Glossary Table S
| Scanning Electron Microscopy: A method of scanning that uses a microscope with 200 times magnification or greater. |
| Screen Printing: The method of transferring an image from a pattern to a board by forcing paste through a screen printer. |
| Selective Soldering: The process of selectively soldering components to printed circuit boards that could be damaged by the heat of a reflow oven in a traditional SMT assembly process. Parts to be selectively soldered are most often surrounded by parts that have been previously soldered in a surface mount reflow process. The selective soldering process must be sufficiently precise in order to avoid these SMT components, while forming acceptable thru-hole solder joints. |
| Semiconductors: Materials whose properties fall between those of insulators and conductors, and is also the term used for all electronic components made from semiconductor material. |
| Silk Screen: The epoxy-ink legend printed on PCB. |
| Single In-Line Package (SIP): An assembly consisting of two or more surface mount components, mounted on a common substrate, interconnected to each other and to pins for through-hole mounting on a printed circuit board. |
| Single Wave Soldering: Wave soldering process that uses only one wave solder. |
| Small Outline Integrated Circuit (SOIC): An integrated circuit with two parallel rows of pins in surface mount package. |
| SMD: Surface Mount Device. |
| SMOBC: Solder mask over bare copper. |
| SMT: Surface Mount Technology. |
| SMTA: Surface Mount Technology Association |
| Solder: An alloy that melts at relatively low temperatures and is used to join or seal metals with higher melting temperatures. |
| Solder Balls: Small balls of solder that separate from the main body of solder that forms the joint. Mainly caused by excessive oxides in the solder paste that inhibit solder coalescence during reflow. |
| Solder Bridging: Using solder to connect two or more adjacent pads to form a conductive path. |
| Solder Bumps: Round solder balls used in face-down bonding. |
| Solder Mask: Coating to prevent solder to deposit on. |
| Solder Paste: A dielectric slurry material applied to a PCB with a squeegee; after SMDs are placed, the board is heated in a reflow oven and the paste hardens and forms strong, reliable joints |
| Solder Resist: Permanent or temporary coating that masks off and surface insulates areas of a circuit where soldering is not required. |
| Solder Wick: A band of wire which is used to remove solder. |
| Soldering: The process of joining metals by fusion and solidification of an adherent alloy. |
| Solidus: The temperature at which metal alloys begin to melt. |
| Spray Fluxing: Method of applying flux during wave soldering where liquid flux is sprayed on the underside of the printed circuit board assembly. |
| Squeegee: A rubber or metal blade used in screen and stencil printing to swipe across the screen/stencil to force the solder paste through the screen mesh or stencil apertures onto the printed circuit board. |
| Stencil: Thick sheet material with a circuit pattern cut into the material. Most common material used is stainless steel. |
| Stencil Printer: Manual, semi-automatic, or automatic machine that dispenses solder paste by means of a squeegee forcing material through the apertures of the stencil. |
| Surface Mount Assembly (SMA): Electronics assembly in which no through-hole components are mounted directly to the substrate surface. |
| Surface Mount Technology (SMT): A flexible technology used to solder electrical components directly to a board. |