Printed wiring board fabrication and lead elimination via single-bath electrodeposition
Printed wiring board (PWB) fabrication, an operation performed both at LLNL and throughout the electronics industry, generates considerable quantities of hazardous waste, notably lead-bearing materials used for soldering, tinning, and finish coating the circuits of the board. Hot-air solder leveling (HASL), the most common method of finishing is one of the main sources of hazardous lead-bearing wastes in traditional PWB manufacturing. The development of a safer finishing method will lead to employee health and environmental benefits. In addition, there is a production advantage to eliminating HASL, for it provides a fairly uneven surface that is problematic for mounting very small components. In this project, we developed ''single-bath electroplating'' as a potential HASL replacement technology for many applications. Single-bath electroplating involves alternating deposition of one or the other metal component of a bimetal bath, through control of plating potential and mass transport. It employs a nickel layer as both etch resist and finish coat and has the potential for lowering environmental and human-health risks associated with PWB manufacture--while at the same time reconfiguring the process for greater efficiency and profitability.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- US Department of Energy (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 15005413
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-ID-142542; TRN: US200322%%423
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 21 Feb 2001
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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