An automated pick-place laser soldering process for electronics assembly

The trend to high pin-count high density packaging in surface mount assembly has highlighted inherent difficulties in the automatic placement and soldering of these very fine pitch devices. The integration of a laser soldering operation with the placement process can provide one solution to the problem, particularly where the attachment of large high-value devices is involved. This paper will describe the use of a solid state laser diode power source as part of an automatic pick-place-solder technique which, by allowing a secondary assembly process for specific devices, avoids the environmental extremes introduced by conventional soldering.<>