THE EFFECT OF VOID FORMATION ON THE RELIABILITY OF ED-XRF MEASUREMENTS IN LEAD-FREE REFLOW SOLDERING

In lead-free reflow soldering, the presence of voids should be taken into account. For this reason, the effect of the applied heating profiles was examined via the characterization of voids in galvanic and immersion Sn coatings. According to EU Directive 2002/95/EC, the screening of Pb element of reflow soldering (i.e. of electrical and electronic equipment) is necessary; and the practical implementation of this measurement is largely affected by the characteristics of the solder (i.e. the presence of voids and the inhomogeneity of the solder). Comparing the results of the above two coating methods, it was found that by chemical coating more voids were formed and the detected lead content was higher than for galvanic Sn. The standard deviation of Ag and Cu concentrations was mainly influenced by the appearance of large compounds in the second case, while with chemical coating, no large compounds were formed due to the elevated number of voids.