The recently developed Reduced Oxide Soldering Activation (ROSA™) method is shown to be compatible with long‐term use with mass soldering processes. Prototype regeneration cells operated for as long as six months with minimal maintenance retained their effectiveness for providing short wetting times under a variety of perturbations. The operating window for the process is wide and component degradation caused by exposure to the fully charged solution is minimal. The ROSA treatment provides soldering performance comparable to that attainable with a fully activated rosin flux and offers the promise of providing low soldering defect rates without the use of CFC solvents.
This article describes a new reduced-oxide soldering activation (ROSATM) process that removes oxides from tin, tin-lead, and copper surfaces without the use of a flux. In this process, surface oxides are electrolessly reduced back to the metallic state by a highly reducing vanadous ion solution that is noncorrosive to most metals and is regenerated electrochemically. The electroless reduction and redox regeneration cycles form a closed loop such that oxygen gas is the only effluent. Wetting time and surface analysis data show that a ten-second exposure to the vanadous ROSA solution completely reduces all tinlead oxides that would normally be encountered on production components. The ROSA treatment has a wide operating window, provides soldering performance comparable to that attainable with a fully-activated rosin flux, and offers the promise of providing low soldering defect rates without the use ofCFC solvents. 36
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