Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - Current Issue

News

HERNDON, VA - The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI) is sponsoring a workshop on tin whiskers as part of IEEE's Electronic Components and Technology Conference on May 31-June 3, in Lake Buena Vista, FL. iNEMI will present the results of its third set of whisker experiments, , which provide additional insight into tin whisker formation and growth.

Presentations will also cover the latest theories regarding the cause and effect of stress formation in tin film, the mechanism by which material moves through the structure, and the causes of whisker growth. In addition, a recently discovered factor in tin whisker generation will be discussed - heavy oxidation or "corrosion" of the tin in humid environments. Data on testing and the impact of oxidation on whisker growth will be covered.

Dr. Henning Leidecker, NASA, will serve as moderator for the workshop. The event is chaired by Ron Gedney, iNEMI consultant, and Maureen Williams, NIST. For a complete agenda:
http://www.inemi.org/cms/calendar/tin_whisker_workshop.html.

In addition to the iNEMI workshop, the ECTC technical program includes a session on solder and tin whiskers (Session #10, Materials & Processing Committee) on June 1.
Online registration is available at
https://www.ec-central.org/conference/ectc/55/doorregistrationform.cfm.

Rochester, NY - EMA Design Automation, a provider of electronic design automation (EDA) solutions, and PartMiner Inc., a provider of electronic components and information services for the electronics industry, announced a partnership to bring together Cadence Design System Inc.'s design technology and PartMiner's CAPS electronic component database.

PartMiner provides a range of services for researching, selecting, locating and procuring electronic components. As part of the partnership, these capabilities are integrated into OrCAD Capture CIS, giving users access to over 47 million components from over 1,900 manufacturers for parametric searching and part validation. This enables part validation at the initial stages of the design cycle and allows life cycle status, such as product change notifications, end of life and RoHS status issues, to be solved at the database level.

"We have a unique method of integrating OrCAD Capture CIS with PartMiner, giving the design engineer immediate access to a content rich environment," said Manny Marcano, president of EMA. "This electronic interface provides instant productivity by the addition of relevant component data into the OrCAD Component Information System (CIS) at the engineer's desktop - RoHS data at the design point. This provides information to the right person at the right time to make the best decision possible."

HORSHAM, PA - Avo Photonics, specialists in RF and optical packaging solutions, has developed a lead-free TEC-to-Package process. The process works for high-quality, high-performance applications, while meeting regulations requiring lead-free electronics components. The process has been qualified and can be used for volume production of assemblies.

The process caters to markets requiring high-end thermoelectric cooler (TEC) packages, used in a variety of telecommunications, medical and military applications (such as lasers, temperature-controlled etalons, high-speed detectors and temperature reference sources).

The TEC-to-Package process includes solder bonding the TEC within a non-oxidizing inert gas environment leading to void-free coverage. Said to result in excellent thermal conductivity across the interface and very rugged bond strengths. Includes surface acoustic microscopy (SAM) testing to verify void-free results. For TECs without wirebond posts, Avo trims, forms and simultaneously reflows the solder to bond the TEC leads to the package within the TEC packaging process.