September 30, 2008
Kyowa Electric Wire Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Osaka, Osaka-Prefecture; President: Hisakazu Ishibashi; hereinafter called Kyowa Electric Wire), a member company of the Furukawa Electric Group, has recently developed a novel Pb-free plating film of high mounting reliability "NU Series".
The NU Series is the third Pb-free plating product that Kyowa Electric Wire has launched, following the tin-bismuth double-layered plating and the reflow tin plating.
The product, scheduled to be on the market this fall, is best suited for connectors and terminals for electronic parts.
Developmental Background and Product Features
Structure of NU
In recent mounting technology that requires high reliability, it is desired to have a plating film that secures higher plating wettability (Note 1) and higher reliability than conventional Pb-free plating film.
The NU Series developed here consists of a coating of low melting-temperature metal applied on a tin plating film, followed by reflow processing (Note 2). Thus the product has a high solder wetting speed (Note 3) and a high solder wetting height (Note 4), thereby improving soldering reliability. Moreover, the product suppresses generation of whisker (Note 5), making itself the next generation Pb-free plating film that meets the market needs.
Application Examples
Major plated strip products
The NU Series is best suited for connectors and terminals for electronic pars.
Outline of Kyowa Electric Wire Co., Ltd.
| Established | January, 1920 |
|---|---|
| Paid-in capital | 720,755 thousand yen |
| Representative | Representative Director & President, Hisakazu Ishibashi |
| Number of employees | 92 |
| Location of head office | 1-9, Dojimahama 2-chome, Kita-ku, Osaka |
| Main products | Electric wires and cables, Plated products, Corrugated metal pipes |
| Share holding ratio by Furukawa Electric | 99.33% (as of March, 2008) |
Glossary
(Note 1) Solder wettability:
Ease of wetting of molten solder over a plated film.Back to Main Content
(Note 2)Reflow process:
A process of melting the plated film, in which the plated film is heated above its melting temperature.Back to Main Content
(Note 3) Solder wetting speed:
The speed of molten solder to wet the plating film during a soldering process. The higher the speed, the better. Back to Main Content
(Note 4) Wetting height:
The height of solder wetting the surface during a soldering process. Back to Main Content
(Note 5) Whisker:
Needle-like crystalline metal which grows at the grain boundary on a plated surface. The thickness is 1 to several micrometers, and the length sometimes reaches several millimeters. At the introduction phase of Pb-free soldering, whisker often caused short circuits between adjacent terminals, raising serious problems.Back to Main Content