Dr. Michael Osterman Presents the Keynote Address at SMTA Capital Expo

SMTA held the Capital Expo & Tech Forum in Manassas, Virginia, on March 7th, 2024. The event featured nearly 20 exhibitors. It included Technical Presentations by Denis Barbini, Ph.D., from ZESTRON, and Kunal Shah, Ph.D., from Lilotree. Dr. Michael Osterman delivered the keynote presentation on "Criteria for Solder Alloy Adoption" on the significance of solders in modern electronic systems and their crucial role in printed circuit board assemblies.

Abstract:

Solder is a critical component in modern electronic systems. While solder is used within packaged electrical devices, the largest volume of solder is used for high volume printed circuit board assemblies. While tin-lead solder was the dominant solder for decades, tin-silver- copper solder replaced tin-lead solder after EU, Chinese, and other regulations banned lead for most electronic products starting in 2006. Despite the successful transition to tin-silver-copper lead-free solder, with over fifteen years of lead-free electronic production and reliable use, some aerospace and defense companies have not converted at all to tin-silver-copper or other lead-free solder over continuing reliability concerns, while others have. Since reliability is a concern for all product manufacturers and end-users, this begs the question: what has convinced industries that are currently designing, building, and using lead-free assemblies that the reliability was sufficient and what is keeping the remaining defense and aerospace electronic equipment manufacturers from adopting lead-free solder? This presentation will provide an overview of the DoD Solder Reliability and Assurance Project which is task to provide a solder agnostic process for adoption of solder into DoD platforms and equipment. The presentation will cover the performance specification, handbook for identifying viable solders, as well as the test plan for generating data need to quantify life expectancy of viable solders under field conditions.

Michael Osterman is a research scientist, operations director for the Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering, and a co-lead for the DOD-sponsored Solder Performance and Reliability Assurance Project. Dr. Osterman leads the development of the CALCE simulation-assisted reliability assessment (SARA) software for electronics. His research interests include corrosion, solder interconnect reliability, tin whiskers, failure analysis methods, simulation-based methods, and information requirements for assessing the life expectancies of electronic hardware. He has written various book chapters and over 150 articles in the area of electronic packaging. Dr. Osterman is a member of ASME and SMTA, and a senior member of IEEE.

For more information, contact Dr. Michael David Osterman.

Published March 8, 2024