RTS 1804
Interflux® RTS 1804 is a no-clean, absolutely halide free solder paste for storage at room temperature in lead-free and SnPb(Ag) alloys.
Suitable for
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Stencil printing is the most used method to apply solder paste on the pads of a PCB (Printed Circuit Board) in the SMT (Surface Mount Technology) assembly line in electronics manufacturing. After stencil printing, SMD (Surface Mount Device) components are placed with their solderable contacts on the solder paste and the PCB is transported through a reflow oven where the components are soldered to the PCB board. Stencil printing can also be used to apply solder paste in trough holes for the Pin in Paste (PiP, intrusive reflow) technology that is meant to solder through hole components in the reflow soldering process . Stencil printing can also be used to apply SMT adhesive (glue) to the PCB board. SMD components are placed with their body on the glue that will be cured in a reflow oven. After that, the SMD components that are glued to the PCB board will be soldered in a wave soldering process. The PCB board is pressed onto a stencil that has apertures where the solder paste needs to be deposited. A volume of solder paste is present on the stencil. A squeegee is lowered onto the stencil with a certain pressure. The squeegee moves over the stencil with a certain printing speed. This will make the solder paste roll into the apertures. The printing speed can be determined by the desired throughput, typical for high volume productions but can be limited by the used solder paste. This speed can vary from 20-150 mm/s. Once the desired speed has been established, a printing pressure will have to be determined for that printing speed. Higher speeds require higher pressures. The correct printing pressure is the minimum pressure needed to get a clean stencil after printing, meaning all excessive solder paste has been removed by the squeegee. The board is moved away vertically from the stencil, the solder paste releases from the stencil and pads of the PCB have solder paste deposits. The goal is to have a well defined printing result where all solder paste has realeased from the stencil and no solderpaste has been pressed between the stencil and the PCB board. The release of the solder paste obviously is more difficult for smaller apertures and thicker stencils. Some design rules say that the ratio of the surface of the aperture to the surface of the sides ('walls') of the aperture is preferrably not smaller than 0,6. The quality of the stencil is a major parameter in good paste release. Rough sides are more likely to adhere solder paste. Different types of stencils exist. The most popular is the stainless steel stencil with laser cut apertures that are smoothened afterwards by a chemical process. Sometimes they are treated with a coating for better paste release. The main reasons for solder paste being pressed in between the stencil and the PCB board is bad sealing between board and stencil or too high printing pressure for the used printing speed. This can lead to solder balling or bridging after reflow. Some printing machines have an automated under stencil cleaning unit that can be programmed to clean the stencil after so many prints. This will facilitate a stable printing result. It is advisable not to use IPA based or water based cleaning liquids in these units as they may affect the solder paste stability. The use of products that have been specifically designed for that purpose is advisable. The stability of the solder paste on the stencil, meaning how well that the solder paste keeps its printing properties over time, is also a parameter for a stable printing process. Some printing machine have integrated AOI (Automated Optical Inspection) that will check the printing result and give an alarm if it deviates from the programmed desired values. This will help to avoid electronic units being produced with solder joints that are not according good standard.
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Reflow soldering is the most used soldering process in electronics assembly. Mainly SMD (Surface Mount Device) components but also some through hole components are soldered in a reflow oven to a PCB (Printed Circuit Board) by means of a solder paste. The reflow oven is usually a forced convection oven but also vapor phase and IR ovens are possible. The first step of the process is to apply solder paste to the pads of the PCB or in case of through hole components in the through hole. This latter is called Pin in Paste (PiP) or intrusive reflow technology. The main application method is stencil printing but also dispensing and solder paste jetting are possible. Depending on the application method the solder paste will have a different consistency and comes in a different packaging. Solder paste is a mixture of a solder powder and a gel flux. The type of gel flux and the type of powder and in what ratios they are mixed, will determine the consistency of the paste. The solder powder is made of a certain soldering alloy and has a certain grain size (distribution). Finer grains size are used for smaller pitch components and smaller stencil apertures. Dispensing and even more jetting also require finer grain sizes. The gel flux contains substances to deoxydize the surfaces to be soldered. It also contains substances that will determine the consistency and the behavior of the solder paste in the process to a great extent. When stencil printing solder paste, an important parameter is that the solder paste keeps its printing properties during the time it will be on the stencil. This is often referred to as the stability of the solder paste. Solder paste stability is hard to quantify but can be estimated from the stencil life indication in the technical datasheet. After solder paste application SMD components are placed on the solder paste with their solderable connections. In most cases, this is done with a Pick and Place machine. The solder paste needs to have enough adhesion force to keep the components in their place until soldering. A conveyor will transport the PCB through a reflow oven where the PCB board is submitted to a reflow soldering profile. This profile is created by the temperature settings of the different convection zones. They are usually situated as well from the top as from the bottom side. Beside the temperature settings, in some cases also the convection rate of the zones can be programmed to get better or lower heat transfer, or when some high components experience too much force from the convection. It is the goal to get all components to soldering temperatures, which is determined by the used soldering alloy, without damaging or overheating temperature sensitive components. This can be a challenge for units with a large diversity of big and small components or an uneven Cu-distribution in the PCB board. In that perspective a low melting point soldering alloy substantially limits the risk of damaging or predamaging components and PCB boards. The speed of the conveyor will determine the time of the profile and the throughput of the oven. In most cases however the Pick and Place process is limiting the throughput. Not all electronic components are suitable for reflow soldering. Some because of their thermal mass like e.g. big transfos or others because of their thermal sensitivity like e.g. some displays, connectors, relays, fuses,... These components are usually available as a through hole components and soldered in other processes like selective soldering, wave soldering, hand soldering, robot soldering, laser soldering,...
Key advantages
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Absolutely halogen free soldering chemistry contains no intentionally added halogens nor halides. The IPC classification allows up to 500ppm of halogens for the lowest 'L0' classification. Soldering fluxes, solder pastes and solder wires from this class are often referred to as 'halogen free'. Absolutely halogen free soldering chemistry goes one step further and does not contain this 'allowed' level of halogens. Specifically in combination with lead-free soldering alloys and on sensitive electronic applications, these low levels of halogens have been reported to cause reliability problems like e.g. too high leakage currents. Halogens are elements from the periodic table like Cl, Br, F and I. They have the physical property that they like to react. This is very interesting from the point of view of soldering chemistry because it is intended to clean off oxides from the surfaces to be soldered. And indeed halogens perform that job very well, even hard to clean surfaces like brass, Zn, Ni,...or heavily oxidized surfaces or degraded I-Sn and OSP (Organic Surface Protection) can be soldered with the aid of halogenated fluxes. Halogens provide a great process window in solderability. The problem however is that the residues and reaction products of halogenated fluxes can be problematic for electronic circuits. They usually have high hygroscopicity and high water solubility and give an increased risk on electro migration and high leakage currents. This means a high risk on malfunctioning of the electronic circuit. Specifically with lead-free soldering alloys there are more reports that even the smallest levels of halogens can be problematic for sensitive electronic applications. Sensitive electronic applications are typically high resistance circuits, measuring circuits, high frequency circuits, sensors,...That's why the tendency is to move away from halogens in soldering chemistry in electronics manufacturing. In general when the solderability of the surfaces to be soldered from component and PCB (Printed Circuit Board) are normal, there is no need for these halogens. Smartly designed absolutely halogen free soldering products will provide a large enough process window to clean the surfaces and get a good soldering result and this in combination with high reliability residues.
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Rosin also known as colophony is a natural product coming from trees. There are many kinds of rosins with very different properties but some general properties apply. As a part of soldering chemistry, like soldering fluxes, solder pastes and solder wires, in general, rosin provides a large process window in the soldering process. This means that in general it is able to withstand longer times and higher temperatures than e.g. a resin. An advantage of the rosin in a liquid flux is that in general it tends to leave less solder balls on the solder mask after wave or selective soldering. Furthermore the rosin residue will give a certain protection against atmospheric moisture. This can provide an extra chance to pass climatic reliability tests. This protection capacity however degrades in time. On the other hand, rosin contained in a liquid soldering flux can also have some disadvantages. It increases the risk on blocking the spray nozzle or jet nozzle of wave and selective soldering machines. The residues left in the machine and on carriers are quite hard to clean off. Residues left on the PCB board can interfere with electrical pin testing (ICT, In Circuit Testing) and create a contactproblem causing a false reading/false error. In some cases this can lead to obstruction of the production flow. When some of the rosin containing flux spray accidentally ends up on contacts of e.g. a connector, a switch/relay/contactor with a partial open housing or on carbon contacts or on contact pattern on the PCB, this can also lead to contact problems. Rosin residues in general have poor compatibility with conformal coatings. After thermal cycling the conformal coating can start showing cracks where atmospheric moisture can penetrate and condensate. Considering all the above, weighing the advantages of rosin in liquid soldering fluxes against the disadvantages, there is an ongoing tendency to chose for liquid fluxes without rosin. 'OR' classified fluxes do not contain rosin. Rosin is very often used in solder wire because of its wide process window in time and temperature. The disadvantage is that rosin tends to discolor with temperature and leave visually heavy residues. When the solder wire is used for reworking electronic PCB boards, this residue is for some electronic manufacturers non desirable, as they do not like their customers to see that rework has been done on a PCB. Cleaning of these rosin residues requires special cleaning agents and is a time consuming process. In this case manufacturers can chose for an RE classified solder wire like IF 14. The residues are minimal and can be brushed away with a dry brush. Rosin is also used in solder pastes. Beside giving a good process window in time and temperature, it also provides a good stability of the solder paste on the stencil. This will facilitate a stable printing process and hence stable soldering results and defect rates. The discoloration of the rosin in reflow soldering is not so prominent as it is with a solder wire because the temperatures in reflow soldering are lower than in hand soldering. Still the rosin residue has poor compatibility with conformal coating and in time after thermal cycles it might show cracks or detatching of the conformal coating. Although most manufacturers will apply the conformal coating over the solder paste residues, for optimal results it is advisable to clean off the solder paste residues. Giving the benefits of colophony described above, most solder pastes contain colophony.