Agilent releases solder-paste inspection system

Intended for solder-paste inspection of PCB assemblies, the SP50 automated optical inspection system produces accurate and repeatable measurements of pad offset and skew, solder-paste area, height and volume.

Based on the SJ50 platform, the SP50 also allows SPC (statistical process control) output and identifies the precise location of paste defects such as insufficient area or height, and missing, smeared or bridged deposits. The system features a speed of 19.36cm2/s and automatically compensates for 15mm of warp in bare PCBs.

"With increased density of components and advanced area array devices on PCBs, correct solder-paste application is an increasingly critical production step," said Kamran Firooz, VP and GM of Agilent's Manufacturing Test Business Unit. "Our newest entry to Agilent's Intelligent Test portfolio accurately inspects solder-paste deposits to the most demanding requirements, and still beats the cycle rate of most production lines."

Solder-paste printing is the first critical process in the SMT production line. The growing use of CSPs, 5BGAs and nearly microscopic 0201 components have made process control and verification of screen printing more critical. Several industry studies indicate that defects in the end product are often related to paste-printing problems.