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New Heat-Reduced Magnetic Solder Could Revolutionize Chip Design
A new heat-reduced soldering technique using magnets may lead to some revolutionary changes in the way chips are manufactured. Details are scant since the inventor seems to be playing it close to the vest for now in hopes of attracting chipmaker interest. "The result is a tin-silver alloy that contains a dispersion of iron particles tens of micrometers in diameter. When a magnetic field is applied to the solders, two things happen. First, the iron particles heat up, locally melting the solder. This localized heating, which works on the same principle as inductive stoves, remains completely contained, keeping the surrounding area cool. And second, the iron particles line up with the direction of the magnetic field, squeezing and pushing the liquid in that direction. This alignment is retained when the solder solidifies, and the well-ordered particles provide mechanical reinforcement that's greater than that afforded by a regular dispersion of particles."
JB Weld contains so much iron particulate in suspension that it responds to a magnetic field. If it weren't for the fact that the particles are so much larger and get drawn out of suspension and toward the magnet, it might be possible to speed-cure the stuff with this same trick.
(which yes, wouldn't bond to SnAg)
With a chemical formula like that, how can it not bond?
Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
When you bring a magnet near a PC, the damage is done to magnetic recording media, not the chips. Silicon is not generally sensitive to magnetic fields. This guy has managed to put a video game controllers, keyboards, and mice inside an MRI bore. If those integrated circuits can work in a 3T magnetic field, I'm pretty sure it can survive this new magnetic assembly technique.
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