The “Regulation of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS)” of the European Community has influenced a wide range of consumer products. Since the RoHS regulation enforces a limit for lead to a maximum concentration level of 1000 ppm in homogenous materials, the composition of solder has changed dramatically. Lead-based solders had to be replaced by more expensive Sn-Ag-Cu based solders (LFS – Lead-free solder) with technical challenges especially for industrial processes. Manufacturers now have to control all electronic compounds of a product along their supply chain to ensure that their products are lead-free. The detection of low concentrations of Cadmium has become even more important, since the limit must not exceed 100 ppm. This cannot be done quickly and easily by any other analytical methods than XRF.

One task for the wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer S8 TIGER installed in central and service laboratories is the analysis of lead-free solders. The analytical performance of the S8 TIGER for the LFS application is shown in this report.