The G-12 Committee of the Government
Electronics and Information Technology Association (GEIA) has agreed to Six
Sigma’s proposal to form a Hot Solder Dip (HSD) Task Group. Brian McMullen of
Lockheed Martin has been selected as the chairman. This task group will create an
industry-wide hot solder dip specification, which will standardize the
requirements and provide guidance for the proper implementation of a hot solder
dip process.
Hot solder dipping of component leads is currently one of the strategies
being used for the mitigation of tin whiskers, produced by using pure tin
plating. Solder dipping of tin-finished terminations using tin-lead solder
minimizes tin whisker formation by replacing tin with an alloy of tin-lead. The
addition of lead substantially reduces the propensity for whisker formation.
Although not as effective as tin-lead, hot solder dipping of pure-tin
finished leads with lead-free alloys, such as tin-silver-copper (SAC), will also
reduce whisker formation. It is very important to confirm that the components
can withstand the higher temperatures required for lead-free solder dip and
assembly.
We are inviting all interested parties to join this GEIA task group and help
in establishing a Hot Solder Dip (HSD) specification. The first meeting of the
HSD Task Group will be held in Columbus, Ohio on September 19, 2005. For
details, visit the GEIA G-12
website.
Six Sigma is actively involved in hot solder dipping components for military
and aerospace customers. Six Sigma, with its history of providing services for
the semiconductor industry for over 15 years, has proven to be the leader in the
field of hot
solder dip, BGA
reballing and
column attach services. During this time Six Sigma has processed over 20
million components for high reliability applications.
