Cover Story
Making the 'Centigrade'
The inside story of how Motorola qualified a lead-free alloy.
Vahid Goudarzi and Grahame Freeman
New Packaging
An Alternative PCB Architecture for High-Speed Chip-to-Chip Signal Transmission
Think copper hits its wall at 10 Gbps? Think again. A novel chip package achieves 40 Gbps by routing high-speed signals through the top side.
Joseph Fjelstad
Quality Control
Demystifying Six-Sigma
Industrial processes have always demanded the utmost repeatability, to maximize yield within accepted quality limits. We reveal secrets of what machine specification sheets really mean, and how to read them.
Bruce Brigham
Reflow Soldering
Nitrogen's Effect on Pb-free Soldering
How and why the inert atmosphere lowers soldering temperatures, improves wetting and reducing voids.
Paul Stratton
Connector Finishes
Potential for Whisker Formation in Pb-Free Electroplated Connector Finishes
Of 20 lead-free electrodeposited connector finishes studied, a matte finish or bright pure tin over a nickel barrier were found to be least susceptibile to tin whiskering.
B. Rickett, P. Elmgren, G. Flowers, S. Gale, and J. Suhling
Testing and Analysis
COTS Ruggedization Simplified
How to be sure that off-the-shelf parts meet high-rel requirements.
Linda Britt
Outsourcing Models
Defense and Aerospace Outsourcing Trends
The must-have capabilities of the defense sector's EMS firms.
Jeff Kaylor
Caveat Lector
Better enjoy your spam.
Mike Buetow
Talking Heads
Henkel's Pat Trippel.
Mike Buetow
Global Sourcing
Verifying supplier capabilities.
Don Payne
On the Forefront
Calling the future.
Ken Gilleo
Screen Printing
Common features affecting printer performance.
Joe Belmonte
Better Manufacturing
RoHS: Obnoxious and noxious.
Phil Zarrow
Countdown to Lead-Free
Complying with RoHS.
Holly Evans and Joe Johnson
Process Doctor
Is surface contamination really a problem?
Terry Munson
Equipment Advances
Siemens' Siplace X series.
Tom Foley
Technical Abstracts
Industry News
Market Watch
Assembly Insider
Ad Index
Product Spotlight
Classifieds
On the cover: Lead-free products cause a sea change. (© UP Media Group)