Evaluating print performance of Sn-Ag-Cu leadfree solder pastes used in electronics assembly process

Mallik, S., Bauer, R., Hübner, F. and Ekere, N.N. (2011) Evaluating print performance of Sn-Ag-Cu leadfree solder pastes used in electronics assembly process. In: International Conference on Advances in Materials and Processing Technologies (AMPT2010). AIP Conference Proceedings (1315/1). American Institute of Physics (AIP), Melville, NY, USA, pp. 33-38. ISBN 978-0-7354-0871-5 ISSN 0094-243X

Abstract

Solder paste is the most widely used interconnection material in the electronic assembly process for attaching electronic components/devices directly onto the surface of printed circuit boards, using stencil printing process. This paper evaluates the performance of three different commercially available Sn-Ag-Cu solder pastes formulated with different particle size distributions (PSD), metal content and alloy composition. A series of stencil printing tests were carried out using a specially designed stencil of 75 μm thickness and apertures of 300×300 μm2 dimension and 500 μm pitch sizes. Solder paste printing behaviors
were found related to attributes such as slumping and surface tension and printing performance was correlated with metal content and PSD. The results of the study should benefit paste manufacturers and SMT assemblers to improve their products and practices.

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