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The Knowledge and Know-how Connection
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May 21, 2012
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More Related Programs »
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Technology to Measure Oxidation Levels
Does technology to measure the level of oxidation on SMT pads exist? Can you quantify or categorize oxidation levels?
Does technology to measure the level of oxidation on surface mount pads exist?
If not, can you suggest a way to quantify or categorize oxidation levels on surface mount pads?
A. D.
Expert's Panel Responses
Yes. We use an instrument from ECI Technology to measure oxidation on certain types of surface finishes. The technology is called Sequential Electrochemical Reduction Analysis or SERA. SERA can be used to measure oxidation levels on copper and solders, immersion tin, etc.
It will report a thickness value in Angstroms, and it will also report the presence of intermetallic oxides in tin/copper mixtures. We use this piece of equipment to correlate oxidation levels to artificial ageing of different surface finishes. ECI Technologies website.
I hope this helps.
Mike Scimeca
President, FCT Assembly
Mike Scimeca created FCT Assembly after the purchase of Fine Line Stencil, Inc., and consists of two major operations: stencil manufacturing and the manufacturing of electronic assembly products such as solder paste, flux and solder bar.
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There are several companies that specialize in Solderability Testing. I think that would be a better place to start.
Edward Zamborsky
Regional Sales Manager, OK International Inc.
Mr. Zamborsky serves as one of OK's technology advisers to the Product Development group. Ed has authored articles and papers on topics such as; Low Volume SMT Assembly, Solder Fume Extraction, SMT Rework, BGA Rework, Lead Free Hand Soldering, Lead Free Visual Inspection and Lead Free Array Rework.
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The answer is the use of a Wetting Balance Tester to determine the wet ability of the surface mount leads. The technical term is a meniscograph which measure the time to wet and max force in a graphical basis.
There are companies which provide this service or you can purchase the machine.
Mark McMeen
VP Engineering Services, STI Electronics Inc.
Mark T. McMeen is STI Electronics Inc.ʼs Vice President of Engineering Services. He oversees the daily operations of the Engineering Services division of STI. He has over 18 years experience in the manufacturing and engineering of PCBs.
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Use the form below to submit a comment.
There are limitations on the size and configuration of surfaces that can be tested, and a knowledgeable analyst is required to interpret the results.
For production testing, a more functional test is often used, that is, an actual soldering test. Bear in mind that a functional test has the advantage of being a direct indication of the effect on soldering performance, but has the disadvantage that it does not point to root cause. The analytical technique (SERA) has the advantage of pointing to root cause, but at the cost of not providing any direct information on how actual production soldering will be impacted.
Fritz Byle, Astronautics Corp.