The conversion to lead-free products &#8212 prompted by legislation pending in Europe, and similar legislation under discussion in China and California &#8212 poses challenges as companies deal with the logistics of handling both leaded and lead-free products for manufacturing, rework and field returns. Lead-free processing requires higher temperatures and tighter process windows, which necessitates segregation of leaded and lead-free parts (because they are not compatible). For the immediate future, manufacturing facilities will be running both leaded and lead-free processes, and rework facilities will be running both processes for an even longer time. It’s important for manufacturers to identify lead-free parts and keep them segregated to ensure legislative compliance.

(June 24, 2004) Austin, TX&#8212International SEMATECH recently released its Top Technical Challenges for 2005, re-emphasizing advanced gate stack, 193-nm immersion and EUV lithography, and low-k dielectrics, and placing 3-D interconnect on the list for the first time.