Meeting the requirements of RoHS compliance and successfully implementing lead-free electronics assembly processes is an ongoing challenge for the industry. Find new strategies for implementation at IPC and JEDEC’s conference on Transitioning to Lead Free — Strategies for Implementation, March 3-5, 2009 in Santa Clara, Calif.

The event features a full-day technical conference with an outstanding roster of speakers on a host of lead-free topics. Two full days of informative half-day workshops will be offered as well.

A variety of registration options are available to meet every need. Register by February 9, 2009 and SAVE 10%.

Location & Hotel Accommodations

The technical conference and workshops will be held at the Marriott Santa Clara, 2700 Mission College Blvd, Santa Clara, Calif. To reserve your sleeping room, please contact the hotel at 888-236-2427 or +1 408-988-1500 and ask for the JEDEC/IPC Lead-Free special rate of $179 per night.  Rooms and rate are subject to change after February 9, 2009.

There is no doubt that lead-free has impacted almost everyone in the electronics industry, from suppliers of components, boards and materials to manufacturers and users of electronic products and equipment, including the military and medical industry.

The lead-free train has been moving fast. Even if you work in a currently exempt industry, you need to get on board or risk losing market share to competitors, particularly when the leaded products and components you are using become only available in lead free.

Learn how to resolve issues for an effective implementation of SMT in a lead-free world at a lower cost and higher yield.

The objective of this course is to identify the technical issues in through hole, SMT, BGA, fine-pitch technology and the impact of lead free that must be resolved for an effective implementation of mixed assembly electronic products for both tin-lead and lead free.

What You Will Learn:

• Get a good understanding of SMT, its benefits and limitations
• Select appropriate SMT components, materials, processes, and equipment
• Get an overview of BGA, CSP and emerging technologies
• Troubleshoot SMT and lead-free problems in manufacturing
• Determine the best way to deal with mixed BGAs and other components (lead free and tin-lead) on the same board
• Implementation including its benefits and pitfalls
• Understand metallurgy of lead-free solder to enable selection of appropriate lead-free solder alloys, soldering and rework processes and equipment
• Understand how to implement lead-free technology in your products and manufacturing processes, either in-house or at a subcontractor, including transitional issues

Who Should Attend:

Anyone in process, quality, manufacturing, design, purchasing and management that wants to get a good understanding of SMT, lead free, fine pitch, and BGA manufacturing issues for building assemblies in-house or at a subcontractor will benefit from this course.

About the Instructor:

Prior to starting his consulting practice providing SMT solutions, Ray Prasad held key technology positions at Boeing and Intel. At Intel, he was responsible for developing and implementing SMT. He has published a text book, chaired the committee that drafted IPC-7095 and received the IPC Presidents Award. He received his B.S. in metallurgical engineering from the Regional Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur, India, and both his M.S. in materials science and engineering and his M.B.A. from U.C. – Berkeley.

The technical conference will begin on Wednesday, March 4 at 8:30 am and will conclude at 5:00 pm. 

This course provides a holistic view of state-of-the-art lead-free performance and reliability, as well as what is on the horizon. A wide array of global production results and product field performance have been generated during the last decade. Some were deemed positive and some remain to be resolved, and some test results may appear not to be coinciding with others. Yet all product performance and test results manifest the criticality of sound practice. The course will highlight the sound practice in all key areas of lead-free electronics. Based on the speaker’s three textbooks, representative test results will be illustrated. New developments and their impact on product performance and reliability will also be discussed.

What You Will Learn:

• Solder joint technology – mechanical and physical properties on performance & reliability
• PCB surface finishes – options and impact on performance & reliability
• Component coatings – options and impact on performance & reliability
• Rework - key parameters on performance & reliability
• Production defects and remedies – types unique to lead free
• System compatibility on reliability – forward and backward
• System reliability – PCB characteristics + components + solder joints + process
• BGA/CSP/WLP solder joint performance – temperature cycling examples
• Fundamental differences between SnPb and Pb-free
• Testing solder joint reliability – discriminating tests and discerning parameters
• What are on the horizon and what impact will be on reliability performance
• Comparing the present system with the future deployment from reliability perspective
  

Who Should Attend:

The course provides a proper level of working knowledge to all that are involved with or interested in the production and reliability of lead-free packaging and assembling; also designed for those who desire broad-based information.

About the Instructor:

Dr. Hwang has in-depth practical experience in SMT manufacturing, lead-free R&D, production implementation and lead-free reliability. She has also served as an advisor to major OEMs, EMS companies and the U.S. government. She has Ph.D., M.S., M.A. and B.S degrees in materials science and engineering, chemistry and liquid crystal science, respectively. Dr. Hwang has received numerous honors and awards for her work, and is the author of more than 300 publications, including several textbooks. She serves on the boards of many companies, civic groups and universities and is also an invited adjunct professor for the engineering school of Case Western Reserve University and serves on the University's board.

This course addresses critical questions and tackles prevalent issues related to lead-free BGA packages and assemblies. What are potential BGA lead-free issues? Should BGA solder balls become molten during reflow? How the process affect the production yield? How the process affect the assembly reliability? Can SAC ball and SnPb solder paste or vice versa work well? Can SAC ball and other lead-free solder paste work well? Can SAC ball and SAC solder paste work for harsh environment electronics? What it takes to produce acceptable lead-free BGA assemblies? What doesit takes to produce the reliable lead-free BGA assembly for harsh environment electronics?

In view of the intricate makeup of BGA components on PCBs and its impact on reliability, the compatibility scenarios of BGA/CSP in SAC alloy and other lead-free alloys and the mixed use of Pb-free and SnPb will be outlined. The impact of reflow process on reliability will be discussed. BGA/CSP/WLP assemblies that are being practiced and/or recommended in the industry will be ranked in performance and reliability, particularly for harsh environment electronics.

Reliability data on solder ball attachment in producing BGA packages will also be presented. Additionally, the course summarizes the scientific and manufacturing rationale behind the performance. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own production and reliability issues for discussion and solution.

What You Will Learn:

• Main BGA / CSP / WLP challenges
• Examine SAC ball + SAC paste assembly – key criteria, test results, process impact
• Examine SAC ball + SnPb paste assembly – key criteria, test results, process impact
• Examine SnPb ball + SAC paste assembly – key criteria, test results, process impact
• Discuss key criteria, test results, impact of process among SAC systems including SAC405, SAC305, SAC387, SAC125, SAC105, SAC125Ni, etc.
• Examine SAC ball + low-temp paste assembly – key criteria, process impact
• Examine low-temp ball + SAC paste assembly – key criteria, process impact
• Examine low-temp ball + low-temp paste assembly – key criteria, process impact
• Scientific and manufacturing fundamentals behind the test results and reliability performance
• Solder joint fracture mechanisms and failure modes
• Effects of PCB surface finish – how to avoid black pad
• WLP solder ball attachment – factors, reliability requirements
• BGA package solder ball attachment – reliability data of various solder ball systems
• Comparison of prevalent BAG/CSP/WLP assemblies in performance & reliability
• Summary discussions - effects of process, material, surface finish, testing/service conditions on solder joint reliability and assembly integrity

Who Should Attend:

The course provides a practical working knowledge to anybody who is involved with or interested in the reliability and relative performance of lead-free packages and PCB assemblies, particularly in BGA, CSP, LGA array interconnections. This course is also designed for those who desire the reasons behind the performance and the test data vs. performance.

About the Instructor:

Dr. Hwang has in-depth practical experience in SMT manufacturing, lead-free R&D, production implementation and lead-free reliability. She has also served as an advisor to major OEMs, EMS companies and the U.S. government. She has Ph.D., M.S., M.A. and B.S degrees in materials science and engineering, chemistry and liquid crystal science, respectively. Dr. Hwang has received numerous honors and awards for her work, and is the author of more than 300 publications, including several textbooks. She serves on the boards of many companies, civic groups and universities and is also an invited adjunct professor for the engineering school of Case Western Reserve University and serves on the University's board.

Get an in-depth understanding of failure mechanisms unique to lead-free electronics, and the tools and techniques to identify those mechanisms. Mechanisms will be addressed for component packaging, discrete components, printed circuit boards and interconnects. A physics of failure (PoF) based approach will be taken, identifying drivers such as defect-driven, overstress and wearout, and how an understanding of these stress-strength interactions can provide guidance on the appropriate corrective and action. A wide variety of case studies will be presented, including red phosphorus in epoxy encapsulants, creepage corrosion in immersion silver and solder joint failures.

What You Will Learn:

• Changes prerequisite with lead-free electronics
• Other “green” materials
• Identifying lead-free materials failure analysis
• Packaging (die attach, epoxy encapsulant)
• Component plating
• Conductive anodic filaments caused by lead-free reflow soldering
• Plated-through hole fatigue
• Electrochemical migration
• Interconnects
• Solderability issues
• Overstress (mechanical shock, bending)
• Intermetallic formation
• Wearout (thermal cycling, vibration)

Who Should Attend:
This course is intended as an introductory- to intermediate-level course for board-level designers, component engineers, quality engineers, reliability engineers and their managers.

About the Instructor:

This course will teach the critical and practical elements of successfully transitioning a company’s products to lead free.

What You Will Learn:

• Component specification guidelines (lead finishes and tin whisker mitigation techniques)
• Lead-free alloys and tradeoffs
• PCB laminates for lead-free applications
• Best surface finishes for your application
• Assembly & rework conditions
• Reliability test strategies
• Failure analysis techniques
• Test acceptance criteria
• Supplier management

Completion of this course should prepare students for creating a comprehensive lead-free development plan for their own products.

About the Instructor:

Randy received his Ph.D. in materials science engineering from the University of Virginia in 1992 and then spent seven years at 3M leading a team in the development of numerous flex based IC packages. He then joined Extreme Devices (an Austin high tech start-up) where he spent four years as IC packaging and engineering director. Schueller moved to Dell in 2003 to assist in the lead-free transition of Dell products. As Sr. Manager of Dell’s component engineering and failure analysis groups, Schueller has spent the past 5 years at the forefront of successfully guiding Dell to lead-free on all their products, including class A servers. Schueller has 15 patents and has authored and presented over 30 papers for the electronics industry.

Suppliers, manufacturers and users will be in attendance at this conference. Your company can showcase its services and products as a tabletop exhibitor, or take advantage of one of the many sponsorship opportunities available for this conference.

View the list of available sponsorship opportunities here (.pdf) or contact Michelle Michelotti at +1 847-597-2822 or via e-mail at MichelleMichelotti@ipc.org.

Media Sponsors

We expect a strong turnout for the tabletop display area during the conference breaks and lunch on March 4, 2009. Don't miss out on this opportunity to reach your audience. Get pricing information and a tabletop application here (.pdf).

LOOKING FOR SAVINGS?

• Early Registration Discount — Register by February 9, 2009, and save an additional 10%
  

• Group Discount — Register three individuals from your company at the same time and receive the fourth registration FREE. (Note: The discount will apply to the lowest-cost registration.)