Royer Labs is phasing out the use of lead based solders previously used in the manufacture of all models of its microphones. The decision was made to address the health related concerns that result from the use of lead. All products will bare a stamp that reads “RoHs Compliant”.
Careful consideration was given to this subject long before RoHS became a buzz issue in our industry. Our engineers had concerns about conductivity and solder ability of ultra low impedance ribbon transducers and non-lead based materials. Fortunately, the new solders that meet the RoHS specifications actually have higher electrical conductivity properties than lead based solders
Definitions of RoHS Compliant Products
Pb-free
Mindspeed products that contain ≤ 0.1% lead by weight in homogeneous materials and can withstand 245C-260C maximum temperature profile per IPC/JEDEC J-STD-020C. Green (RoHS compliant)
Mindspeed products that contain ≤ 0.1% by weight in homogeneous materials for lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB), and polybrominated diphenyls ethers (PBDE) and ≤ 0.01% for Cadmium and that meets the recommended maximum reflow temperature in accordance with IPC/JEDEC J-STD-020C.
Homogeneous Material
Homogeneous material means of uniform composition, examples are individual types of plastics, ceramics, metals, alloys, paper, board, resins and coatings and mechanically disjointed means that materials can be, in principle, separated by mechanical actions such as unscrewing, cutting, crushing, grinding and abrasive processes. A semi-conductor package contains many homogeneous materials i.e. the impurity limit does NOT apply to entire component.