On October 21, 2000 the European Union (EU) published the End of Life Vehicles Directive.  This Directive took effect on July 1, 2002 and although there are some exceptions to this legislation, the directive effectively bans certain hazardous substances in the manufacture of vehicles. Consequently the Department of Trade and Industry in the United Kingdom had these substances added to the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive as it applies to the “Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment” (WEEE).  The EU published RoHS on February 13, 2003 with an effective date of July 1, 2006.  The banned substances are listed below for reference.

• Lead,
• Mercury,
• Cadmium,
• hexavalent chromium,
• polybrominated biphenyls (PBB's),
• polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE's)

Our industry has utilized tin/lead as a surface finish / assembly medium since the inception of printed circuit board manufacturing creating a need to “get the lead out”.  This was simpler said than done as many of our accounts have come to realize.  Understanding the RoHS and WEEE directives, compliant processing, and developing an effective strategy for compliance led to the development of a seminar for “lead free” processing.  These seminars were hosted by Insulectro and Isola and presented in Northern and Southern California, Minneapolis, Chicago, and New Hampshire during the months of May and June to excellent reviews by the attendees.  PCB manufacturers, OEMs, PCB assemblers, and designers attended the conferences in an effort to better understand RoHS and the pit falls of compliance.  

Tarun Amla, VP and Chief Technology Officer, Isola and Rich Pangier, Director of OEM Marketing, Isola spearheaded the presentations and were ably assisted by Sean Mirshafiei, Isola and Chris Hunrath, Focus Tech® Group.  Aside from the review of the RoHS directive, the seminar focused on the need for thermal reliability of the base resin systems allowing them to withstand the increased assembly temperatures of the Lead Free alloys now being implemented.  Increased assembly temperatures of 30 to 40 degrees Centigrade are common stressing many of the most common epoxy systems to failure.  Isola’s IS410, FR408, and IS620 were profiled as examples of the technologies necessary to provide lead free process able systems while maintaining the signal integrity attributes required in the newer designs.

In addition, Chris Hunrath of Insulectro’s Focus Tech® Group, expanded on the need for robust lamination bonding in oxide, through hole plating, and finally efficient lead free surface treatments.  Atotech’s chemistries such as Secure oxide treatment, Printoganth PV, and Aurotech ENIG were profiled as examples of the process attributes necessary to meet this challenging environment.

Insulectro would like to thank our presenters and their companies on their tireless efforts to develop this presentation as well as the hours of work required to follow up on all the questions and action items received from our attendees. 

Information presented on the above Lead Free resin systems can be found at Isola-usa.com or if you prefer please feel free to contact your local Insulectro representative.