Intel gets eco-friendly, promises lead-free chips and processors

Articles: Intel gets eco-friendly, promises lead-free chips and processors

Posted by admin on Thursday, April 08, 2004 - 06:14 AM

California based Chip-maker Intel Corp. announced yesterday that it will be discarding approximately 95 percent of the lead used in its chipsets and microprocessors, which handle the flow of data between the processor and the rest of a computer. This initiative aims to reduce the amount of lead that is released into the environment after computers and other devices are manufactured.
Behavioural disorders, brain damage and death have correlated to ingestion or inhalation of lead by children. Lead has been used for more than a century in electrical devices, but its effects on health have prompted efforts to find a safer and reliable replacement. This work on chipsets and the embedded IA processors would commence in the third quarter and the second quarter of 2004 respectively. Intel expects to make computer chips more environmentally friendly through this move. Intel has already removed the lead from its flash memory products, which are mainly used in consumer electronics such as cell phones. The company states that it is working with the industry to find a reliable solution for the tiny amount of lead still needed inside the processor packaging to connect the actual silicon "core" to the package. Other US chip makers, such as National Semiconductor and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), have also begun working on lead-free chips and have plans to roll out their lead-free products. A European Union directive requires manufacturers to ban the use of six specified hazardous substances, including lead, after July 2006.The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition states that there are over 1,000 chemicals that go into making a computer and many of them are hazardous and the overall impact of all those chemicals on the environment is unknown. Intel states that its goal has been to develop a total solution that addresses the needs and concerns of our customers and suppliers, from the package materials to motherboard manufacturing. Lead has been used for more than a century in electrical devices, but its effects on health have prompted efforts to find a safer and reliable replacement. Since 2000, Intel has been working with the industry and the European Union's Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) legislation committee to come up with global solution to this problem. The company developed reference procedures on its own research assembly lines to help its customers implement lead-free technology in the manufacturing process. Lead has been used in electronics for more than one hundred years because of its electrical and mechanical properties. It has been a scientific and technical challenge for industry researchers to develop new materials that meet the performance and reliability standards for the manifold ways lead is utilized for components, products, and assembly processes Intel shipped its first lead-free Plastic Ball Grid Array package in 2002 for use with its flash-memory. The lead/tin solder previously used for connecting this package to the motherboard was replaced with a tin/silver/copper alloy. This work created a benchmark for Intel's foray into to lead-free technology. Intel's Flip Chip Ball Grid Array package also uses a tin/silver/copper alloy to connect the chip package to the motherboard. However, a tiny of amount of lead/tin (about .02 grams) is still used inside the sealed package to attach the silicon core to the package until a replacement that meets performance and reliability requirements is certified.

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