This process reduces Surface Mount Technology (SMT) temperature from 220~260C in the lead-free process to ~190C and will enable Winbond to significantly reduce CO2 emissions in SMT production lines, while also simplifying, shortening and lowering the cost of the SMT process.
According to the forecast of the International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI), the market share of LTS application products will increase from ~1% to more than 20% in 2027, highlighting the electronics industry’s commitment to environmental issues and sustainable development practices.
Winbond has already proven that its LTS products comply with JEDEC standards and have passed the relevant reliability verification procedures including drop, vibration and temperature cycling tests.
“As a leader in Flash Memory products, Winbond has an opportunity to leverage its position to help drive carbon neutrality and slow global warming,” said Winbond. “We are proud to be the pioneer on memory industry to make the transition to LTS and we encourage other global leaders to join us in taking action for a greener and more sustainable future.”
Some of the key benefits of moving to an LTS process include:
- Reduced carbon emissions – According to the Intel Introduction to Low Temperature Soldering (LTS) 2017, p18-19, reducing the SMT temperature from 220~260C in the lead-free process to ~190C can lower the CO2 emission of each SMT production line by 57 metric tons a year.
- Simpler and faster SMT process for PCBs with plug-in components – The plug-in components only can withstand the lower soldering temperature. With introducing the device supports the low-temperature soldering process, the SMT line can assemble all components on the PCB at one time, which greatly simplifies and shortens the SMT process.
- Cost Reduction – As the soldering temperature drops, lower-cost low-temperature materials can be selected for chips and PCBs. According to the Intel LTS 2017, p15-16, the overall annual cost of SMT production can be reduced by approximately 40% when transitioning to LTS.
