Novel technology to prevent component overheating during processing

At the same time that we are increasing reflow, wave preheat, and rework temperatures to cope with lead-free processing, we are seeing an increasing number of components whose temperature tolerance is much lower than the process temperature. These include legacy IC packages, optoelectronic and display components and connectors. We will describe a totally new technology which uses active cooling principles to reduce the temperature of the sensitive parts of the device while allowing reflow of solder joints or curing of adhesives under the package. This technology is a low-cost alternative to selective soldering and will also allow legacy IC products to be processed under lead-free conditions without damage.