I think both you and Vladimir are correct. If the bond Ingemar, I think both you and Vladimir are correct. If the bond sits are room temperature without any power cycling or mechanical stress it probably won't degrade. I assume Vladimir has seen the same kinds of failures I've seen and there has always been a thermal and/or mechanical stress associated with the failures. Regards, George George M. Wenger Andrew Wireless Solutions Senior Principal FMA / Reliability Engineer 40 Technology Drive, Warren, NJ 07059 (908) 546-4531 [Office] (732) 309-8964 [Cell] [log in to unmask] -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Inge Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 5:15 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] Gold/Tin Intermetallics, why are we afraid? You mean that such a bond degrades even if just being in constant room temperature and no power switching? Inge ----- Original Message ----- From: <[log in to unmask]> To: "TechNet E-Mail Forum" <[log in to unmask]>; "Inge" <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 11:07 PM Subject: Re: [TN] Gold/Tin Intermetallics, why are we afraid? > Hi Inge, > > Yes, the intermetallics itself is strong, BUT it doesn't count, as all > failures I've seen goes at the tin/intermetallics interface. The larger > were the platelets, the worse it looked. > > Regards, > > Vladimir > ------Original Message------ > From: Inge > Sender: TechNet > To: [log in to unmask] > ReplyTo: TechNet E-Mail Forum > ReplyTo: Inge > Sent: Apr 14, 2009 16:55 > Subject: [TN] Gold/Tin Intermetallics, why are we afraid? > > These infamous IMCs are like parias or ghosts in most people's mind in our > business. I shocked our production guys recently by giving the advice to > let > the boards go on. Large crystals and bad looking. But I always try to > avoid > exaggerations. If no serious temp changes are predicted, nor any severe > power switching, why rework and risk introducing failures? The actual > components were very hard to rework, the cost had been unacceptable. I can > see many of you get the coffee wrong. I don't mean to spread quality > distractions, I talk about very few boards and a unique situation. My > statement was based on the fact that a gold tin intermetallic bond is > extremly strong and can last long, if not exposed to what I pointed at > earlier. I expect to be hammered down in the shop floor until only the > nose > is visible.... > > Inge > > --------------------------------------------------- > Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 > To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in > the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet > To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to > [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) > To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to > [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest > Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives > Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 > for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or > 847-615-7100 ext.2815 > ----------------------------------------------------- > > > > SENTEC > 11 Canadian Road, Unit 7. > Scarborough, ON M1R 5G1 > Tel: (416) 899-1882 > Fax: (905) 882-8812 > www.sentec.ca > --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ----------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This message is for the designated recipient only and may contain privileged, proprietary, or otherwise private information. 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