HATS™ and HATS²™ Thermal Cycling uses a HATS²™ Tester to perform Thermal Shock/Cycling in accordance with IPC-TM-650 method 2.6.7.2 and other industry Thermal Shock/Cycling test methodologies. The HATS²™ Tester uses High Speed "Air" as the heat transfer (fluid) mechanism to heat and cool the test coupons. This methodology changes the air volume in the test chamber surrounding the coupons several times each second. HATS²™ technology provides the maximum possible transfer rate to move heat through the test coupons using Air as a heat transfer mechanism. This changes the limiting thermal factor from the thermal capacity of the test chamber to the coupon's mass and thermal conductivity. HATS²™ technology allows the test coupons to equalize at temperature extremes in 3-6 minutes rather than the 30 minutes required by Dual Chamber and other technologies, greatly speeding up the testing process.

Test Coupon nets are electrically tested (real time) in the HATS²™ Chamber using an updated 4-wire test measurement sub-system to make accurate and repeatable resistance measurements. This allows the HATS²™ tester to determine barrel cracking or interconnection separation in the via structures. HATS²™ testers can test up to 72 IPC-2221B "D" coupons (2 or 3 test nets) , 36 Traditional HATS™ (4-nets) , HATS²™ Single Via Coupons* (7-nets) or Custom 7-net coupons during Reflow Simulation and Thermal Shock/Cycling to determine barrel cracking or interconnection separation in the via structures.

The HATS²™ Tester most closely replicates the "Air" heat transfer mechanism of the widely accepted Dual Chamber technique that has been in use since the 1950's. Other High Speed Thermal Shock technologies use different heat transfer mechanisms like Oil, Liquid Nitrogen, Sand or Circuit Conduction to transfer heat to the coupons which results in different heat transfer rates to and from the test coupons than would occur in air. This will affect test results of the Test Coupons under test. HATS²™ testers can test up to 252 nets (single via structure and daisy-chains) from a variety of industry accepted and custom test coupon styles using up to 7 test nets each. Accomplishing Thermal Shock of 1000 cycles with a full load of coupons can take weeks if not months using other "high speed" technologies due to their limited test coupon/net capacity when compared to the HATS²™ tester. The HATS²™ tester can accomplish 1000 Thermal Shock cycles of 36 to 72 coupons in about a week. Carefully research the methodologies, their heat transfer mechanisms and their ultimate test net capacity before you decide on which technology is right for you.

HATS²™ Convection Reflow Simulation allows the user create multiple Convection Reflow Profiles in accordance with IPC-TM-650 method 2.6.27B or other customer defined reflow profiles. These Reflow Profiles are created in segments using the HATS²™ software and the HATS²™ test system will automatically adjust the surface temperature of the Coupons to match the desired profile, saving significant time and effort. This automatic approach does not require additional Reflow Profiling samples which must be discarded after profiling and does not "guess" the profile based upon Coupon thickness like other Reflow Simulation technologies. The HATS²™ Tester uses High Speed "AIR" as the heat transfer (fluid) mechanism to rapidly heat and cool the test coupons without using Liquid Nitrogen. This provides the maximum possible heat transfer rate to and from the test coupons using AIR as the heat transfer mechanism. This allows a HATS²™ tester to automatically adjust the surface temperatures of test coupons to precisely emulate those encountered when going through any of today's Multi-Zone Convection Reflow Ovens.

A HATS²™ Tester can monitor the resistance on test nets from up to 72 IPC-2221B "D" coupons (2 or 3 net) , 36 Traditional HATS™ (4-net), HATS²™ Single Via* or custom designed coupons (up to 7 test nets) during multiple cycle (up to 100) Convection Reflow Simulations to determine barrel cracking or interconnection separation in the via structures during a simulated component attachment process or to evaluate the robustness of the manufacturing process and materials used. Test Coupon nets are electrically tested in the HATS²™ Chamber using a 4-wire sub-system that allows accurate and repeatable measurements of the test nets in order to determine barrel cracking or interconnection separation of the via structures.

The HATS²™ Tester most closely replicates the "AIR" heat transfer mechanism of the widely accepted Dual Chamber technique that has been in use since the 1950's. Other High Speed Thermal Shock technologies use different heat transfer fluid mechanisms like Oil, Liquid Nitrogen, Sand or Circuit Heating Conduction to transfer heat to the coupons which results in different heat transfer rates to and from the test coupon materials and via structures than would occur in AIR. Other heat transfer mechanisms will affect the results of the Coupons under test. HATS²™ testers can test up to 252 nets (single via structure and daisy-chain) from a variety of industry accepted and custom test coupon styles using up to 7 test nets each. Carefully research the methodologies, their heat transfer mechanisms and their ultimate test net capacity before you decide on which technology is right for you.

HATS²™ Testers are now available for purchase from Reliability Assessment Solutions Inc. For information on Purchasing a HATS²™ Tester please use the Contact Form to express your interest and someone will get back to you. HATS™ & HATS²™ Testing is also performed by Licensed Service Laboratories around the world under ISO/IEC 17025, AALA and/or ITAR certifications. This provides the benefit of having a Professional Test Laboratory with documented quality and calibration systems providing HATS²™ results with other test services available to you (like Failure Analysis) for your test coupons.

Traditional HATS™ and IPC-2221B "D" Coupons are Daisy Chain electrical coupons and can be electrically tested with other Thermal Shock/Cycling Technologies, including Dual Chamber. In addition to these widely used coupons, HATS²™ testers can test HATS²™ Single Via & Custom test Coupons* of up to 7 low resistance test nets which requires a unique measurement system to accurately measure resistances below 0.001 Ohm. Currently no other accelerated Thermal Shock/Cycling Technology can replicate HATS²™ technology measurement capability.

The HATS²™ Tester uses High Speed Air as the heat transfer (fluid) mechanism to heat and cool the test coupons along with a 4-wire resistance measurement system which guarantees high accuracy testing of the coupon nets.

The HATS²™ Tester most closely replicates the "AIR" heat transfer mechanism of the widely accepted Dual Chamber technique that has been in use since the 1950's. Other High Speed Thermal Shock technologies use different heat transfer fluid mechanisms like Oil, Liquid Nitrogen, Sand or Circuit Heating Conduction to transfer heat to the coupons which results in different heat transfer rates to and from the test coupon materials and via structures than would occur in AIR. Other heat transfer mechanisms will affect the results of the Coupons under test. HATS²™ testers can test up to 252 nets (single via structure and daisy-chain) from a variety of industry accepted and custom test coupon styles using up to 7 test nets each.

Accomplishing a Thermal Shock test of 1000 cycles with the volume of coupons/nets that the HATS²™ Tester can achieve in one chamber load can take weeks, if not months using other "high speed" technologies due to their limited test coupon/net capacity and thermal transfer techniques when compared to the HATS²™ tester. The HATS²™ tester can accomplish 1000 Thermal Shock cycles of 36 to 72 coupons in about a week. Carefully research the methodologies, their heat transfer mechanisms and their ultimate test net capacity before you decide on which technology is right for you.

Unlike other Accelerated Testing Techniques, HATS²™ Testing is performed by Licensed Service Laboratories around the world under that carry ISO/IEC 17025, AALA and/or ITAR certifications. This provides the benefit of having a Professional Full Service Test Laboratory with documented quality and calibration systems providing HATS²™ results. These laboratories can also provide other test services to you (like Failure Analysis) for your test coupons. Check to see if your current test service provider truly meets your ISO/IEC 17025, ITAR, quality system or calibration system requirements.

Integrated Reliability Test Systems (IRTS) is now closed and HATS™ testing is currently performed using HATS²™ testers at respected test laboratories (Click Here) under ISO/IEC 17025, AALA and/or ITAR certifications. Bob Neves, one of the original developers of the HATS™ machines and patent, is continuing and updating HATS²™ testing technology and can provides both parts and service to the original HATS™ machines that are in the field.