Comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) of modern interconnection techniques for printed board assemblies

By Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) we will here mean a method to take into account the environmental burdens of a product already in the design stage. To exemplify LCA for electronic products, we have chosen to compare three different interconnection techniques: ordinary Surface Mount Technology (SMT), Chip-on-Board (COB) using gold wire bonding, and Flip-Chip using eutectic soldering. In this analysis, we have included raw materials production and use.