Solder Paste Printing: An In-Depth Look

Objectives of This Course
The screen printing process is one of the key processes in surface mount technology that controls manufacturing yield. There are many conflicting requirements when one is dealing with mixed technologies with standard SMT, fine pitch, BGA and through hole on the same board. The objective of this course is to identify the technical issues in solder paste and printing process for BGA and fine pitch and through hole technology that one must understand in order to troubleshoot printing problems. Based on Ray's Textbook Surface Mount Technology: Principles and Practice, this course provides an in-depth look at various printing parameters that control print quality and overall SMT yield.

What You Will Learn
After completing this course you will be able to:
* Understand key issues in paste and its application
* Improve assembly yields in manufacturing
* Select the right solder paste and printer for your application
* Understand the key variable in paste print process
* Troubleshoot SMT, BGA, fine pitch and through hole paste printing problems
* Develop the right profile for the solder paste

Topics
* Solder paste properties (Composition, metal content, particle size and shape, rheology)
* Solder paste printing requirements
* Types of printers and their selection
* Solder paste printing processes (screen, stencil and dispensing)
* Types of stencils (chem-etch, laser and electroformed) and their advantages/disadvantage
* Types of squeegees, their advantages and disadvantages
* Paste printing defects
* Paste printing variables
* Putting it all together (Printing for SMT, BAG and Through hole)
* Developing reflow profile for the paste

Who Should Attend
Anyone in management, engineering, purchasing, design, process, quality and manufacturing who is working with SMT, fine pitch and BGA or plans to get into it in the future will benefit from this in-depth course on paste printing technologies. Managers will gain insight into the details of managing the vendor issues related to paste and printers, capital requirements and the engineers will learn technical details of paste and printing variables in order to troubleshoot manufacturing problems.

Current Job Description

In his consulting practice, Mr. Ray Prasad provides SMT solutions for management action. This includes SMT/RoHS/BGA/BTC assembly vendor selection and qualification, expert witness in legal matters, technical assessment for merger and acquisition and workshops in all aspects of SMT, fine pitch, BTC and BGA. He also helps companies build self-sustaining infrastructure in areas such as in-house engineering and operator training, process improvement and equipment selection and evaluation.

About the Instructor

Previous Work History

Mr. Prasad has helped many clients successfully implement SMT/BGA/BTC (Surface Mount Technology/Ball Grid Arrays/Bottom Termination Components) and improve their manufacturing yield. He has developed extensive on-site training for all organizational levels and has provided technical expertise in legal disputes.

Before starting his consulting practice in 1994, Mr. Prasad held key technology positions at Boeing and Intel for 15 years. He was the SMT Program Manager at Intel responsible for developing and implementing SMT for the system products. He also developed and taught DFM and SMT manufacturing courses to Intel engineers. He also managed the Intel PentiumProTM package program for Intel and introducing SMT into Boeing airplanes when he served as a lead engineer at that company.

Awards/Associations

Mr. Prasad is the recipient of SMTA's Member of Distinction Award and IPC President's award for his contribution to the advancement of electronics industry and recipient of Intel's highest award - Intel Achievement Award.

Publications/Patents

Author of the text book Surface Mount Technology: Principles and Practice published by Walter Kluwer Academic Publishers and over 100 papers, Mr. Prasad holds two patents in BGA and is a popular workshop leader for in depth SMT, BTC, BGA/CSP and Lead free professional courses at national and international conferences and in major OEM and EMS companies.

A long time member of IPC, he is currently the chairman of BGA committee IPC-7095 "Design and Assembly Process Implementation for BGA". He is also the Co-Chairman of IPC-7093 "Design and Assembly Process Implementation for Bottom Terminations surface mount Components (BTCs) such as QFN, DFN and MLF. Ray is the past chairman of the Surface Mount Land Pattern (IPC-SM-782, now IPC 7351) and Package Cracking (J-STD-020) committees.

He is a columnist for the SMT magazine and also serves on its advisory board.