Winbond Electronics Corporation announced that its Flash Memory products will now support the low temperature soldering (LTS) process, which reduces Surface Mount Technology (SMT) temperature from 220~260oC in the lead-free process to ~190oC. This new process will enable Winbond to significantly reduce CO2 emissions in SMT production lines, while also simplifying, shortening and lowering the cost of the SMT process. Below are some of the key benefits of moving to an LTS process: Reduced carbon emissions – According to the Intel Introduction to Low Temperature Soldering (LTS) 2017, p18-19, reducing the SMT temperature from 220~260oC in the lead-free process to ~190oC can lower the CO2 emission of each SMT production line by 57 metric tons a year.

Simpler and faster SMT process for PCBs with plug-in components – The plug-in components only can withstand the lower soldering temperature. With introducing the device supports the low-temperature soldering process, the SMT line can assemble all components on the PCB at one time, which greatly simplifies and shortens the SMT process. Cost Reduction – As the soldering temperature drops, lower-cost low-temperature materials can be selected for chips and PCBs.

According to the Intel LTS 2017, p15-16, the overall annual cost of SMT production can be reduced by approximately 40% when transitioning to LTS.