Intel Corporation (Nasdaq: INTC) announced its processors will be lead-free beginning in the second half of this year.
“Intel is taking an aggressive stance toward environmental sustainability, from the elimination of lead and a focus on greater energy efficiency of our products to fewer air emissions and more water and materials recycling,” said Nasser Grayeli, Intel vice president and director of assembly test technology development, Technology and Manufacturing Group.
Lead is used in a variety of micro-electronic “packages” and the “bumps” that attach an Intel chip to the packages. Packages wrap around the chip and ultimately connect it to the motherboard. Different types of packages are used for processors targeted at specific market segments, including mobile, desktop and server. Package designs include pin grid array, ball grid array and land grid array, and all are 100 percent lead-free in Intel’s 45nm Hi-k technology generation. In 2008, the company will also transition its 65nm chipset products to 100 percent lead-free technology.
The processors also make use of the company’s Hi-k silicon technology for reduced transistor leakage, enabling more energy-efficient, high-performance processors. Ultimately, Intel’s 45nm Hi-k family of processors will enable sleeker, smaller and more energy-efficient desktop, notebook PC, mobile internet device and server designs.
In 2002, Intel produced its first lead-free flash memory products. In 2004, the company began shipping products with 95 percent less lead than previous microprocessor and chipset packages.
To replace the remaining 5 percent (about .02 grams) of lead solder historically found in the first-level interconnect — the solder joint that connects the silicon die to the package substrate — in processor packages, Intel will use a tin/silver/copper alloy. It is the way in which Intel will implement these new materials to replace the tin/lead solder that is the “secret sauce” of the company’s solution. Because of the complex interconnect structure of Intel’s advanced silicon technologies, a great deal of engineering work was required to remove the remaining lead in Intel’s processor packages and integrate a new solder alloy system.
Earlier this year Intel transitioned its Intel® StrataFlash® Cellular Memory packages to halogen-free technology. The company is currently evaluating the use of halogen-free flame retardants in its CPU package technologies.
Through Intel’s ongoing conversion from 200mm to 300mm wafers, it has been able to reduce water consumption by approximately 40 percent for each square centimeter of silicon produced.
It has reduced hazardous materials in its products and recycles more than 70 percent of its chemical and solid wastes.
Intel is the single-largest purchaser of wind power in Oregon and the largest industrial consumer of renewable energy in New Mexico.
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