In the past, Jim Hisert has worked very closely with the semiconductor products as an applications engineer. But now, as the product specialist for the Semiconductor products and advanced assembly, I have been focusing on these products. Recently Jim asked me a few questions on our current semiconductor product line.
Jim: Years back, I knew just about everything there was for an Application Engineer to know about our semiconductor products. Lately I’ve been focusing on other products, as you may have noticed from my blog. Maria, please tell our readers a little bit about what you do at Indium Corporation and why it is important.
Maria: Jim, as the Product Specialist for our Semiconductor and Advanced Assembly Materials I serve as a technical liaison between Indium Corporation’s customers and internal departments, such as sales, technical support, R&D, and operations to ensure the best quality and selection of products. I also fulfill an important role as an interface between Indium Corporation and our equipment partners in the Semiconductor and Advanced Assembly market. In this role I perform several tasks including preforming experiments, gathering data, and writing papers.
Jim: I’ve noticed that you’ve spent a lot of time in the lab classifying new materials. You’re a step ahead of what is currently available, but what can you tell us about the new products that have come out since I was involved? I know that’s a very expansive question, so let’s narrow it down to ball-attach fluxes for the moment. What can you tell us?
Maria: Yes Jim, there have been several new products that have been released since I have come on board and since you have been involved. As for the ball-attach fluxes, the newest product that has been released is the WS-676. This product is a new, red, halogen-free, water-wash material that can be used in pin-transfer applications. Some key points about this new material are:
- It is easy to be cleaned using just warm DI water
- It has a stable viscosity over time which can also help lead to uniform pin-transfer over extended periods of time
- The distinctive red color aids with automated equipment including automated level-sensing and can help enhance visual inspection
Jim: While in the lab testing and classifying new materials such as the ball-attach fluxes, has there been any new testing and classifications that you have been doing?
Maria: I have been doing some additional testing on our ball-attach fluxes. In addition to testing the stability of the material over time, and the solderability of the fluxes on various surfaces, I have now started testing the solderability of preconditioned surfaces. By testing a preconditioned surface you are testing a surface that is more representative of a real-life application, which may include a number of bakes and reflows and which may have been exposed to other chemicals, such as a cleaner. Also, with the ball-attach application, some customers do a two-step process to apply the flux including a cleaning of the surface first. If the flux works well on a preconditioned surface then a customer may be able to eliminate the cleaning step and have a one-step process. With this preconditioning I am testing both our existing, and the new up and coming, products for ball-attach.
Jim: Thank you Maria.