Apr 8 2004
National Semiconductor today announced that it will offer lead-free packages for its complete line of integrated circuit (IC) products by the end of 2004.
The company also will significantly reduce bromine and antimony-based flame-retardants in an industry-leading effort to make more environmentally neutral electronic components.
Today, approximately 90 percent of National's portfolio of 15,000 analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits is available in lead-free package types. Lead was formerly used in the plating finish of copper leadframe-based packages. It was also used in the solder balls of array packages such as Micro SMD, PBGA and FBGA packages. National will replace the lead in leadframe packages with a matte tin finish, and in the solder balls with a tin-silver-copper alloy.
National has led the market in packaging innovations for years with the introduction of revolutionary micro SMD and leadless leadframe packaging (LLP) technologies. In addition, National's patented VIP10 process technology enables it to create the industry's broadest suite of high performance products available.
A Massive Worldwide Production and Logistics Effort National produces billions of chips per year and packages them in more than 70 different types of packages. The company operates wafer fabrication facilities in Arlington, Texas, Greenock, Scotland, and South Portland, Maine.
The plants manufacture four, six, or eight-inch diameter wafers of silicon that contain hundreds or thousands of microchips. The wafers are shipped to National facilities in Melaka, Malaysia and Singapore, where they are cut, tested, and assembled in plastic packages.
The company's new test and assembly facility in Suzhou, China, will begin operations in late 2004, and will also produce lead-free packages when it opens. National ships integrated circuits directly from its Global Distribution Center in Singapore to more than 4,000 customers worldwide. Approximately 90,000 other customers buy National chips through a global network of distributors. For more information about National's lead-free products, please go to: http://www.national.com/packaging/leadfree/