Green IC packaging: Reinventing the integrated circuit is more than just a lead-free issue

Lead-free interconnects and halide-free substrates are the essential ingredients of the green IC package. In the larger scheme of things, packaging makes only a very small contribution to the total amount of heavy metals and halides that are added to the environment when electronic equipment is scrapped. However, the semiconductor assembly and test segment of the industry, responding to the demands of its chipmaker and OEM customers, is doing its part by making lead-free and bromine-free packaging available for chip vendors that require it.