High-performance electronics demand the most from the entire manufacturing process, including the cleaning procedures. Today's components are smaller, hotter and more powerful, easily creating situations where dendrite growth or corrosion can proliferate if the cleaning is not performed properly. Three key factors are driving the growth in electronics cleaning: changes in materials, changes in components, and changes in the market's expectations.

The first factor -- changing materials -- is the easiest to explore. Because of the inherent risks of problems with flux residues, "no clean" fluxes and pastes may never be an acceptable long-term answer for the most demanding applications. This is why the military, aviation, and most of the medical industry shy away from that technology. Similarly, the introduction of lead-free solders -- and the higher temperatures they require -- is fueling the demand for faster, better and safer cleaning.

Secondly, electronic components are changing. In the old days of "fat pitch" surface mount technology, cleaning was easy. The chips were large, the leads were widely spaced, and the clearances under the chips made cleaning easy. Today is different. With the now-pervasive deployment of BGA chips, MCM devices, and even denser semiconductor packages, cleaning has become crucial for high performance electronics. The clearances are so tight and the components so small (see photo) that aqueous systems simply cannot clean these components without adding high pressures, more cleaning agents and more drying cycles.

Today's electronics are getting smaller, hotter and offering higher performance for lower prices. The BGA chip pictured here delivers computing power on a scale which would have required a roomful of computers twenty years ago. Vertrel^® fluids are ideal for cleaning these small, but crucial, assemblies.

Lastly, the market is changing. The world has become accustomed to (a) manufacturers jamming advanced features and technologies into (b) smaller, lighter, cheaper boxes, and then (c) quickly delivering customized systems to order (special features, just-in-time inventory deliveries, and so on). Large aqueous systems with long cycle times are well-suited to long production runs. But when short runs are the standard -- as they they often are today -- a smaller, faster, less complex cleaning process is more useful. That's where Vertrel^® comes in.

Vertrel^® solvents fit almost every electronics application. The solvents easily remove organic contamination, such as solder paste, along with the corrosive inorganic residues. The solvents wash away ionic contamination, dissolve organics and release microscopic contamination clinging to the board. Vertrel^® cleans quickly, with high reliability and excellent consistency. With low surface tension it can get under the smallest components and into the tightest clearances. Plus the solvent will come out of those tight spaces because it boils at near room temperatures. Many customers across Europe, Asia and North America have selected Vertrel^® for their defluxing applications. You should, too.

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• Vertrel^® for Defluxing -- A California PCB maker uses Vertrel^® to get their boards really, really clean.

• 21. Which Vertrel^® Should I Use for Defluxing?
• 27. Should I Consider a Co-Solvent System?
• 80. Is Vertrel^® Safe Around the Factory?
• 81. What Are the Exposure Limits for the Vertrel^® Cleaning Agents?
• 83. Is Vertrel^® Flammable?

• MicroCare CMS Defluxer -- Powerful, affordable; the latest product from the DuPont labs
• Vertrel^® SMT -- The classic defluxer and proud replacement for Freon^® TMS and HCFC-141b
• Vertrel^® XMS Plus -- Major cleaning horsepower for the most demanding applications

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