FEATURES

• Cover Story
  Making the 'Centigrade'
  The inside story of how Motorola qualified a lead-free alloy.
  Vahid Goudarzi and Grahame Freeman

• New Packaging
  An Alternative PCB Architecture for High-Speed Chip-to-Chip Signal Transmission
  Think copper hits its wall at 10 Gbps? Think again. A novel chip package achieves 40 Gbps by routing high-speed signals through the top side.
  Joseph Fjelstad

• Quality Control
  Demystifying Six-Sigma
  Industrial processes have always demanded the utmost repeatability, to maximize yield within accepted quality limits. We reveal secrets of what machine specification sheets really mean, and how to read them.
  Bruce Brigham

• Reflow Soldering
  Nitrogen's Effect on Pb-free Soldering
  How and why the inert atmosphere lowers soldering temperatures, improves wetting and reducing voids.
  Paul Stratton

• Connector Finishes
  Potential for Whisker Formation in Pb-Free Electroplated Connector Finishes
  Of 20 lead-free electrodeposited connector finishes studied, a matte finish or bright pure tin over a nickel barrier were found to be least susceptibile to tin whiskering.
  B. Rickett, P. Elmgren, G. Flowers, S. Gale, and J. Suhling

• Testing and Analysis
  COTS Ruggedization Simplified
  How to be sure that off-the-shelf parts meet high-rel requirements.
  Linda Britt

• Outsourcing Models
  Defense and Aerospace Outsourcing Trends
  The must-have capabilities of the defense sector's EMS firms.
  Jeff Kaylor

FIRST PERSON

• Caveat Lector
  Better enjoy your spam.
  Mike Buetow

• Talking Heads
  Henkel's Pat Trippel.
  Mike Buetow

MONEY MATTERS

• Global Sourcing
  Verifying supplier capabilities.
  Don Payne

TECH TALK

• On the Forefront
  Calling the future.
  Ken Gilleo

• Screen Printing
  Common features affecting printer performance.
  Joe Belmonte

• Better Manufacturing
  RoHS: Obnoxious and noxious.
  Phil Zarrow

• Countdown to Lead-Free
  Complying with RoHS.
  Holly Evans and Joe Johnson

• Process Doctor
  Is surface contamination really a problem?
  Terry Munson

• Equipment Advances
  Siemens' Siplace X series.
  Tom Foley

• Technical Abstracts

DEPARTMENTS

Industry News
Market Watch
Assembly Insider
Ad Index
Product Spotlight
Classifieds

On the cover: Lead-free products cause a sea change. (© UP Media Group)