NIST HELPS MANUFACTURERS PREPARE FOR CONVERSION TO LEAD-FREE SOLDER.

U.S. electronics companies are facing the challenge of using an alternative to lead-tin solder in manufacturing. Japan and the European Union have issued a ban on lead in electronic equipment, which is scheduled to take effect in the next few years. Applying its expertise in materials processing, NIST is actively working with industry and university groups to develop a standard alloy that will serve as the alternative to lead-tin and ensure lead-free products by 2001.

A critical part of assembly, the solder serves as an interconnect, bonding components electrically and mechanically to the circuit board. The National Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (NEMI), a consortium of electronics equipment manufacturers, government agencies and universities, has chosen the tin/silver/copper alloy as the standard alternative to lead-tin. Data that led to the standard were provided by the NEMI Alloy Group, co-chaired by NIST. The group now is conducting manufacturing and reliability trials for lead-free circuit board assemblies.

NIST had been involved in earlier research on lead-free solder conducted by the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences. Various solders were classified by their behavioral properties, such as melting point and mechanical reliability under stressful conditions of heating and cooling on a circuit board. NIST led the development of the final project report.

Continuing its work with NEMI, NIST is developing a national lead-free electronics database, which will be available to the public. The database will contain information on the properties of the tin/silver/copper alloy and on other types of solder materials.

For more information about NIST's lead-free solder activities, contact Carol Handwerker, chief of the Metallurgy Division and co-chair of NEMI's Alloy Group, [phone], [e-mail].