Today's Vapor Phase Soldering

An Optimized Reflow Technology for Lead Free Soldering

Dipl.-Ing. Helmut Leicht; Andreas Thumm
IBL-Löttechnik GmbH
www.ibl-loettechnik.de,
Germany

ABSTRACT the process of choice in reflow soldering as it provided the

easiest way of heat transfer for the newly developed SMD
In the beginning of SMT, Vapor Phase Soldering was the technique. The soldering of SMT boards was very
preferred reflow soldering technology because of its convenient when using Vapor Phase because of its excellent
excellent heat transfer capabilities. There were also some heat transfer capabilities. The vapor phase ovens were pretty
disadvantages like fast temperature rise, nearly no influence long and heavy though. The boards were going through the
on the temperature profiles and high costs. So the use of different heat levels inline with a constant speed. The ovens
Vapor Phase Soldering was reduced to special applications were consuming large amounts of gas and liquids that in
with high mass or complex boards in low numbers (e.g. for addition were critical to the environment. The industry was
military or aerospace use). working on alternative solutions and with the ban of CFC,
IR and convection became popular. After that, the use of
Over the last years a new Vapor Phase procedure and new vapor phase was limited to difficult solder jobs with heavy
machines were developed. So Vapor Phase Soldering now mass components or boards with a mix of high and low
offers new features for soldering, especially helpful when masses.
changing to lead free soldering. The main advantages of a Only a few engineers were realizing the big potential of
state of the art vapor phase system are low process vapor phase and developed new technologies, equipment
temperatures, freely adjustable temperature gradients and and liquids.
profiles, automatically controlled time above liquidus and a
perfect automatic inert gas atmosphere. 1.2 TEMPERATURES
To ensure good quality solder joints and areas, a vapor
Soldering always means to heat up everything good enough phase oven provides temperatures just above the melting
that soldering can be accomplished even on sockets or large point of the solder alloy used for production.
BGAs but at the same time to be sure that nothing is
overheated or delaminated. So especially for lead free Leaded solder was the standard for almost all electronic
soldering the process window becomes pretty small. With SMD soldering in the past. This solder was eutectic and had
Vapor Phase Soldering even FR4 boards, double sided a sharp melting point at 183°C (361°F). The materials for
densely packed, can be soldered reliable and with no danger the PCBs, the plastics for the components and the equipment
of overheating since the maximum board temperature is were meeting the requirements of the leaded solder process
physically limited to the vapor temperature (e.g. 230°C for pretty well due to the large experience over a long period.
lead-free SnAgCu). The process windows were big enough to provide a
sufficient soldering result with acceptable thermal stress to
Because of its perfect inert gas atmosphere the wetting with the electronic parts.
lead free solder paste, is almost as good as with leaded In a vapor phase process, typically a fluid with a boiling
solder alloys. Latest developments in vapor phase soldering point of 200°C (392°F) was used and thus induced lower
technology provide a combination of Vapor Phase and thermal stress in comparison to the convection process.
vacuum soldering to get void free solder joints. This vacuum
soldering technology becomes increasingly important since
more and more power electronics need to be soldered on
Air at 50-80°C
SMT boards.

The advantages of the Vapor Phase heat transfer in

combination with new machines and options offer an Vapor at 200°C
excellent tool for easy and defect free reflow soldering,
independent whether lead free or leaded solders are used.
Fluid at 200°C
1. HISTORY OF VAPOR PHASE
1.1 MACHINES Vapor Phase temperatures for
The procedure was invented by Dr. Pfahl at Western leaded soldering
Electric in 1974. Vapor Phase was widely used in the
industry of the early Eighties. Vapor Phase soldering was The conventional soldering process became critical with the
ban of lead and other potentially hazardous substances with The substrates used for PCB boards have not significantly
the introduction of RoHS. The industry was forced to changed. FR4, an epoxy compound, is the main board
change over to new solder alloys, which in general have substrate used in single and multilayer designs. These
significantly higher melting points. Because of various substrates are heat sensitive and tend to delaminations on
patents on these new solder pastes, the lead free solder higher temperatures. As with other failures in electronic
alloys were not creating one single new standard. Thus the manufacturing such delaminations are difficult to detect
use of different mixtures with different melting points with standard inspection systems. With such defects, the
became the situation of today. The most common lead free electronic units might function right after production, but
solder is SnAgCu such as SAC305. The melting point is fail after a short period. Vibrations and temperature
between 217°C (423°F) and 221°C (430°F). In a vapor variations further increase the failure ratio.
phase system such solder pastes are processed with peak The plastics used for bodies, housings and in many
temperatures of 230°C (446°F). substrates show similar thermal problems. The set up of
Another widely used solder is the cheaper SnCu solder alloy components also did not change much during the transition
with a melting point of 227°C (440°F). In vapor phase the to lead free soldering.
use of a fluid with a boiling temperature of 240°C (464°F) Electronic components in general are getting more powerful
was recommended. on the one hand, and smaller in size on the other. They need
Following the request of various companies to limit the higher accuracy in all assembly processes like solder
maximum temperatures to 235°C (455°F), as mentioned in printing, placement etc. In addition it holds true that the
IPC standards, a smooth soldering liquid with a boiling smaller the components, the more expensive they are to
temperature of 235°C was introduced. check. Soldering quality under BGAs and other modern
This liquid works of course also perfect with all range of components cannot be sufficiently surveyed without
typical solder temperatures from 217°C to 227°C. expensive equipment such as x-ray. If they are not processed
correctly at the first time, rework is becoming costly and
time consuming. LED technique is replacing conventional
bulbs and fluorescent lamps. Small in size, they are very
Air at 50-80°C energy efficient. For a long life, the board design allows
them to transfer their heat on the PCB boards, which in turn
asks for metal core boards. This combination of heavy mass
and small components is the utmost pain for conventional
Vapor at 230°C convection soldering. Looking at today’s materials in the
electronic business, again vapor phase sets the standard in
quality with its low temperatures, equal heat distribution and
Fluid at 230°C perfect wetting properties.

Vapor Phase temperatures for

lead free soldering

The physical solder temperature limitation in a vapor phase

machine reliably prevents overheating of any part in the
solder process. As the vapor due to its high density is
heavier than the surrounding air, the soldered parts are
constantly sealed within an inert atmosphere and at the same Modern vapor phase systems are made of stainless steel and
time the wetting of the parts is supported by these aluminum. It is important to use high quality connectors and
conditions. The air above the vapor phase is cooled down to cables, especially when they are exposed to some heat.
temperatures of 50°C to 80°C only.
2.2 FLUIDS
2. TODAY'S VAPOR PHASE Modern vapor phase heat transfer fluids are based on
2.1 MATERIALS perfluoropolyethers and do not contain any CFC or other
The introduction of new solder alloys along with higher harmful ingredients. Its main properties are chemical and
process temperatures is the core challenge in the transition thermal resistance, non-toxicity (it can be found in
towards lead free soldering. cosmetics and as a blood replacement substance), excellent
Lead free solder pastes show reduced wetting properties electric insulation properties, no flash or fire point, and low
asking for an oxygen free atmosphere. To support wetting viscosity.
and avoid oxidation of the electronic components due to the With these excellent attributes, there are no limitations for
increased process temperatures, conventional convection transportation and storage of these liquids.
systems require nitrogen gas for the soldering of high
quality electronics. In vapor phase soldering the process
itself provides such atmosphere and thus additional
protective gas is not required.
The most common liquids are (boiling point in brackets): 3. CONTROL OF VAPOR PHASE HEAT TRANSFER

Leaded soldering LS 200 (200°C) 3.1 CLASSICAL HEAT TRANSFER IN ANCIENT

LS 215 (215°C) VAPOR PHASE SYSTEM

Unleaded soldering LS 230 (230°C The first vapor phase machines gave users not many options
HS 240 (240°C) to control the temperatures on the boards. The boards were
and new IBL 225 (225°C) transported inline through the machine. The temperature
IBL 235 (235°C) gradients were high which was critical for many
components and boards due to varying expansion
In case there is no exact information on the solder used for coefficients of the different materials.
BGAs or other important components of a board, pre-tinned
PCB boards etc., the recommendation is to use a 235°C
boiling point. This provides the best compromise for all lead
free applications and best possible results.

2.3 MACHINES
There are a number of machine types and manufacturers on
the market. They offer different solutions in a wide range of The PCB boards are moved into the vapor
machine sizes, starting from small laboratory equipment for where they heat up and solder
prototyping, testing and rework, over mid-size batch up to A protective layer reduces too high
inline machines for high volume production. Some of the temperature gradients and reduces fluid
batch machines can be upgraded to inline use later as it consumption
might be needed.
3.2 HEAT TRANSFER CONTROLLED BY HEAT
When outstanding quality is needed and voids in solder LEVEL ADJUSTMENT
joints or solder areas must be prevented, vacuum vapor A first step to have a temperature control was to adjust the
phase machines are the solution. temperature gradients by regulation of the power for the
heating elements. The more power is put on the heaters, the
Vacuum Vapor Phase Soldering more vapor is produced and the more heat will be
transferred at the same time. The boards are positioned just
above the fluid and remain there for the time of heating and
soldering. The raising vapor creates an inert atmosphere.
Soldered with linear profile The boards are heated and soldered in an oxygen-free
atmosphere. Less oxide means better wetting in return. This
machine concept influences the machine design as well and
Soldered with plateau profile
allows a very compact footprint.
Despite the drastically increased benefits of this machine
concept, a slight time delay in the heater control prevents the
Soldered with optimized plateau profile
creation of sophisticated temperature profiles. The effect is
known from a boilerplate, with a pot of water. After turning
on power, it takes some time for the water to boil; in return
Soldered under vacuum at 50 mbar
after switching off the power, the water continues to boil for
a while.
IR for preheating can be helpful to shorten process times or Thus the heat level adjustment is suitable for linear
for glue hardening, although this can be all done in the temperature profiles, as soon as temperature plateau profiles
vapor as well. are required for soldering complex boards, this technology
reaches its limits.
In General, vapor phase ovens have a small footprint so they
need less space than a comparable convection oven. The Heat Level adjustment‫‏‬
energy consumption is by far the lowest of all reflow-
soldering methods.

The PCB boards are moved into the VP

chamber and the heat is controlled by power
with raising vapor level
3.3 HEAT TRANSFER CONTROL BY LEVEL 4. CONCLUSION
ADJUSTMENT (SOFT VAPOR PHASE)
Convection is today´s most common reflow soldering
The next evolution in heat control was the introduction of process. For many applications it is provides acceptable
soft vapor phase (SVP). This patented process is controlling results. The machines are usually designed as inline
the heat transfer by adjusting the penetration level of the machines with straight board handling for high throughput.
solder goods in the vapor.
Vapor phase soldering has become competitive also for high
volume productions. State of the art machines offer high
Soft Vapor Phase (SVP) mode throughput in combination with high quality results. The
IBL-Patent vapor, like all gases, is tending to equally fill out a given
sphere, such as a vapor phase process chamber. The equal
temperature distribution over the boards is automatically
provided by this physical effect, while in a convection oven
the cross profile can vary in temperature. The physical
limitation of the maximum temperature in a vapor phase
The PCB boards are moved into different levels system does not require further controlling mechanisms to
in the vapor up and down. This allows to create avoid overheating. This quality feature is also today
all kinds of profiles providing highest benefits in long-term reliability of the
soldered electronic boards. In a convection oven the creation
The benefit of this procedure is the immediate temperature of temperature profiles needs thorough preparation,
gradient control as a function of the height level of the overheating cannot be securely avoided especially on boards
boards. Any temperature gradient or plateau can be realized with varying mass distribution.
and a process control surveys the process to ensure exact
repeatability. The creation of plateau temperature profiles The excess heat needed to ensure a perfect solder result in
reduces voids significantly, prevents tombstoning and vapor phase soldering is only 5°C to 10 °C over the melting
avoids the introduction of thermal stress. point of the solder paste. Other reflow methods require 30°C
to 35°C excess heat for the same task due to its lower heat
Soft Vapor Phase transfer rate.
Lower soldering temperatures are limiting the stress for the
Process‫‏‬ components, avoid delaminations on PCB substrates and
limit the risk of popcorning on modern components.

The graphic above shows the different stages of the SVP

process. In the first step the PCB is moved into the vapor
and the board temperature increases. The second step is The vapor phase process provides an oxygen free
activated as soon as a preset plateau temperature is reached, atmosphere at no extra cost leading to the best possible
in the sample above it is 150°C. To achieve this, the PCB is wetting. The energy consumption (typically 5-6 kW for a
moved up to the vapor boundary. After a soaking time of 60 large inline system) is much lower then convection as the
sec. the PCB is moved over dedicated levels downwards, energy remains in the hot liquid. Optimized insulation
controlling the gradient and reaching the soldering reduces the introduction of heat into the surrounding and
temperature. The soldering time (time over liquidus) can be thus enables to save air conditioning cost in the plant.
pre-selected and is controlled by the solder automatic, thus Vapor phase ovens are smaller than convection ovens, thus
limiting the temperature introduction to a minimum and still they also save space in production.
ensuring a thorough soldering result. Considering today´s and future complex components and
processes, vapor phase is a perfect choice.
REFERENCES

[1] R.J. Klein „Wassink Weichloeten in der Elektronik“

„Soldering in Electronics“ Second edition

[2] Wolfgang Leider „Dampfphasenloeten“ Grundlagen

und praktische Anwendung

[3] DVS Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Wolfgang Scheel

„Microverbindungstechnik“