Long Term Reliability Analysis of Lead Free and Halogen Free Electronic Assemblies

The New England Lead Free Consortium, composed of many companies in the electronic supply chain in the regional area and chaired by the author; has embarked on an extensive long term reliability study of lead-free and halogen free electronic assemblies. Specialized PCB’s were built, assembled and reworked at the consortium member companies using multiple types of laminates, PCB surface finishes and various component types including through-hole and surface mount technology. The assemblies were examined for visual characteristics and subsequently tested for reliability using temperature cycling as well as vibration testing. All rework, reliability tests, and evaluations have used or will be using industry standards, methods and techniques for easy reference to other long term reliability studies. The studies will include comparison to a baseline of leaded electronic assemblies. This paper will outline results obtained so far into the long term reliability study