QUALITY ASSURANCE OF SURFACE MOUNTED PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD ASSEMBLY SOLDER JOINTS

A HIGH SPATIAL RESOLUTION AND HIGH SENSITIVITY X-RAY IMAGING SYSTEM HAS BEEN DEVELOPED THAT IS APPROPRIATE FOR THE IN-PROCESS INSPECTION OF SURFACE MOUNTED PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD ASSEMBLIES. IT IS A NEAR REAL-TIME SYSTEM THAT PRODUCES HIGH-QUALITY DIGITAL IMAGES CAPABLE OF PROVIDING QUANTITATIVE DATA FOR FEEDBACK TO THE ASSEMBLY SOLDERING AND OTHER SURFACE MOUNTED TECHNOLOGY MANUFACTURING PROCESSES. THIS TECHNOLOGY OFFERS DISTINCT ADVANTAGES OVER CONVENTIONAL METHODS SUCH AS FILM AND FLUOROSCOPIC X-RAY RADIOGRAPHY, WHICH HAS BEEN USED IN THE PAST. OUR APPROACH TO SCAN THE ARTICLE USES A FAN BEAM ILLUMINATION OF THE TEST OBJECT AND A LINEAR ARRAY OF DETECTOR ELEMENTS. THE PATENTED DETECTOR CONFIGURATION IS THE KEY TO THE SYSTEM'S IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE. IT HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED THAT DEFECTS AS SMALL AS 25 MICRONS (0.001 INCH) CAN BE DETECTED. IT IS OUR INTENT UNDER THIS PROGRAM, TO EXPLORE THE USE OF THIS NEW AND POWERFUL X-RAY INSPECTION TECHNOLOGY AS AN IMPORTANT PART OF A FEEDBACK LOOP IN AN INTEGRATED QUALITY ASSURANCE SYSTEM FOR OVERALL SOLDER JOINT EVALUATION OF SURFACE MOUNTED PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD ASSEMBLIES.