Principles of electronic materials and devices, 2nd edition [Book Review]

IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine need to be aware of the potential limitations that could be imposed on lead-based products and be aware of alternative lead-free solders. A wide range of various lead-free solders are described in this book along with underlying fundamentals that are key to practical applications. The book begins with reasons why lead is toxic to the environment, industry trends, and current legislation. The next chapter covers fundamental technology, including conventional lead-containing solder technology, physical properties, metallurgical properties, failure modes, alloy design, and thermomechanical fatigue of solders in general. This technical background lays the foundation for understanding solder requirements. The next 14 chapters cover a variety of solder alloy compositions and properties. These include binary, ternary, quaternary, and higher-element systems. Examples of these alloys use tin, silver, bismuth, copper, indium, zinc, and gallium in various ranges and percentages. There are phase curves and stress-strain curves for alloys described. There are also high-temperature and low-temperature (relative to 63Sn/37Pb alloy) alloys. The remaining chapters are devoted to applications and various aspects of the industries that use solders. There are details on PCB surface finishes, intermetallics, microstructure of SnAg, reliability, conductive adhesives, tin coating chemistry, role of bismuth, and production defects. This reference text is a practical handbook containing a wealth of information on lead-free solders and can serve as a guide to selecting the most appropriate lead-free solder alloy for a given application. Those working with solder—especially lead-based solders—will find this a very interesting and practical book for not only finding a replacement solder but for understanding the physical and metallurgical requirements of solders in general. This book could also be used in a graduate materials science curriculum. Principles of Electronic Materials and Devices, 2 Edition S.O. Kasap McGraw Hill 1221 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 Phone +1 800 352 3566 Fax +1 212 512 4105 http://www.mhhe. com ISBN 0-07-239342-4 745 pp. $100 (Hardback), 2002 As electronic accessories become more common in a variety of applications, there is a greater need for engineers and scientists to develop and advance electronic materials and devices. This text contains a broad range of topics in electronic materials and devices, mainly intended for an undergraduate course. While in-depth detail is not intended, the author injects a wonderful, semi-quantitative level of description in the text. Concepts presented with many detailed illustrations and superb writing are presented in a way to convey the physical ideas with a minimum of mathematics. Unlike many college level texts, there are more than 130 worked-out examples to reinforce learning and understanding. There are over 470 professionally prepared illustrations and a CD, included with the book, contains all the figures in color PDF and PowerPoint formats, making it easier for overhead or electronic presentations. The broad range of topics covers materials science concepts, electrical and thermal conduction in solids, quantum-physics, theory of solids, dielectric materials and insulation, and magnetic and optical properties of materials. For example, there is a good comparison of different capacitor types illustrating the physical mechanisms and dielectric properties of electrolytic, mica, polyester, ceramics, tantalum, and others. There is even a section, although very basic, on dielectric breakdown in solids, liquids, and gases. The book reads more like a physics book, filled with practical, well-illustrated and explained topics that are pertinent to engineers, physicists, and scientists today. Even though the text is intended for an undergraduate course, it could easily be used by the engineering community as general reference text, especially for those who only occasionally use electronic components but need to understand the basic physics behind devices.