Book Reviews
By Martin Bartholomew
Electrochemical Publications
162
pages
This is one of the first textbooks to be released on the use of encapsulants and underfills, and it makes a good companion to the flip chip books by John Lau. Other technology reports exist, but Martin Bartholomew, from Multicore, has provided a very useful reference source.
The book covers materials, applications and assembly issues, and provides helpful illustrations at each stage. It does, however, fall short of providing good photographs of products and the assembly techniques. The text would have benefited from more examples of products that are well documented in the industry.
By Charles A Harper
McGraw Hill
14 Chapters, terms,
abbreviations and over 600 pages with references for each chapter
Charles Harper is a common fixture at the major electronics events and continues to be involved in the fast moving electronics assembly industry through his company, Technology Seminars. Charles has edited or authored ten books in the field of electronics, but is best known for this handbook.
The third edition of this interconnection bible, features many well recognized experts and the chapters cover each aspect of printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing, assembly and equipment design processes. The less fashionable areas, such as connectors, wire terminations and hybrids are also covered with updates from the previous issues of the handbook.
Of particular interest are the chapters on PCB technology that illustrate the basics of fabrications for plated through hole of double, multilayer, flexible circuits and current trends in microvia techniques. Omissions include the important issues of solder finishes and the overall future production processes.
One chapter is devoted to surface-mount technology, much of which focuses on the use of ball grid arrays (BGAs). Useful advice is given on each of the manufacturing techniques such as printing and placement with advice on x-ray inspection and process defects.
A chapter by Joseph Fjelstad, on chip scale packages (CSPs) and direct mounting of die to the boards, is very interesting and extremely well illustrated. The use of CSPs is on a growth curve and provides many of the advantages that direct flip chip cannot. Joe has highlighted specific issues related to the manufacturing techniques for the components. The chapter could have benefited by a small section on PCB design for the use of these parts.
Jennie Hwang contributes a section devoted to soldering technology with a small section on lead-free. The topic of lead-free will be covered in more detail when she releases her new book devoted to environmentally friendly assembly in a couple of months.
Overall, the book offers references that should suit all engineers who need a general book on up-to-date technology.
By David Boswell
Electrochemical Publications
42 pages
(includes spreadsheets)
There has never been a detailed investigation and presentation of design rules and stencil aperture calculation-until now. Although many large companies have developed their own internal documents and the IPC is working on a document, Boswell's handbook is the first to be commercially available and could very well be the most detailed.
This handbook provides the design rules and stencil aperture information to the reader in an easy-to-read format. The spreadsheets provided with the handbook allow engineers to determine aperture sizes in order to obtain the required solder paste volume that achieves the ideal solder joint. The joints produced will then achieve the requirements of typical inspection standards such as IPC-610.
Only one criticism: pin-in-hole intrusive reflow and ball grid array (BGA)/chip scale package (CSP) stencil footprints have been omitted from the text. I feel sure, however, that they will not be left out of the second release. An update of the text is expected in the coming months.
By Robert S. Mroczkowski
McGraw Hill
14 Chapters, 300
pages
Very few books dedicated to connectors exist. In fact, this is only the second book that I am aware of in the industry and the first that is a dedicated manual. The book covers, in detail, the many forms of interconnection with special attention paid to electrical and mechanical aspects. More discussions of applications would have been beneficial since the assembly issues were not fully addressed. It would have been helpful to have a section from AMP on pin-in-hole reflow for conventional parts since it is so pertinent right now.
The chapter on crimping and IDC assembly is one of the best I have seen. More space should, however, have been given to preparation of cables for all types of the compression joint. With this topic added, the book could then be used as a training manual for production staff as well as an engineer's manual.
The section on press fit was very interesting, but did not cover the use of different solder finishes on boards. The type of solder to be used is now a topic of debate. What should we use? Copper, tin/lead or gold? This title is, on the whole, a great reference book.
Electronics Manufacturing with Lead-Free, Halogen Free & Conductive
Adhesive
By John Lau, Ricky Lee, Ning Chang Lee and Wong
By Johan Liu
Electrochemical Publications
425
pages
Will conductive adhesives replace solders? Probably not, but they do have their place in many modern electronics applications. Each chapter of this handbook provides a good mixture of illustrations and real examples showing joint structures. The text covers the materials and compares many different adhesive types and conductive filler types. Comparisons are given on the curing mechanisms and the issues related to cure and under-cure.
The text provides insight into the advantages and disadvantages of adhesive use, and also explains why and how this technology is misunderstood. Design-specific issues are discussed and failure modes are explained in various sections of the text.
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