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Conductive adhesive alternatives to tin/lead soldering have mainly concentrated on isotropic silver‐filled epoxy resins. These thermosetting polymers do not offer a universally successful solution and this may be fundamental to the use of epoxy itself. Another route being developed in a joint programme between Multicore Solders Ltd and Diemat, Inc., is based on thermoplastic polymers and offers benefits in the areas of reworkability, low modulus, low joint stress and possibly environmental stability. The novel process for compounding with silver can produce an order of magnitude improvement in electrical and thermal conductivity compared with typical epoxy/silver formulations, and initial environmental reliability data demonstrate compatibility with tin/lead coated components and board finish. A current application is outlined where a Hi‐Rel silicon on silicon hybrid (MCM) is realised using the silver/thermoplastic adhesive for both semiconductor die and passive chip components.

The trend towards higher density, higher frequency, higher power active devices in placing increasingly difficult demands on device packaging. Materials with high thermal conductivities are replacing the traditional ceramics in hermetic, high power packages, and MCM/ hybrid modules. Thermally enhanced plastic packages more frequently feature heat sinks embedded in the package for direct attachment of the power devices. Today's challenge in electronic packaging is to dissipate the heat from the source, the device itself, without affecting its electrical performance or reliability. The material directly contacting the device is the die attach medium. On lower power packages, the die bond line is not usually the highest thermal resistance in the thermal path. With highly conductive substrates and heat sinks, the die attach material now becomes the critical element directly in series with the highly conductive substrate. Fundamental limitations in thermal properties of about 3 W/mK exist in present‐day organic adhesives, primarily of the thermosetting type. This thermal conductivity (k) does not meet the current demands of thermally enhanced plastic laminate packages, MCMs, or direct die attach to heat spreaders or heat sinks. This paper describes the development, properties and application of electrically conductive thermoplastic adhesive pastes having thermal conductivity values as high as 35 W/mK, and able to produce thin, void‐free bond lines for maximum thermal transfer. The key material variables are isolated and evaluated for their impact of the k value. DOEs (design of experiments) were run to optimise the combination of the key variables, namely size/shape of the filler and the volume fraction to produce the highest k without sacrificing other functional properties such as adhesion. The effect of polymer chemistry (thermoset and thermoplastic) was also studied. The properties of the newly developed, enhanced conductivity thermoplastic adhesives are compared with other material technologies and examples of current applications reviewed.

The benefits of a “no flow” process have been well documented in the recent past. The limitations of the previously reported materials in current use have been overcome via a unique chemistry which can be tailored to the application. Room temperature storage, effective fluxing, coupled with minimal outgassing, and a choice of reworkability after reflow or, if rework is not required, a full cure, can now be achieved within a single materials technology. This paper describes the properties of the new family of materials compared to conventional post‐deposited underfills. The development sequence and the procedure for characterisation of material properties, including the evaluation of the effectiveness of the fluxing action on a range of solder alloys, is documented. A typical application is described, outlining how a minimum of two process steps can be eliminated and how improvements in materials handling, process robustness, and ultimate yield, have been realised. A simple rework regime is also proposed, and the almost “drop in replacement” aspect of the new material is discussed.

The curing reaction of a promising “no flow” flip chip underfill encapsulant is investigated by using a differential scanning calorimeter. It is found that the tested underfill can reach complete cure within 20 minutes at various cure temperatures. It is also shown that this “no flow” underfill could fully cure within one minute at 160°C after being heated at 220°C for one minute, demonstrating that this “no flow” underfill can be completely cured during the solder reflow cycle. The reaction order and the rate constant are determined to describe the curing progress. It is shown that the autocatalytic effect dominates the reaction kinetics.

Drive east from Frankfurt, upstream along the valley of the River Main, and in 25 kilometres or so you will reach Hanau, where once the brothers Grimm lived and collected the folklore which we now know as the famous Tales. Here too, in 1856, Wilhelm Carl Heraeus, a chemist and pharmacist, proprietor of the pharmacy which had carried the family name for many generations, succeeded in producing temperatures approaching 2000°C from an oxy‐hydrogen flame, temperatures sufficiently high to achieve the melting point of platinum and to allow him to melt substantial quantities of this metal for the first time. Hanau was then a centre for the jewellery manufacturing industry (and remains so today) so the smelting of platinum and other precious metals had an immediate commercial relevance.

Orbotech SA, Brussels, has announced the appointment of Kevin Smith as Sales Executive for its UK office. Mr Smith joints Orbotech with several years' experience in the disciplines of CAD systems and networks and photoplotting. He will be based in the company's Rochdale office and will work with Rob Sawyer, UK Regional Manager, in selling Orbotech's AOI, CAM and Plotter products throughout the United Kingdom.

This study provides a comprehensive framework of adaptation in triadic business relationship settings in the service sector. The framework is based on the industrial network approach (see, e.g., Axelsson & Easton, 1992; Håkansson & Snehota, 1995a). The study describes how adaptations initiate, how they progress, and what the outcomes of these adaptations are. Furthermore, the framework takes into account how adaptations spread in triadic relationship settings. The empirical context is corporate travel management, which is a chain of activities where an industrial enterprise, and its preferred travel agency and service supplier partners combine their resources. The scientific philosophy, on which the knowledge creation is based, is realist ontology. Epistemologically, the study relies on constructionist processes and interpretation. Case studies with in-depth interviews are the main source of data.

Citizen journalism practices through social networking sites are increasingly becoming an imperative source of public opinion formation. Given the increase in the volume of information sharing on social media during COVID-19, this study aims to grasp the largely unknown interaction of the individual’s trust in citizen journalism practices and public perception formulation. Drawing on this idea, the study has twofold objectives: first, to examine the influence of user-generated information about economic policies of government during COVID-19 as the antecedent of public perception about government performance and second, to identify the moderating role of trust in citizen journalism practices during COVID-19 through social networking sites.

The study used a survey method and a sample of 464 adults were collected through an online administrated questionnaire.

The findings specify that user-generated content that is pro-government economic policies during COVID-19 positively influenced the perception of government performance. On the other hand, user-generated information that criticized government economic policies had a negative influence on public perception.

This study seeks to intensify the understudied phenomenon of how nature and source of the information could interact to influence one’s information processing during a crisis such as pandemic COVID-19. Furthermore, only a little research has been conducted in this area focusing on two mechanisms, namely; citizen journalism and trust in social media user-generated information about prevailing economic insecurities during crisis provided through citizen journalism.

Numerous empirical studies on internet banking services (IBS) adoption have focused either on perceived risk or trust; but rarely have they combined these concepts and used empirical evidence to investigate the relationship. This study aims to contribute to this field by looking simultaneously at the roles of trust and perceived risk on consumers' IBS usage intention.

An integrated model explaining the interrelationships between trust, perceived risk and usage intention is developed. The research was conducted on a sample of 432 young Chinese consumers who can be classified as IBS early adopters. The quantitative findings are enhanced by the analysis of extensive qualitative data providing unique insights into this market.

Results indicate that there is a significant relationship between trust and perceived risk and that both are crucial in explaining the internet banking usage intention. Furthermore, trust in the bank is fundamental not only to reducing risk perceptions of IBS in general but also to building trust in the banks' competence in terms of IBS activity.

This research adds value to existing studies of online banking, which largely focus on trust and risk separately. In addition, it enables us to contribute to the current literature on the emerging Chinese IBS market, which is largely under‐researched.

This paper aims to investigate the barriers for adopting mobile banking services. From a methodological perspective, this paper seeks to build on two widely used models for technology adoption, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Innovation Diffusion Theory and to test a model that is better able to predict consumers' intention to use mobile banking.

A research model extends the TAM model by additionally examining the effects of compatibility, trust, credibility, perceived risk and cost on behavioural intention. The empirical approach was based on an online survey of 263 young people in Germany, undertaken during August/September 2009. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling.

The results of the study indicated that compatibility, perceived usefulness, and risk are significant indicators for the adoption of m‐banking services. Compatibility not only had a strong direct effect but was also identified as an important antecedent for perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and credibility. Trust and credibility are crucial in reducing the overall perceived risk of m‐banking.

The results of this study have implications for researchers and practitioners. The proposed model explains 65 per cent of the variance in intention to adopt mobile phone banking, which is more than the 40 per cent of variance typically found in other studies using the TAM. This study provides a basis for further refinement of models to predict technology adoption, in particular the inclusion of compatibility as a predictor of behavioural intention. In terms of behavioural and demographic data, the study focuses on segments of individuals who are most likely to adopt m‐banking.