Excimer laser soldering for fine pitch surface mount assembly Available to Purchase

Laser soldering is a reflow soldering technique in which the heat energy required for reflowing the solder is supplied from a laser beam. Both CO₂ and Nd-YAG lasers have been widely investigated and already applied in the electronic industry for soldering. In this paper, the feasibility of using a KrF excimer laser for soldering a surface mount component (VQFP64) onto a printed circuit board is discussed. The joint produced by this technique is compared with those formed by conventional soldering processes such as wave and IR-reflow. A process parameter window for KrF excimer laser soldering was mapped and the results showed that this technique can produce good quality solder joint and can greatly reduce the cycle time for soldering fine pitch component. The results also indicated that KrF excimer laser soldering can be a potential soldering alternative to conventional, CO₂ and Nd-YAG laser soldering processes in electronic assembly, especially for fine pitch surface mount assembly.