31 chapters, 879 pages,
586 figures, 182 tables
ISBN: 0 901150 40 1
Order Code: EP149
Well its been a long time
coming but its worth the wait. The first text book on
lead-free soldering technology, I wonder how many more
are around the corner or will this be The One! The book
is massive with over 800 pages filled with a wide
selection of tables graphs, photographs and some great
micrographs in chapter 20 on intermetalic compounds. Well
done the team at Sandia National Laboratories I learnt a
lot of useful information here.
Jennie is very well know
in the industry through her many workshops and seminars
in the USA at APEX and Nepcon plus here work with
Universities and technology groups. She has authored a
number of text books in the past which have featured some
lead-free material but not in this detail. She has also
found time to contribute an interview on the SMART Group
web site this year, see Engineering Spotlight.
The book open with a
chapter on the pressures on the environment and what is
forcing change in manufacture. The second chapter
outlines the technology commonly used to day and required
for the future. This sets the scene in which any
environmental policy has to work and of course there are
many conflicts. An early chapter in the book also looks
at the patents, its amassing just how many there are for
alternative alloys and who has filed them. It's a
riveting read, but a must know for many researchers in
the materials industry.
Jennie has rightly also
included a chapter on alternatives to solder with a
welcome contribution from Ken Gilleo of Cookson
Electronics. Anyone who has had the opportunity to sit in
on one of Ken's workshops will know he has a incredible
wealth of experience and it comes through in the text.
The chapter reviews the different systems and the
advantages and disadvantages. He compares solder and
adhesive with its limits and provides application
examples for the reader to consider. So are conductive
adhesives a solution, well Gilleo says they do offer many
of the solution but not all. But as a final comparison he
states that the human body sends massive amounts of high
speed information over polymer wires!
Jennie has broken the
discussion on the main alloys considering ternary and
binary alloys in separate chapters. Each material is
discussed looking at the materials and results on strain
and stress measurements, phase transition, wetting issues
and in many cases discussing the possible applications.
To be fair you need to be a materials scientist or
metallurgist to understand these sections and or argue
the validity.
I guess my only real
criticism on the book would be a lack of a practical how
to do it section covering assembly issues which would
have been very useful. It would have also made the sales
potential for the book even wider than it is`. Sammy
Shina's chapter does focus on the assembly process with a
full debate on a design of experiment on lead-free
soldering but it's the results of a study rather than the
issues on process and equipment. The chapter does provide
a blue print for companies considering an experiment and
how it could be conducted successfully. Any finally the
book ends with a chapter on comparison, selections and
recommendations which gives everyone the information to
move forward
Nice to see that the team
at NPL National Physical Laboratory get a number of
checks for their work on lead-free. References are made
to solderability issues, tin whiskers, reliability of
components and of course their contributions to
information documents for the DTI.
You could be put off if
you casually flick through the book at an exhibition
stand due to the daunting number of graphs and tables but
don't be. Spend some time reading a section or two and
you will find this is a good investment to your lead-free
library.
And finally I was told by
one of my colleague in the SMART Group not to say
anything about my small chapter in this book so I won't.
Bob Willis.
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