The purpose of this paper is to discuss the design, materials, and assembly process aspects of a study, conducted by The High Density Packaging Users Group Consortium, into process development and solder joint reliability of high‐density packages on printed circuit boards using a low‐melting temperature lead‐free solder (Sn‐57 wt%Bi‐1 wt%Ag).
The components studied include several SMT package types and various lead configurations. The assembly process addresses the low‐temperature lead‐free assembly process, inspection and analysis of these boards and packages.
It was found that, the assembly process of the SnBiAg lead‐free test boards is very robust and the assembly yield is almost 100 percent.
The paper is of value by presenting a description of the rationale and material set used for an experiment to test SMT assembly and reliability characteristics using the 57Bi‐42Sn‐1Ag alloy, which has a melting point of 139°C.
