Electronic Packaging and Interconnection Handbook

Rating:
Summary: A Professional writes a professional book
Review: I know Mr. Harper is well-known in electronic packaging field. His presentations have been read and studied in China. I think this book must be a best-seller in electronic packaging world. I wish I could buy one if it is possible in China.

Rating:
Summary: Not A Must Own, But A Good Book
Review: Today, product performance requirements and environmental concerns force designers and productassemblers to become more aware and involved in electronic packaging and interconnect decisions than ever before. Product performance requirements spiral from the effects of increasing operating speed, decreasing package size, lowering cost, and reducing time to market. These spiraling requirements decrease the emphasis on traditional component packaging, raise new component packaging and handling issues, and place more responsibility for packaging on the assembler, all the while increasing component and product complexity. Environmental concerns drive new requirements for cleaning, interconnection, and reclaiming and conserving resources; and political responses to issues, previously beyond the scope of influence on engineers and scientists.

Maybe addressing all of those issues is too much to expect of one book, but Charles Harper comes close in the latest (3rd) edition of Electronic Packaging and Interconnection Handbook. While many books have a narrower focus, few books in electronics cover the breadth of topics in Harper's Handbook. Major sections are: Fundamental Technologies, Interconnection Technology, and System Packaging Technology. The section on Fundamental Technologies has chapters on Materials For Electronic Packaging, Thermal Management, Thermal And Mechanical Stress Behavior In Electronic Packaging, Connectors And Interconnection Technology, Wiring And Cabling, and Solder Technologies For Electronic Packaging And Assembly. The next section, Interconnection Technology, includes chapters on Packaging And Interconnection Of Integrated Circuit Packaging, Surface Mount Technologies, Hybrid Microelectronics And Multichip Modules, Chip Scale Packaging And Direct Chip Attach Technologies, and Rigid And Flexible Printed Wiring Boards

Mr. Harper wrote this book to aid in the practice of implementing electronic designs into products. In Harper's multi-disciplined approach to describing electronic packing and interconnect, he calls on 19 recognized specialists from industry and academia to make sense of this complicated, interdisciplinary field. It is a unique collection of key data, facts, practical guidance, and circuit and package design basics. The book covers the practice of electronics packaging from the fundamentals to new technologies. It can be read, understood, and used by design, quality, and manufacturing engineers to build a foundation of practical knowledge of topics and without a need for complex analysis. It's a good starting point to learn about an unfamiliar topic, because the book provides information on wide range of topics that are just beyond the range of the familiar areas of one's day-to-activities, regardless of one's field of endeavor.

Another point of comparison is another handbook. From a breadth of coverage, clarity of purpose, discipline, and execution; Juran's Quality Control Handbook has to be the bench mark for evaluating for all other handbooks. From that perspective, Harper falls short. Admittedly, Juran has a thirty year and two edition head-start, but it is better organized and written, tightly edited, and has overcome Harper's single biggest shortcoming, an index of limited utility.

The Electronic Packaging and Interconnection Handbook is a good book, covering a broad range of topics that will fill-in the gaps of knowledge between other books on your book shelf.