November 2009 Issue
FEATURES
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Paste Printing
Overlooked Features of Stencil Printers
Some PCB assemblers opt not to use vision inspection and other major stencil printer features, as well as setup process techniques. Yet several problems can occur if a vision inspection isn’t deployed.
by Alex del Rosario -
Cover Story
Tin Whisker Observations
Tin whiskers are known to be a hairy problem, with the potential to cause transient or catastrophic electrical short circuits. Here, Raytheon and industry colleagues reveal the observations and SEM images of tin whiskers captured during a series of investigations and experiments aimed at better understanding their growth, evaluating associated reliability risks, and developing mitigation techniques.
by Robert R. Ogden and Robert F. Champaign -
Process Control
Minimizing Solder Paste Printing Variation
Research into printing process factors finds the stencil blade angle affects the overall time the paste spends over the aperture, as well as the maximum filling pressure. Both characteristics have a significant effect on the resultant aperture fill.
by George Babka
FIRST PERSON
- Caveat Lector
A sticky mess.
Mike Buetow - Talking Heads
Tessera’s Craig Mitchell.
Mike Buetow
MONEY MATTERS
- Focus on Business
Focused government investment can have a positive impact on business.
Susan Mucha
TECH TALK
- On the Forefront
TSV adoption.
E. Jan Vardaman - Screen Printing
Edge clamps and paste transfer.
Dr. Rita Mohanty - Selective Soldering
‘Dropping’ in on Pb-free alloys.
Ursula Marquez de Tino and Brian Roggeman - Wave Soldering Troubleshooting
Avoiding icicles’ chill.
Paul Lotosky - The Defects Database
PTH corner cracks.
Dr. Davide Di Maio - Test and Inspection
Implementing the 5DX.
Barbara Koczera - Process Doctor
Cleaning creep corrosion.
Terry Munson - Tech Tips
‘Fixed’ on pallets.
ACI Technologies Inc. - Materials World
Underfill reworkability.
Jie Bai - Technical Abstracts
In case you missed it.
DEPARTMENTS
