AlphaSTAR Immersion Silver Process receives 2006 JPCA Show Award

The Enthone technical paper, "Root Cause Analysis and Elimination of Immersion Silver Plating Defects on PWBs through Process Optimization," received a 2006 JPCA Show Award. The paper, featuring AlphaSTAR® immersion silver, was presented by Enthone's joint venture partner, Meltex Inc., and prepared by Enthone Inc., a business of Cookson Electronics. JPCA paper presentations, which focused on new product introductions, and the awards ceremony were held during with the JPCA Show 2006, May 31 - June 2nd, Tokyo Japan.

The technical paper, authored by Enthone team members Jo Wynschenk, Business Development Manager, David Ormerod, Business Director - PWB Metallization, and Dr. Yung Herng Yau, Senior Research Scientist, details the results of a twelve-month survey conducted among some of the world's leading users of immersion silver plating technology. The survey identifies six major technical reasons (i.e. "root causes") for board failure or rejection, including: microvoids, galvanic attack, tarnishing, exposed copper, ionic contamination and poor solderability. The paper provides a root cause analysis and details preventative measures to minimize or eliminate each of the six failure modes, while introducing an Ideal Process for addressing all six failure modes, AlphaSTAR immersion silver.

The JPCA Show Awards were established by the JPCA to recognize outstanding products and technologies for the advancement and development of printed circuit board technology and the electronics industry. At this year's show, a panel of judges that included industry experts in PWB fabrication, assembly, packaging and design reviewed forty-four of sixty-six papers that were presented during the show. Each paper was judged on the following merits: creativity and originality; future potential within industry; leading, advancement in technology; compatibility with existing industry needs; contributes to the creation or expansion of other industries and businesses. All papers submitted for judging concealed the name of the authors' company or organization to ensure fairness and integrity of the awards.