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Agere Systems claims lead free find
Agere Systems have announced from its UK office that its engineers have found the right mix of packaging ingredients to enable the semiconductor industry to successfully implement lead-free packaging. The company's states that research found a tin-nickel combination in semiconductor packaging mitigates "tin whisker" problem and improves long-term reliability of lead-free devices. To solve the problem, Agere added a layer of nickel between the layers of tin and copper and discovered that tin whisker growth was mitigated in that scenario.
Agere Systems have announced from its UK office that its engineers have found the right mix of packaging ingredients to enable the semiconductor industry to successfully implement lead-free packaging. The company's states that research found a tin-nickel combination in semiconductor packaging mitigates "tin whisker" problem and improves long-term reliability of lead-free devices. To solve the problem, Agere added a layer of nickel between the layers of tin and copper and discovered that tin whisker growth was mitigated in that scenario.
Lead-free semiconductor packaging is being required by the European Union in just over a year, but will be implemented globally in nearly every semiconductor package produced.