BTU International installed the first of its Pyramax Vacuum reflow oven product line in the APL for solder reflow studies to be shared with AREA consortium members. This oven operates like a standard convection reflow oven but includes an automated vacuum chamber in the hot zone capable of evacuating the ambient pressure down to 1 Torr. Consortium-sponsored reflow experiments include evaluations of vacuum level and vacuum hold time and determine how these parameters quantitatively affect solder joint voiding and defect generation in test components such as QFNs and CSPs of varying sizes. The vacuum process parameters required to achieve the desired void reduction varies significantly with package size and format.