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The Yale Alumni Magazine is owned and operated by Yale Alumni Publications, Inc., a nonprofit corporation independent of Yale University. The content of the magazine and its website is the responsibility of the editors and does not necessarily reflect the views of Yale or its officers. |
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An exotic new species of coral? No, the strange form below is actually an engineering innovation—seen in microscopic close-up—that may help green the electronics industry: a strong, inexpensive solder to replace traditional lead-based solders.
Lead is a potent neurotoxin. “Japan and the EU won’t allow electronic products that contain lead across their borders,” says mechanical engineering professor Ainissa Ramirez, who developed the new material, “and we’re moving away from its use in this country.” But the most popular lead-free alternative, a tin-silver alloy, is weaker and does not perform as well. So
when Joshua Calabro ’07 was searching for a senior thesis project, Ramirez
asked him to try mixing tiny particles of iron with tin and silver. The
eventual result, described in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is a strong material that can
be melted and then easily and cheaply channeled with a magnet to connect
transistors, chips, and other components. “This is not your father’s solder,”
says Ramirez. “Or your mother’s.” |
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©1992–2012, Yale Alumni Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Yale Alumni Magazine, P.O. Box 1905, New Haven, CT 06509-1905, USA. yam@yale.edu |
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