Lead-free Solder Alternative Interconnect Material

The purpose of this work is to characterize the environmental performance of a novel anisotropic conductive adhesive for the assembly of electronic components for military and aerospace markets. Electronic components that are attached to printed circuit board substrates using the anisotropic conductive adhesive will be subjected to thermally induced stress as well as steady state high temperature and humidity conditions. Results of these tests will be compared to the environmental performance of devices attached to an identical printed circuit board substrate using eutectic solder. The outcome of the study will provide a direct comparison of the environmental performance results of the novel epoxy attachment to the performance of a standard eutectic solder attachment. BENEFIT: The anticipated benifits of the study are the development and characterization of a low cost, novel, tin and lead free solder replacement. The material has the potential to be a suitable replacement for lead based solder formulations in many applications in the military, commercial, medical and aerospace industries.