing process. Vast quantities of data have been generated and much has been learned. However there is still much to learn. There are still many questions that need to be answered.

Several questions that are frequently asked are:

· Do I need a more accurate printing process for printing lead free solder paste?

· Do all lead free solder pastes behave (printing and reflow) the same?

· What is the impact of lead free solder paste on tombstoning of chip (primarily resistors and capacitates) components?

· How will using Nitrogen in my reflow oven impact tombstoning in both a lead free and tin lead process?

· What level of Nitrogen (Oxygen Level) will provide the optimum benefits?

· How will printed circuit board pad design impact tombstoning?

· How will component orientation impact tombstoning?

This paper will discuss the results from several detailed studies that investigate and provide statistically valid data to answer these questions.