The book is important because it reflects a trend, especially in microelectronics manufacture toward recyclability. Europe and Asia are moving towards legislation to ban the use of lead in solders and public demand in the US will likely have the same result. Producers of solders and manufacturers who use them will have to invent and employ suitable substitutes and A Guide to Lead-free Solders will show them how to do so.

Lead-free solders are used extensively as interconnection materials in electronic assemblies and play a critical role in the global semiconductor packaging and electronics manufacturing industry. Electronic products such as smart phones, notebooks and high performance computers rely on lead-free solder joints to connect IC chip components to printed circuit boards. Lead Free Solder: Mechanics and Reliability provides in-depth design knowledge on lead-free solder elastic-plastic-creep and strain-rate dependent deformation behavior and its application in failure assessment of solder joint reliability. It includes coverage of advanced mechanics of materials theory and experiments, mechanical properties of solder and solder joint specimens, constitutive models for solder deformation behavior; numerical modeling and simulation of solder joint failure subject to thermal cycling, mechanical bending fatigue, vibration fatigue and board-level drop impact tests.

This reference provides a complete discussion of the conversion from standard lead-tin to lead-free solder microelectronic assemblies for low-end and high-end applications. Written by more than 45 world-class researchers and practitioners, the book discusses general reliability issues concerning microelectronic assemblies, as well as factors specific to the tin-rich replacement alloys commonly utilized in lead-free solders. It provides real-world manufacturing accounts of the introduction of reduced-lead and lead-free technology and discusses the functionality and cost effectiveness of alternative solder alloys and non-solder alternatives replacing lead-tin solders in microelectronics.

Assessing the scientific and technological aspects of lead-free soldering, Lead-Free Soldering in Electronics considers the necessary background and requirements for proper alloy selection. It highlights the metallurgical and mechanical properties; plating and processing technologies; and evaluation methods vital to the production of lead-free solders in electronics. A valuable resource for those interested in promoting environmentally-conscious electronic packaging practices! Responding to increasing environmental and health concerns over lead toxicity, Lead-Free Soldering in Electronics discusses: Soldering inspection and design Mechanical evaluation in electronics Lead-free solder paste and reflow soldering Wave soldering Plating lead-free soldering in electronics Lead-Free Soldering in Electronics will benefit manufacturing, electronics, and mechanical engineers, as well as undergraduate and graduate students in these disciplines.

The worldwide trend toward lead-free components and soldering is especially urgent in the European Union with the implementation strict new standards in July 2006, and with pending implementation of laws in China and California. This book provides a standard reference guide for engineers who must meet the new regulations, including a broad collection of techniques for lead-free soldering design and manufacture, which up to now have been scattered in difficult-to-find scholarly sources.

This book focuses on the assembly and reliability of lead-free solder joints. Both the principles and engineering practice are addressed, with more weight placed on the latter. This is achieved by providing in-depth studies on a number of major topics such as solder joints in conventional and advanced packaging components, commonly used lead-free materials, soldering processes, advanced specialty flux designs, characterization of lead-free solder joints, reliability testing and data analyses, design for reliability, and failure analyses for lead-free solder joints. Uniquely, the content not only addresses electronic manufacturing services (EMS) on the second-level interconnects, but also packaging assembly on the first-level interconnects and the semiconductor back-end on the 3D IC integration interconnects. Thus, the book offers an indispensable resource for the complete food chain of electronics products.