Somerset, NJ – December 12th, 2016 – Alpha Assembly Solutions, the world leader in the production of electronic soldering and bonding materials, is participating at the 2017 IPC APEX show in San Diego as both an exhibitor and technical presenter.

The paper titled, “Minimizing Voiding in Bottom Terminated Components Using Vacuum Assisted Reflow”, will be presented by Mitch Holtzer, Director of Reclaim for Alpha Assembly Solutions, a part of the MacDermid Performance Solutions group of businesses. The presentation will describe a series of experiments using three types of bottom terminated components commonly used in power management applications to determine if using vacuum assisted reflow has an effect on the creation of voids.

“Voids that are trapped in the interface between discrete power management devices and circuits assemblies are, unfortunately, excellent insulators or barriers to thermal conductivity”, said Mitch Holtzer of Alpha. “This resistance of heat flow reduces the electrical efficiency of these devices, reducing battery life and expected functional shelf-life of electronic assemblies. The experiment utilized two levels of vacuum in an in-line convection reflow oven using a typical lead-free reflow profile. A solder paste flux and alloy with a known high level of voiding was used as the control.

He continues, “Our results show that the use of a low pressure vacuum during the time the solder alloy was above its liquidis temperature resulted in a significant reduction in the amount of observable voids in each combination of surface finish and reflow process conditions used in this study.” Holtzer concludes, “This experiment highlights that starting with an alloy that exhibits superior thermal cycling conditions increases the likelihood of minimizing voids in bottom terminated components in power applications.”

More information on ALPHA® Products or Alpha’s unique process technology can be found on their website.