OPTIMIZATION OF HOT AIR SOLDER LEVELING (HASL) MACHINE FOR A ROBUST SURFACE FINISH IN SOLDERING APPLICATIONS

Abstract

Hot Air Solder Leveling (HASL) is one of the most commonly used surface finishes in the industry. HASL is also one of the least expensive types of PCB surface finishes available. This study aims to examine the influence on the solder joint microstructure of dipping time and solder temperature. During soldering process, the temperature that used were 300°C and 400°C. The dipping time was split into three batches which is 20s, 60s, and 100s. The Sn-0.7Cu-0.05Ni solder alloy was used in this analysis to shape the solder coating microstructure. In this analysis, an Optical Microscope (OM) was used to determine the microstructure of the shape of the solder coating microstructure. As dipping time and dipping speed increased, the interfacial IMC thickness was found to increase, grown up and getting thicker. This outcome results can be used as the basis in order to improve the solder joint properties.