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High reliability solder - Innolot
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Enabling higher operating temperatures for automotive electronics assemblies in harsh environments
Reliability demands on electronic assemblies are becoming increasingly more challenging with the rapid evolution of automotive electronics. A combination of extreme environmental stresses, challenging customer warranty demands driven by longer service life, and increased component performance requirements is reaching the limits of the current standard Tin-Silver-Copper (SAC) alloys.
The answer to this problem is the patented Innolot solder alloy. The metallurgical approach behind the alloy’s development was to increase the creep-fatigue resistance of the standard SAC alloy. This was done by 2 methods: solid solution strengthening and dispersion hardening. That approach resulted in a microstructure that gives significantly enhanced creep-fatigue properties, allowing continuous operation at up to 160°C and (depending on design factors) often improving fatigue life by a factor of 2 to 3 compared to SAC alloys. Innolot is processed at the same temperature as SAC.
Innolot has been used in real-world applications since 2008 and has become the default standard alloy for high-reliability applications in automotive electronics. Although the motivation behind the alloy’s development was to achieve higher operating temperatures in assemblies close to the vehicle powertrain, increasingly Innolot is being used in lower temperature applications to extend service life, such as advanced safety systems, automotive lighting and high-power LED, and avionics.
