SAC–xTiO2 nano-reinforced lead-free solder joint characterizations in ultra-fine package assembly

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fakhrozi Che Ani ◽  
Azman Jalar ◽  
Abdullah Aziz Saad ◽  
Chu Yee Khor ◽  
Roslina Ismail ◽  
...  

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the characteristics of ultra-fine lead-free solder joints reinforced with TiO2 nanoparticles in an electronic assembly. Design/methodology/approach This study focused on the microstructure and quality of solder joints. Various percentages of TiO2 nanoparticles were mixed with a lead-free Sn-3.5Ag-0.7Cu solder paste. This new form of nano-reinforced lead-free solder paste was used to assemble a miniature package consisting of an ultra-fine capacitor on a printed circuit board by means of a reflow soldering process. The microstructure and the fillet height were investigated using a focused ion beam, a high-resolution transmission electron microscope system equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS), and a field emission scanning electron microscope coupled with an EDS and X-ray diffraction machine. Findings The experimental results revealed that the intermetallic compound with the lowest thickness was produced by the nano-reinforced solder with a TiO2 content of 0.05 Wt.%. Increasing the TiO2 content to 0.15 Wt.% led to an improvement in the fillet height. The characteristics of the solder joint fulfilled the reliability requirements of the IPC standards. Practical implications This study provides engineers with a profound understanding of the characteristics of ultra-fine nano-reinforced solder joint packages in the microelectronics industry. Originality/value The findings are expected to provide proper guidelines and references with regard to the manufacture of miniaturized electronic packages. This study also explored the effects of TiO2 on the microstructure and the fillet height of ultra-fine capacitors.

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fakhrozi Che Ani ◽  
Azman Jalar ◽  
Abdullah Aziz Saad ◽  
Chu Yee Khor ◽  
Mohamad Aizat Abas ◽  
...  

Purpose This study aims to investigate the NiO nano-reinforced solder joint characteristics of ultra-fine electronic package. Design/methodology/approach Lead-free Sn-Ag-Cu (SAC) solder paste was mixed with various percentages of NiO nanoparticles to prepare the new form of nano-reinforced solder paste. The solder paste was applied to assemble the ultra-fine capacitor using the reflow soldering process. A focussed ion beam, high resolution transmission electron microscopy system equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) was used in this study. In addition, X-ray inspection system, field emission scanning electron microscopy coupled with EDS, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and nanoindenter were used to analyse the solder void, microstructure, hardness and fillet height of the solder joint. Findings The experimental results revealed that the highest fillet height was obtained with the content of 0.01 Wt.% of nano-reinforced NiO, which fulfilled the reliability requirements of the international IPC standard. However, the presence of the NiO in the lead-free solder paste only slightly influenced the changes of the intermetallic layer with the increment of weighted percentage. Moreover, the simulation method was applied to observe the distribution of NiO nanoparticles in the solder joint. Originality/value The findings are expected to provide a profound understanding of nano-reinforced solder joint’s characteristics of the ultra-fine package.


2015 ◽  
Vol 772 ◽  
pp. 284-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabuj Mallik ◽  
Jude Njoku ◽  
Gabriel Takyi

Voiding in solder joints poses a serious reliability concern for electronic products. The aim of this research was to quantify the void formation in lead-free solder joints through X-ray inspections. Experiments were designed to investigate how void formation is affected by solder bump size and shape, differences in reflow time and temperature, and differences in solder paste formulation. Four different lead-free solder paste samples were used to produce solder bumps on a number of test boards, using surface mount reflow soldering process. Using an advanced X-ray inspection system void percentages were measured for three different size and shape solder bumps. Results indicate that the voiding in solder joint is strongly influenced by solder bump size and shape, with voids found to have increased when bump size decreased. A longer soaking period during reflow stage has negatively affectedsolder voids. Voiding was also accelerated with smaller solder particles in solder paste.


2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 98-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janusz Sitek ◽  
Wojciech Stęplewski ◽  
Kamil Janeczek ◽  
Marek Kościelski ◽  
Krzysztof Lipiec ◽  
...  

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the influence of assembly parameters on lead-free solder joints reliability in Package-on-Package (PoP) Technology and demonstrate factors important for this issue. Design/methodology/approach – Two types of soldering materials and three different assembly procedures were used for assembly of PoP system. The reliability properties of assembled PoP systems were investigated using accelerated aging and periodic resistance measurements of daisy-chain solder joints systems. The purpose of such approach was to determine which soldering material (flux or solder paste) as well as which assembly process parameter (dipping depth of upper component in soldering material), would provide better reliability properties of the solder joints in the PoP system. Findings – It was stated that both selected flux and solder paste dedicated to assembly of PoP systems can be utilized in soldering of PoP applications. More reliable PoP systems applications require larger attention regarding materials selection and assembly parameters. It is recommended 50 per cent dipping depth of ball’s height into soldering material during upper PoP component assembly for more reliable applications. For less demanding PoP systems, the process window from 30 up to 70 per cent is acceptable. All observed failures after thermal shocks occurred in upper PoP components. Originality/value – This paper explains how materials and assembly parameters have influence on lead-free solder joints reliability in PoP systems. Especially, influence of process window for dipping procedure of upper components balls into soldering material was presented.


Author(s):  
Sami T. Nurmi ◽  
Janne J. Sundelin ◽  
Eero O. Ristolainen ◽  
Toivo K. Lepisto¨

As environmental issues are raising more interest and are becoming crucial factors in all parts of the world, more and more environmental-friendly electronics products are emerging. Usually this means the introduction of products with lead-free solders. However, the reliability of lead-free solders is still a serious concern despite the vast research done in this field. This paper will describe the interconnect reliability of three kinds of solder joints respectively prepared with lead-free solder paste and lead-free PBGA components, lead-free solder paste and tin-lead-silver PBGA components, and tin-lead solder paste and tin-lead-silver PBGA components. Lead-free and tin-lead solders were composed of eutectic tin-silver-copper and tin-lead, respectively. In addition, the study also presents the effect of multiple reflow times. The study focuses on the microstructures of different assemblies. The particular interest is on the assemblies soldered with lead-free solder paste and tin-lead-silver PBGA components, since the SnPbAg solder on the bumps of the PBGA components were exposed to the reflow profile meant for the lead-free SnAgCu solder. Thus, these SnPbAg solder bumps were in the molten state almost twice as long as the rest of the solders. This had a notable effect on the reliability of these solder joints as we will be showing later in this paper. The test boards were temperature-cycled for 2500 cycles between −40 and +125°C (a 30-minute cycle). PBGA solder joint failures were monitored with a real time monitoring system. Optical and scanning electron microscopy was used to inspect the broken solder joints and their microstructure. The results of tests indicate that the number of reflow times can significantly affect the lifetime of PBGA solder joints. The most notable changes can be seen in the solder joints made with tin-lead-silver PBGA components and tin-silver-copper solder paste soldered with a lead-free reflow profile. The general trend was that the reliability of the solder joints increased in proportion to the number of reflow times. Mainly two factors are believed to have the major effect on the reliability of PBGA solder joints, voids, and microstructural changes in solder.


2012 ◽  
Vol 622-623 ◽  
pp. 195-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.A.A. Mohd Salleh ◽  
A.R. Nik Nurhidayatul Suhada ◽  
Flora Somidin ◽  
Rafezi Ahmad Khairel ◽  
C.S. Lee ◽  
...  

Electromigration effects on the solder joint formation of 99.3Sn-0.7Cu and 96.5Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu lead-free solder with Cu electroplated Ni layer wire were investigated. The electromigration effects on the solder joints were studied after current density stressing at 1 x 103 A/cm2 in room temperature for 0 h, 120 h, and 240 h. The research work found that intermetallic compound (IMC) formation on the joint is increases for both solders with longer period of current stress applied. Higher IMC thickness growth in 99.3Sn-0.7Cu solder joint compared to 99.3Sn-0.7Cu is detected and both anode regions of the solder joints show higher IMC thickness growth compared to cathode region. Experimental results show 99.3Sn-0.7Cu solder joint is more prone to failure under current stress compared to 96.5Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu solder joint with thicker IMC which translates to higher brittleness.


Author(s):  
N. Islam ◽  
J. C. Suhling ◽  
P. Lall ◽  
T. Shete ◽  
H. S. Gale ◽  
...  

In this study, we have examined the thermal cycling reliability of several lead free chip resistor solder joint configurations. Five sizes of resistors (2512, 1206, 0805, 0603, 0402), 2 temperature ranges (−40 to 125°C and −40 to 150°C), and five different solder types have been examined. The solders include the normal SnAgCu alloy recommended by earlier studies (95.5Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu), and several variations that include small percentages of Bismuth and Indium to enhance fatigue resistance. Results have been compared to data for standard 63Sn-37Pb joints.


Author(s):  
Debabrata Mondal ◽  
Abdullah Fahim ◽  
KM Rafidh Hassan ◽  
Jeffrey C. Suhling ◽  
Pradeep Lall

Abstract Lead-free solder joints are the most widely used interconnects in electronic packaging industries. Usually solder joints in most of the electronic devices are exposed to an environment where variation of temperature exists, which indicates cyclic thermal loading to be a very common type of external loading. Moreover, due to difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) among dissimilar contact materials, shear stress develops in junctions under thermal loading, which significantly deteriorates the overall reliability. Hence, characterization of lead-free solder materials under thermal loading is essential to predict the performance and deformation behavior of joints in practical applications. A significant portion of the studies in this field are concerned with thermal loading of lead-free solder interconnects, each of which has a very small diameter, in sub-millimeter range. Although the solder balls have very small dimensions, most of the analyses considered them as a bulk material with homogeneous and isotropic properties. However, with the decrease of specimen dimensions, size effects and material directionality play a significant role in deformation mechanisms. Since a very few grains exist in a small specimen, individual grain properties play a vital role on overall material response. Therefore, modeling from the grain structure and orientation point of view could be an effective and more accurate way to predict solder joint deformation behavior under thermal loading. In this study, the effect of grain size and orientation of SAC305 is investigated for predicting anisotropic behavior of solder joints under thermal load. A simplified three-dimensional model of beach-ball configuration solder joint was generated and simulated using ABAQUS finite element (FE) software. Experimentally obtained directional properties such as elastic modulus and CTE were assigned to the computational geometry to create material anisotropy. The effects of material anisotropy were studied for varying grain size specimens, as well as for specimens with varying grain orientation.


Author(s):  
Takahiro Akutsu ◽  
Qiang Yu

This paper presents the influence of the micro structure on the crack propagation in lead free solder joint. The author’s group have studied the Manson-Coffin’s law for lead free solder joint by using the isothermal fatigue test and FEM analytical approaches to establish the practicable evaluation of thermal fatigue life of solder joints, for example, for the Sn-Cu-Ni solder, because this solder is attracted from the aspect of the decrease of solder leach in the flow process and material cost. However, even if the same loading is given to the solder joints of BGA test piece, there was a large dispersion in the fatigue life. Even though the effect of the shape difference has been considered, the range of the dispersion could not been explained sufficiently. In the study, the fatigue crack propagation modes in the solder joints were investigated, and an internal fatigue crack mode and an interfacial fatigue crack mode were confirmed. And the tendency of a shorter on fatigue life in the interfacial fatigue mode was confirmed. To clarify the mechanism of these fatigue crack modes, the crystal grain size in the solder joints was investigated before the fatigue test and also after the test. Furthermore, the verification of the mechanism using FEM models considering the crystal grain size was carried out. First of all, each element in FEM models matching to the average crystal grain size was made. Second, the inelastic strain ranges in each FEM models were studied. As a result, it was shown that the influence of the crude density of the crystal grain to the fatigue crack progress can be evaluated. In addition, the micro structure of the solder joint of large-scale electronic devices is observed, and FEM model was made based on the observation result. As a result, it was shown that the influence of the directionality with the crystal grain to the fatigue crack progress can be evaluated.


2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (25n27) ◽  
pp. 4553-4558
Author(s):  
OUK SUB LEE ◽  
NO HOON MYOUNG ◽  
DONG HYEOK KIM ◽  
MAN JAE HUR ◽  
SI WOON HWANG

The use of BGA (Ball Grid Array) interconnects utilizing the lead-free solder joint has grown rapidly because of its small volume and diversity of application. Thus, it requires the continuous quantification and refinement of lead-free solder joint reliability. The lead-free solder creep and cyclically applied mechanical loads cause metal fatigue on the lead-free solder joint which inevitably leads to an electrical discontinuity. In the field application, BGA solder joints experience mechanical loads during temperature changes caused by power up/down events as the result of the CTE (Coefficient of Thermal Expansion) mismatch between the substrate and the Si die. In this paper, extremely small resistance changes at joint area corresponding to through-cracks generated by thermal fatigue were measured. In this way, the failure was defined in terms of anomalous changes in electrical resistance of the joint. Furthermore the reliability of BGA solder joints in thermal cycling is evaluated by using the modified coffin-Manson criterion which may define and distinguish failure. Any change in circuit resistance according to the accumulated damage induced by the thermal cycling in the joint was recorded and evaluated in order to quantitate reliability of solder joint.


2011 ◽  
Vol 291-294 ◽  
pp. 929-933
Author(s):  
Ying Ming Shen ◽  
Fang Juan Qi ◽  
Min Xie ◽  
Jian Li

The effect of nano-Cu particles on mechanical bend reliability of micro-joining joint with Sn-3.5Ag lead free solder was studied in this paper. The results show that 0.5% nano-Cu composite lead free solder show significantly better shearing strength and mechanical bend fatigue properties than eutectic Sn-3.5Ag solder paste, 1.0% nano-Cu composites and 1.5% nano-Cu composites. The further analysis shows that adding nano-Cu particles make much effect on intermetallic (IMC) in the interface of micro-joint and the inside of the solder joint. The different interface of micro-joining joint induced different mechanical properties.


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