Cleaning and Reliability Workshop

Presented by

Over the past twenty years, the electronic manufacturing industry has seen cleaning (defluxing) become more necessary and more challenging. Never before, has the removal of contamination from circuit assemblies been so important to a product's overall reliability. Increasing component and assembly densities, decreasing standoff heights, higher reflow temperatures, and increased reliability expectations have created a "perfect storm" that is driving manufacturers to seek cleaning solutions.

Experts in cleaning equipment, cleaning chemicals, soldering materials, conformal coating, and failure analysis will present the latest best-practice, technically relevant information from their field of expertise. 

Join us in Marlborough, MA for a free one-day Cleaning and Reliability workshop. 

This workshop will be presented free of charge. A continental breakfast and lunch will be provided. Seating is limited and this event will "sell-out" so reserve your seat today.

A G E N D A

8:00 AM - 8:45 AM
Registration, Continental Breakfast, Networking 

8:45 AM - 9:00 AM
Welcome - Introduction of speakers - Agenda  

9:00 AM - 10:15 AM
Michael Konrad 
President
Aqueous Technologies
Michael Konrad will speak on the subject of modern contamination-related failures including electrical leakage, dendritic growth, and white residues and the resulting "Rush to Clean No-Clean".
Abstract: Once commonplace, then relegated to military and other high reliability applications, today, defluxing has once again moved toward the mainstream.  
The miniaturization of electronic assemblies and their components, implementation of lead-free alloys, combined with improved quality standards and higher reliability expectations have culminated to form a growing demand for ionicly clean electronic circuits. This paper will review the major causes of residue-related failures including dendritic growth, electrical leakage, and under-coating adhesion failures.  Why we clean and what we are removing, and how clean is clean will be presented. A cleaning equipment “roadmap” will be presented and will review various cleaning processes, modern equipment requirements, and environmental considerations. A review of conventional and non-conventional cleanliness testing techniques will be presented as well as a review of the common question, "How Clean is Clean?".

10:15 AM - 10:35 AM
Break

10:35 AM - 11:35 AM
John Travis
Nordson Dage
Title: Showing You Things You Can't See and Doing More With What You Can See
Abstract:  As the demands of  PCB and Micro Electronics increase because of higher density, smaller components and complex electronic structures, the need to be able to inspect these devices both Optically and with X-ray continues to increase.  Early detection and accurate analysis tools are absolutely necessary.  It is critical that the latest technology be applied to these vital processes. Nordson Inspection Products will discuss the various ways to identify errors and trouble shoot completed assemblies to help efficiencies in production and perform failure analysis on completed assemblies.  Through the application of a combination of the multiple light sources in the Optical Inspection process and the latest in X-ray technology we will discuss the options available for early detection of errors and identification of failures in both PCB and Micro Electronics.

11:35 AM - 12:30 PM
Lunch 

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
Debbie Carboni
Kyzen Corporation
Title: Cleaning technology Innovations Needed to Clean Highly Dense Assemblies
Abstract: As highly dense circuit assemblies continue to advance at a rapid pace, the removal of process residues is ever more necessary. Low residue no-clean residues did not require cleaning on assemblies with larger spacing between conductors. As the distance between conductors narrow, residues under component gaps pose a reliability risk. Additionally, the transition to lead-free alloys with tighter component densities requires flux residue innovations that can withstand higher reflow temperatures. Traditional cleaning agents and cleaning equipment may not be able to remove these harder to clean flux residues from extremely small geometries. Increased circuit functionality is accomplished using bottom termination surface mount components. As components reduce in size, the distance from the board to the underside of the component reduces. Flux residues bridge conductors making cleaning highly difficult. One of the most challenging issues is the selection of an appropriate cleaning process that will clean flux residues under these extremely tight geometries. Cleaning agents must be designed to remove strong covalent (hydrophobic) and weak ion (hydrophilic) bonds. Cleaning machines must be designed to move the cleaning agent to the source of the residue and either extract or create a flow channel to remove residues under component gaps. Recent solvent and aqueous cleaning agent and cleaning equipment innovations have been developed to bridge this gap. To achieve the process objective, cleaning agent and cleaning equipment suppliers collaborate with assemblers to develop improved cleaning processes.

1:30 PM - 1:45 PM
Break 

1:45 PM - 2:45 PM
Tony Lentz
FCT Assembly
Title: Can Nano Coatings Really Improve Stencil Performance?
Abstract:  The trajectory of electronic design and its associated miniaturization shows no signs of altering course. Surface Mount Technology will require innovative materials and processes to stay in lockstep with other segments of the electronics industry. Nano Coatings have been introduced by various manufacturers, with the promise of addressing some of the challenges relative to solder paste printing. Stated benefits include: Reduced underside cleaning, reduced bridging, improved solder paste release and improvements in yield. With several Nano technologies already on the market and more likely to be introduced, how can the performance be quantified? How robust are these coatings? How can an assembler approach the ROI of these coatings? What hidden benefits or negative impacts should be considered? This paper will present for the first time, a rigorous method for evaluating the performance and economic benefits of solder paste stencil Nano Coatings. Criterion such as underside cleaning, bridging, transfer efficiency across SARs, solder paste deposit geometry, post-print cleaning, abrasion resistance of the coating, will all be considered and weighted. Performance of currently available coatings will be compared. A discussion of the economic impact on current and future SMT design will be included.

2:45 PM - 3:45 PM
Don De Angelo 
VP Corporate Accounts
Heller Industries 
Title: Reducing Electrical and Nitrogen Costs in EXISTING Reflow ovens 
Abstract: There are thousands of machines in the field that are up to 10 years old from a wide variety of oven vendors.  There is NO NEED to buy new ovens. All of these machines can benefit from techniques of electrical and nitrogen reduction that have been developed over the years. This seminar will describe how to reduce the Energy consumption, Nitrogen Consumption and Cost of ownership of ANY Manufacturer’s Reflow oven in the field.

3:45 PM
Adjourn