Lambda Technologies Announces Qualification of New Materials for Variable Frequency Microwave Oven Curing

Lambda Technologies has announced that Thermoset, Lord Chemical Products, has qualified two of its electronics assembly materials for curing by Lambda Technologies' Variable Frequency Microwave (VFM) technology. The qualified materials, CircuitSAF™ MD-140 and ME-526, are recent additions to Thermoset's line of advanced circuit assembly materials. Lambda Technologies' VFM process significantly reduces curing times for Thermoset's CircuitSAF ME-526, a fast-flow encapsulant for flip chip underfill. When cured according to the Thermoset-specified VFM profile, a 10 cm sq. die with ME-526 underfill cures completely in three minutes, which is ten times faster than comparable convection oven technology at 150 degrees C. CircuitSAF MD-140 is a silver-filled, thermally conductive adhesive used for die attach applications. The low-stress, snap-cure adhesive cures quickly and thoroughly with VFM technology. A VFM oven cures the adhesive in sixty seconds, three to five times faster than traditional oven technology at 150 degrees C. "We are very pleased that Thermoset has taken the initiative to qualify new materials for our VFM technology, and to publish their results on their product datasheets," said Dick Garard, president, Lambda Technologies. "It is further confirmation that VFM provides the fastest curing available for a wide range of materials." Lambda Technologies' patented VFM technology allows significantly faster curing of standard, off-the-shelf, polymeric adhesives used to encapsulate electronic components or attach them to circuit boards, without the hot spots and arcing of conventional microwave technology. Arcing is the result of excessive charge build-up in metallic materials in the presence of standing wave patterns. With VFM, the electric fields are electronically stirred by sweeping through 4,096 different frequencies every tenth of a second. This prevents the microwave energy from being focused on any given location long enough to create the charge build-up that leads to arcing.