Institute of Interconnecting and Packaging Electronic Circuits (IPC)
Status
Scope
Solder masks are used on a large number of surface mount printed circuit designs.
Solder masks need to be chemically resistant to assembly processes and have good
electrical insulation properties. Solder masks also perform the function of preventing
solder bridging between component leads and external circuit traces. Photoimageable
and pattern type solder masks are available. Criteria such as placement assistance,
resolution, encapsulation, soldering/cleaning, and tenting of vies are considerations
used in the selection of the solder mask type to be specified for an assembly. (See
Articles 5.1 and 5.2)