Conversion to Pb-free packages

Fairchild Semiconductor has announced that the company is converting all its products to lead-free finish packages. The conversion is expected to be completed by June 2004.

The packages meet or exceed the requirement of the joint IPC/JEDEC standard J-STD-020B and are compliant with the European Union requirements .

JEDEC requires moisture sensitivity level (MSL) certification using reflow peak temperature testing to 250 degrees C. This higher temperature testing is required to ensure that packages attach properly to printed circuit boards.

The primary lead-free finish used by Fairchild is pure matte tin, providing stable plating highly compatible with widely used tin-lead solder processes. It is also compatible with PB-free board assembly processes, such as those using tin-silver-copper solders.