PCB007 Magazine

PCB007-Aug2018

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78 PCB007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2018 "The science of today is the technology of tomorrow." This Edward Teller quote is an apt description of the Mina product. This ad- vanced surface treatment, recently developed to enable low-temperature soldering to alu- minum in the RFID market, is not only find- ing success in that market, but quickly finding a home in other markets, including the LED market, where the incentive is both cost and improved LED performance. I recently had the opportunity to speak with Divyakant Kadiwa- la, from Averatek, to discuss the development of Mina and potential applications for this sur- face treatment. The science behind the ability to solder to aluminum can be summarized as the battle against aluminum oxide. Removing the ox- ide is easy but keeping it from reforming is extremely hard in ambient conditions. De- velopment was focused on coming up with a surface treatment that removes this oxide at the correct temperature—the temperature at which solder reflows (Figure 1). This would ensure the formation of a strong bond be - tween the bare aluminum and molten solder as it cools down. This advanced surface treat- ment is enabling technology across more than one market. Mina: RFID, LED and What Else? Flex Talk by Tara Dunn, OMNI PCB Figure 1: LED performance improvement per 10°C drop in temperature. (Source: Averatek)

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