Indium Corporation’s Knowledge Showcased at SMTAI

Three of Indium Corporation’s esteemed colleagues will share their industry knowledge and expertise during four presentations at SMTA International from Nov. 1-4 in Minneapolis, Minn. The show will also feature a virtual conference, beginning on Nov. 15.

The following technical presentations will be featured:

With increased electrification of automotive platforms, the complexities imposed by these systems—higher voltages, higher power components, longer hours of operation, and higher temperatures—on the solder materials used in their construction is only going to increase. It is critical that these materials are able to deliver high thermal reliability with a capability for wide service temperatures. In A Novel Bismuth and Antimony Containing Lead-Free Solder with Enhanced Thermal Reliability for Automotive and LED Applications, Jie Geng, Ph.D., research metallurgist, will discuss Indium Corporation’s Indalloy^®292, a high-reliability lead-free solder alloy that delivers excellent thermal cycling performance at -40/150^°C conditions, high shear strength, and low solder joint cracking.

Modern electronics require an extremely large number of circuits to perform their many impressive feats. For example, a modern smartphone can have several billion logic circuits in the main microprocessor. This circuit density creates a significant amount of heat that must be dissipated. If the heat is not adequately dissipated, the life expectancy and performance of the circuits are significantly reduced. A revolution in thermal interface materials and designs has been a result of this necessary heat transfer. In High Performance Liquid Metal Thermal Interface Materials, Ron Lasky, Ph.D., PE, senior technologist, will discuss the progress in this important field.

Throughout the development of statistical analysis techniques, having a large sample size was almost always an unfulfilled dream. Today, however, sample sizes of well over 10,000 are common in stencil printing transfer efficiency experiments, leading even tiny differences in the means to become statistically significant. In Statistical Analysis of Transfer Efficiency in the Age of Very Large Sample Sizes, Dr. Lasky will discuss the concept of practical significance verses statistical significance, as well as new software and statistics that can be used in evaluations.

The semiconductor industry is quickly adopting heterogeneous integration as a solution to allow a large number of dies to be packed onto smaller components, improving cost-performance while expanding functionality. As such, the printing of solder paste formulated for System-in-Package (SiP) applications is becoming more difficult, with many depositions designed at one point as extremes during testing becoming the norm in high-volume manufacturing. In Evolution and Applications of Fine-Feature Solder Paste Printing for Heterogeneous Integration, Evan Griffith, product specialist, will discuss the evolution of soldering material for heterogeneous integration as well as how the pertinent printing parameters have changed. Some aspects of solder paste manufacturing—such as powder size—differ significantly from standard SMT printing applications, and this presentation will illustrate these critical parameters for the printing of SiP paste. Additional parameters that are important for SiP paste printing applications that will be discussed include flux vehicle selection, paste rheology, and solder paste inspection.

Dr. Geng is a research metallurgist in the Research & Development (R&D) Department at Indium Corporation. In his role, he focuses on the development of novel lead-free, high-reliability solder alloys for automotive applications. He also investigates the assembly process technologies in electronic packaging and interconnections. He received his Ph.D. in metallurgy from University of Surrey in the United Kingdom. He has extensive experience in materials selection, design, processing, and characterization. Dr. Geng is skilled in combinatorial and high-throughput material design using 3D printing and computer programming with Python. He has had more than 30 journal articles published. He is also a Certified SMT Process Engineer.

Dr. Lasky is a senior technologist at Indium Corporation, as well as a professor of engineering and the director of the Lean Six Sigma program at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., U.S. He has more than 30 years of experience in electronics and optoelectronics packaging at IBM, Universal Instruments, and Cookson Electronics. Dr. Lasky has authored six books, and contributed to nine more, on science, electronics, and optoelectronics, and has authored numerous technical papers. Additionally, he has served as an adjunct professor at several colleges, teaching more than 20 different courses on topics ranging from electronics packaging, materials science, physics, mechanical engineering, and science and religion. Dr. Lasky holds numerous patent disclosures and is the developer of several SMT processing software products related to cost estimating, line balancing, and process optimization. He is the co-creator of Surface Mount Technology Association’s (SMTA) SMT Process Engineering Certification program and exams that set standards in the electronics assembly industry worldwide. Dr. Lasky was awarded the Surface Mount Technology Association’s (SMTA) Technical Distinction Award in 2021 for his “significant and continuing technical contributions to the SMTA.” He was also awarded SMTA’s prestigious Founder’s Award in 2003.

Griffith is a product specialist for SEMI/SAAM fluxes and SiPaste^® materials. He is based at Indium Corporation’s global headquarters. He is responsible for researching and analyzing customer and market data, and facilitating current and prospective customers’ needs. Additionally, he supports customers’ enquiries, internal product trainings, and works closely with Indium Corporation’s R&D team on new applications. He earned his bachelor’s of engineering degree in materials science, graduating with honors, and his master’s of engineering management degree from the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H., U.S. He has also earned his Six Sigma Green Belt.