LASER MANUFACTURING OF SOLDER PREFORMS

1 . A method of making a solder preform, comprising:

receiving a ribbon of raw material,

forming a first annular solder preform by laser cutting the ribbon along an exterior peripheral cutting edge and an interior peripheral cutting edge; and

cleaning the exterior peripheral cutting edge and the interior peripheral cutting edge of the first annular solder preform.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising laser cutting a second annular solder preform from an inner cutout section of the first annular solder preform.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the inner cutout section has an outer perimeter defined by the interior peripheral cutting edge of the first annular solder preform.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the cleaning is performed by ultrasonically removing carbon on the exterior peripheral cutting edge and the interior peripheral cutting edge of the first annular solder preform.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the ribbon of raw material is formed from a gold-tin alloy, a lead-based alloy, or a lead-free alloy.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the gold-tin alloy is about 80 wt % gold and about 20 wt % tin.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising remelting and refining unused portions of the ribbon.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the annular solder preform is in the shape of a square, rectangle, or disc.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the annular solder preform has a melting temperature of from about 200° C. to about 350° C.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the exterior peripheral cutting edge and the interior peripheral cutting edge are free of burrs.

11 . The method of claim 1 , a plurality of annular solder preforms are formed from the ribbon of raw material.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the exterior peripheral cutting edge and the interior peripheral cutting edge of the first annular solder preform are each laser cut from the ribbon in about 1.5 seconds.

13 . An annular solder preform prepared by:

receiving a ribbon of raw material;

laser cutting the ribbon along an exterior peripheral cutting edge and an interior peripheral cutting edge; and

cleaning the exterior peripheral cutting edge and the interior peripheral cutting edge to obtain the annular solder preform.

14 . The annular solder preform of claim 13 , wherein the raw material is a gold-tin alloy.

15 . The annular solder preform of claim 13 , wherein an outer perimeter of the annular solder preform is in the shape of a square having a length and a width of about 0.3 inches, and an inner perimeter of the annular solder preform is in the shape of a square having a length and a width of about 0.25 inches.

16 . The annular solder preform of claim 13 , wherein the annular solder preform is in the shape of a square, rectangle, or disc.

17 . A method of using an annular solder preform in a frame lid assembly, comprising:

tack welding the annular solder preform to a cover lid;

melting the annular solder preform; and

fusing the cover lid to an insulating base that is shaped to include a cavity using the melted annular solder preform;

wherein the first annular solder preform is made by laser cutting a ribbon of raw material along an exterior peripheral cutting edge and an interior peripheral cutting edge; and

cleaning the exterior peripheral cutting edge and the interior peripheral cutting edge to obtain the annular solder preform.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the cover lid is made from beryllium-copper, molybdenum, bronze, glass, an iron-nickel-cobalt alloy, or a ceramic selected from the group consisting of alumina (Al 2 O 3 ), beryllia (BeO), aluminum nitride (AlN), zirconia toughened alumina (ZTA), SiC, and Si 3 N 4 .

19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the annular solder preform is formed from a gold-tin alloy containing about 80wt % gold and about 20 wt % tin.

20 . A method of making multiple solder preforms from a single ribbon, comprising:

receiving a ribbon of raw material formed from an alloy having about 80 wt % gold and about 20 wt % tin;

forming a first annular solder preform by laser cutting the ribbon along an exterior peripheral cutting edge and an interior peripheral cutting edge, the interior peripheral cutting edge defining an outer perimeter of an inner cutout section; and

laser cutting a second annular solder preform from the inner cutout section of the first annular solder preform.