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Lead-Free/RoHS Information for iButtons
What are "Lead Free" and "RoHS?"
Effective July 1, 2006, certain substances that happen to be contained in iButtons or iButton accessories can no longer be shipped to many places throughout the world, particularly Europe and Asia. Europe has developed a comprehensive policy regarding such restrictions, known as the Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS).
Because iButtons and iButton accessories are electronic devices, the primary element of concern is lead, which is found in solder, lead-frame plating, and various other components. For some components and processes, there is no known substitute for lead and therefore accommodations have been made in the RoHS regulations to allow exemptions for those cases. Products that fall under those exemptions are known as RoHS-compliant, but are not lead free.
How are iButtons and iButton Part Numbers Affected?
iButtons are built in a variety of ways, depending on the device. In order to meet the new regulations, some devices have been converted to internal constructions that are truly lead free. Others have been converted to constructions that utilize the exemptions and are thus RoHS-compliant, though not necessarily lead free.
A new ordering process has been put in place for original construction products that may contain lead. The details of this process entail putting special characters at the end of the part number to indicate RoHS or lead-free construction.
The RoHS and lead-free nomenclature, product marking, product availability, and how this may impact lead times can be found on our Lead-Free/RoHS Notice and Ordering Information page.
iButton Accessories
Note that in some cases, particularly for many of the iButton accessories, the product has always been lead free. However, for consistency, we are still going to migrate those products to the new part number nomenclature so that there is no doubt about their composition.
For example, a DS9093A plastic key fob obviously has no lead content. However, because we have implemented a part number nomenclature change to indicate lead-free products by adding the trailing "+" character, the DS9093A part number will transition to DS9093A+. There is no change to the product, only the part number, so as to be consistent with the new part numbering scheme.
For complete information on our transition to lead free and RoHS-compliant parts, see Maxim/Dallas Semiconductor's EMMI web site.
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