Board level solder joint reliability analysis and optimization of pyramidal stacked die BGA packages

Due to requirements of cost-saving and miniaturization, stacked die BGA has recently gained popularity in many applications. However, its board level solder joint reliability during the thermal cycling test is not as well-studied as common single die BGA. In this paper, solder joint fatigue of wirebond stacked die BGA is analyzed in detail. 3D fatigue model is established for stacked die BGA with considerations of detailed pad design, realistic shape of solder ball, and non-linear material properties. The fatigue model applied is based on a modified Darveaux's approach with non-linear viscoplastic analysis of solder joints. The critical solder ball is observed located between the top and bottom dice corner, and failure interface is along the top solder/pad interface. The modeling predicted fatigue life is first correlated to the thermal cycling test results using modified correlation constants, curve-fitted from in-house TFBGA (thin-profile fine-pitch BGA) thermal cycling test data. Subsequently, design analyses are performed to study the effects of 16 key design variations in package dimensions, material properties, and thermal cycling test conditions. In general, smaller top and bottom dice sizes, thicker top or bottom die, thinner PCB, thicker substrate, higher solder ball standoff, larger solder mask opening size, smaller maximum ball diameter, smaller PCB pad size, smaller thermal cycling temperature range, longer ramp time, and shorter dwell time contribute to longer fatigue life. The effect of number of layers of stacked-die is also investigated. Finally, design optimization is performed based on selected critical design variables.     

Board level solder joint reliability modeling and testing of TFBGA packages for telecommunication applications

For thin-profile fine-pitch BGA (TFBGA) packages, board level solder joint reliability during the thermal cycling test is a critical issue. In this paper, both global and local parametric 3D FEA fatigue models are established for TFBGA on board with considerations of detailed pad design, realistic shape of solder joint, and nonlinear material properties. They have the capability to predict the fatigue life of solder joint during the thermal cycling test within ±13% error. The fatigue model applied is based on a modified Darveaux’s approach with nonlinear viscoplastic analysis of solder joints. A solder joint damage model is used to establish a connection between the strain energy density (SED) per cycle obtained from the FEA model and the actual characteristic life during the thermal cycling test. For the test vehicles studied, the maximum SED is observed at the top corner of outermost diagonal solder ball. The modeling predicted fatigue life is first correlated to the thermal cycling test results using modified correlation constants, curve-fitted from in-house BGA thermal cycling test data. Subsequently, design analysis is performed to study the effects of 14 key package dimensions, material properties, and thermal cycling test condition. In general, smaller die size, higher solder ball standoff, smaller maximum solder ball diameter, bigger solder mask opening, thinner board, higher mold compound CTE, smaller thermal cycling temperature range, and depopulated array type of ball layout pattern contribute to longer fatigue life.     

Comprehensive board-level solder joint reliability modeling and testing of QFN and PowerQFN packages

For quad flat non-lead (QFN) packages, board-level solder joint reliability during thermal cycling test is a critical issue. In this paper, a parametric 3D FEA sliced model is established for QFN on board with considerations of detailed pad design, realistic shape of solder joint and solder fillet, and non-linear material properties. It has the capability to predict the fatigue life of solder joint during thermal cycling test within ±34% error. The fatigue model applied is based on a modified Darveaux’s approach with non-linear viscoplastic analysis of solder joints. A solder joint damage model is used to establish a connection between the strain energy density (SED) per cycle obtained from the FEA model and the actual characteristic life during thermal cycling test. For the test vehicles studied, the maximum SED is observed mostly at the top corner of peripheral solder joint. The modeling predicted fatigue life is first correlated to thermal cycling test results using modified correlation constants, curve-fitted from in-house QFN thermal cycling test data. Subsequently, design analysis is performed to study the effects of 17 key package dimensions, material properties, and thermal cycling test condition. Generally, smaller package size, smaller die size, bigger pad size, thinner PCB, higher mold compound CTE, higher solder standoff, and extra soldering at the center pad help to enhance the fatigue life. Comparisons are made with thermal cycling test results to confirm the relative trends of certain effects. Another enhanced QFN design with better solder joint reliability, PowerQFN, is also studied and compared with QFN of the same package size.     

Impact of laminate cracks under solder pads on the fatigue lives of ball grid array solder joints

This paper reports how the solder joint fatigue lives of three types of lead free plastic BGA components were affected by cracks formed in the printed PCB laminate during a thermal cycling test. The investigation showed that cracks were formed in the laminate for all three tested components. For one of the components having a large chip with solder joints located under the chip, very large cracks were formed in the PCB laminate beneath some solder pads.For lead-free solder joints to BGA components consisting of near eutectic solders based on tin, silver and copper, a large fraction of the solder joints may consist of one single tin grain. Due to anisotropy of tin grains, each solder joint to a BGA component will experience a unique stress condition which will make laminate cracking more likely under certain solder joints.The laminate cracks increased the flexibility of the joints and thereby improved the fatigue lives of the solder joints. Therefore, an estimation of the fatigue lives of solder joints to BGA components based on the results from a thermal cycling test may lead to an overestimation of the fatigue lives if products will be exposed to smaller temperature changes in the field than in the test.If cracks are not formed in the PCB laminate, or if the extent of cracking is small, single-grained solder joints can be expected to result in a high spread in failure distribution with some quite early failures.     

Reliability of Lead-Free Solder Interconnections in Thermal and Power Cycling Tests

Lead-free solder interconnection reliability of thin fine-pitch ball grid array (BGA) lead-free packages has been studied experimentally as well as with finite-element (FE) simulations. The reliability tests were composed of the thermal shock test, the local thermal cycling test (resistors embedded in the board around the package), and the power cycling test (heat generation in the die). A 3-D board-level finite-element analysis (FEA) with local models was carried out to estimate the reliability of the solder interconnections under various test conditions. Due to the transient nature of the local thermal cycling test and the power cycling test, a sequential thermal-structural coupling analysis was employed to simulate the transient temperature distribution as well as the mechanical responses. Darveaux's approach was used to predict the life time of the solder interconnections. Furthermore, the numerical results validated by the experimental results indicated that the diagonal solder interconnections beneath the die edge were the most critical ones of all the tests studied here. It has been found that the fatigue life in the power cycling test was much longer than that in the other two tests. Detailed discussions about the failure mechanism of solder interconnections as well as the microstructural observations of the primary cracks are reported in this paper.      

Random vibration reliability of BGA lead-free solder joint

Solder joint fatigue failure under vibration loading has been a great concern in microelectronic industry. High-cycle fatigue failure of lead-free solder joints has not been adequately addressed, especially under random vibration loading. This study aims to understand the lead-free solder joint behavior of BGA packages under different random vibration loadings. At first, non-contact TV Laser holography technology was adopted to conduct experimental modal analysis of the test vehicle (printed circuit board assembly) in order to understand its dynamic characteristics. Then, its first order natural frequency was used as the center frequency and narrow-band random vibration fatigue tests with different kinds of acceleration power spectral density (PSD) amplitudes were respectively carried out. Electrical continuity through each BGA package is monitored during the vibration event in order to detect the failure of package-to-board interconnects. The typical dynamic voltage histories of failed solder joints were obtained simultaneously. Thirdly, failed solder joints were cross-sectioned and metallurgical analysis was applied to investigate the failure mechanisms of BGA lead-free solder joints under random vibration loading. The results show that the failure mechanisms of BGA lead-free solder joint vary as the acceleration PSD amplitude increases. Solder joint failure locations are changed from the solder bump body of the PCB side to the solder ball neck, finally to the Ni/intermetallic compound (IMC) interface of the package side. The corresponding failure modes are also converted from ductile fracture to brittle fracture with the increase of vibration intensity.     

Impact life prediction modeling of TFBGA packages under board level drop test

Reliability performance of IC packages during drop impact is critical, especially for handheld electronic products. Currently, there is no model that provides good correlation with experimental measurements of acceleration and impact life. In this paper, detailed drop tests and simulations are performed on TFBGA (thin-profile fine-pitch BGA) and VFBGA (very-thin-profile fine-pitch BGA) packages at board level using testing procedures developed in-house. The packages are susceptible to solder joint failures, induced by a combination of PCB bending and mechanical shock during impact. The critical solder ball is observed to occur at the outermost corner solder joint, and fails along the solder and PCB pad interface. Various testing parameters are studied experimentally and analytically, to understand the effects of drop height, drop orientation, number of PCB mounting screws to fixture, position of component on board, PCB bending, solder material, etc. Drop height, felt thickness, and contact conditions are used to fine-tune the shape and level of shock pulse required. Board level drop test can be better controlled, compared with system or product level test such as impact of mobile phone, which sometimes has rather unpredictable results due to higher complexity and variations in drop orientation. At the same time, dynamic simulation is performed to compare with experimental results. The model established has close values of peak acceleration and impact duration as measured in actual drop test. The failure mode and critical solder ball location predicted by modeling correlate well with testing. For the first time, an accurate life prediction model is proposed for board level drop test to estimate the number of drops to failure for a package. For the correlation cases studied, the maximum normal peeling stresses of critical solder joints correlate well with the mean impact lives measured during the drop test. The uncertainty of impact life prediction is within ±4 drops, for a typical test of 50 drops. With this new model, a failure-free state can be determined, and drop test performance of new package design can be quantified, and further enhanced through modeling. This quantitative approach is different from traditional qualitative modeling, as it provides both accurate relative and absolute impact life prediction. The relative performance of package may be different under board level drop test and thermal cycling test. Different design guidelines should be considered, depending on application and area of concern.     

Solder joint fatigue life of fine pitch BGAs – impact of design and material choices

The impact of design and material choices on solder joint fatigue life for fine pitch BGA packages is characterized. Package variables included die size, package size, ball count, pitch, mold compound, and substrate material. Test board variables included thickness, pad configuration, and pad size. Three thermal cycle conditions were used.Fatigue life increased by up to 6× as die size was reduced. For a given die size, fatigue life was up to 2× longer for larger packages with more solder balls. Mold compounds with higher filler content reduced fatigue life by up to 2× due to a higher stiffness and lower thermal expansion coefficient. Upilex S tape with punched holes gave 1.15× life improvement over Kapton E tape with etched holes. Once optimized, tape-based packages have equal board level reliability to laminate-based packages.Solder joint fatigue life was 1.2× longer for 0.9 mm thick test boards compared to 1.6 mm thick boards due to a lower assembly stiffness. The optimum PCB pad design depends on failure location. For CSP applications, NSMD test board pads give up to 3.1× life improvement over SMD pads. For a completely fan-out design, there was a 1.6× acceleration factor between −40125°C, 15 min ramps, 15 min dwells and 0100°C, 10 min ramps, 5 min dwells.     

Optimal design towards enhancement of board-level thermomechanical reliability of wafer-level chip-scale packages

In this paper we study board-level thermomechanical reliability of a wafer-level chip-scale package subjected to an accelerated thermal cycling test condition. Different control factors are considered for a robust design towards enhancement of the thermal fatigue resistance of solder joints. These factors include diameter, pitch, and standoff of the solder joints, size of the solder connection opening on the die side, thickness of the pad on the test board, thickness of the test board, and dimension of the die. The Taguchi method along with the technique of analysis of variance are applied in the robust design process. Importance of these factors on the thermomechanical reliability of the package is ranked and the resulting robust design is further verified.     

Application of the Taguchi method to chip scale package (CSP)design

A three-dimensional (3-D) nonlinear finite element model of an overmolded chip scale package (CSP) on flex-tape carrier has been developed by using ANSYS^TM finite element simulation code. The model has been used to optimize the package for robust design and to determine design rules to keep package warpage within acceptable Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) limits. An L₁₈ Taguchi matrix has been developed to investigate the effect of die thickness and die size, mold compound material and thickness, flex-tape thickness, die attach epoxy and copper trace thicknesses, and solder bail collapsed stand-off height on the reliability of the package during temperature cycling. For package failures, simulations performed represent temperature cycling 125°C to -40°C. This condition is approximated by cooling the package which is mounted on a multilayer printed circuit board (PCB) from 125°C to -40°C. For solder ball coplanarity analysis, simulations have been performed without the PCB and the lowest temperature of the cycle is changed to 25°C. Predicted results indicate that for an optimum design, that is low stress in the package and low package warpage, the package should have smaller die with thicker overmold. In addition to the optimization analysis, plastic strain distribution on each solder ball has been determined to predict the location of solder ball with the highest strain level. The results indicate that the highest strain levels are attained in solder balls located at the edge of the die. The strain levels could then be used to predict the fatigue life of individual solder balls     

基于埋置式基板的3D-MCM封装结构的研制

研制一种用于无线传感网的多芯片组件（3D-MCM) . 采用层压、开槽等工艺获得埋置式高密度多层有机（FR-4）基板,通过板上芯片（COB) 、板上倒装芯片（FCOB) 、球栅阵列（BGA）等技术,并通过引线键合、倒装焊等多种互连方式将不同类型的半导体芯片三维封装于一种由叠层模块所形成的立体封装结构中;通过封装表层的植球工艺形成与表面组装技术（SMT）兼容的BGA器件输出端子;利用不同熔点焊球实现了工艺兼容的封装体内各级BGA的垂直互连,形成了融合多种互连方式3D-MCM封装结构. 埋置式基板的应用解决了BGA与引线键合芯片同面组装情况下芯片封装面高出焊球高度的关键问题. 对封装结构的散热特性进行了数值模拟和测试,结果表明组件具有高的热机械可靠性. 电学测试结果表明组件实现了电功能,从而满足了无线传感网小型化、高可靠性和低成本的设计要求.     

弯曲应力状况下微型BGA封装可靠性比较研究

微型球栅阵列（μBGA）是芯片规模封装（CSP）的一种形式,已发展成为最先进的表面贴装器件之一。在最新的IxBGA类型中使用低共晶锡．铅焊料球,而不是电镀镍金凸点。采用传统的表面贴装技术进行焊接,研讨μBGA的PCB装配及可靠性。弯曲循环试验（1000～1000με）,用不同的热因数（Qη）回流,研究μBGA、PBGA和CBGA封装的焊点疲劳失效问题。确定液相线上时间,测定温度,μBGA封装的疲劳寿命首先增大,接着随加热因数的增加而下降。当Q。接近500S·℃时,出现寿命最大值。最佳Qη范围在300-750s·℃之间,此范围如果装配是在氮气氛中回流,μBGA封装的寿命大于4500个循环。采用扫描电子显微镜（SEM）,来检查μBGA和PBGA封装在所有加热N数状况下焊点的失效。每个断裂接近并平行于PCB焊盘,在μBGA封装中裂纹总是出现在焊接点与PCB焊盘连接的尖角点,接着在Ni3Sn4金属间化合物（IMC）层和焊料之间延伸。CBGA封装可靠性试验中,失效为剥离现象,发生于陶瓷基体和金属化焊盘之间的界面处。     

Optimization of board-level thermomechanical reliability of high performance flip-chip package assembly

In this paper, we study board-level thermomechanical reliability of a high performance flip-chip ball grid array package assembly subjected to an accelerated thermal cycling test condition. Different control factors are considered for an optimal design towards enhancement of the thermal fatigue resistance of solder joints. These factors include solder composition, underfill, substrate size, lid thickness, stiffener ring width, test board size, soldermask opening on the substrate side, and pad size on the test board. The shape of solder joints after reflow is estimated using Surface Evolver. The optimal design is obtained using an L₁₈ orthogonal array according to the Taguchi optimization method. Importance of these control factors on the board-level thermomechanical reliability of the package is also ranked.     

Board level drop test and simulation of leaded and lead-free BGA-PCB assembly

Leaded and lead-free ball grid array (BGA) components were tested in board level drop test defined in the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) standard under different load levels. Finite element analysis (FEA) models were established using ANSYS. The stress and strain in the solder joint and the average strain energy density (SED) in the solder–pad interface accumulated in one cycle were calculated using ANSYS/LS-DYNA explicit solver. The results of experiment and simulation were employed to re-calculate the constants contained in the Darveaux model to extend its application to the drop test. Then, FEA models with different height and pitch of solder joints were established to obtain the SED to calculate the fatigue life of solder joint under different geometrical conditions through this modified model. The experiment and simulation reveal that the failures mainly occur in the solder–PCB interface in lower load level, the other way round, in a higher load level, the cracks are more possibly formed in solder–package interface; comparing to dropping in horizontal direction with package faces down, the solder joints are much harder to fail when dropping in vertical direction; An optimal height and smaller pitch of solder joints lead to lowest SED and best reliability in the drop test.     

Finite element based fatigue life estimation of the solder joints with effect of intermetallic compound growth

This paper develops an analysis procedure to study the effects of intermetallic compound (IMC) growth on the fatigue life of 63Sn-37Pb (lead-rich)/96.5Sn-3.5Ag (lead-free) solder balls for flip-chip plastic ball grid array packages under thermal cycling test conditions. In this analysis procedure, the thickness of the IMC increased with the number of thermal cycles, and was determined using the growth rate equation. A series of non-linear finite element analyses was conducted to simulate the stress/strain history at the critical locations of the solder balls with various IMC thicknesses in thermal cycling tests. The simulated stress/strain results were then employed in a fatigue life prediction model to determine the relationship between the predicted fatigue life of the solder ball and the IMC thickness. Based on the concept of continuous damage accumulation and incorporated with the linear damage rule, this study defines the damage of each thermal cycle as the reciprocal of the predicted fatigue life of the solder joints with the corresponding IMC thickness. The final fatigue failure of the solder ball was determined as the number of cycles corresponding to the cumulative damage equal to unity. Results show that the solder joint fatigue life decreased as the IMC thickness increased. Moreover, the predicted thermal fatigue life of lead-rich solders based on the effects of IMC growth is apparently smaller than that without considering the IMC growth in the reliability analysis. Results also show that the influence of the IMC thickness on the fatigue life prediction of the lead-free solder joint can be ignored.     

LGA焊点形态对焊点寿命影响的有限元分析

通过Surface Evolver软件对LGA焊点进行了三维形态预测,利用有限元数值模拟对LGA焊点在热循环条件下寿命进行了分析。研究了热循环条件下LGA焊点的应力应变分布规律,随着焊点远离元件的中心位置焊点所受到的等效应力、等效应变和塑性应变能密度逐渐增大,从而得出处于外面拐角的焊点最先发生失效的结论。基于塑性应变范围和Coffin-Manson公式计算了焊点热疲劳寿命;找出了LGA焊点形态对焊点寿命的影响规律,模板厚度一定时PCB焊盘尺寸小于上焊盘时LGA焊点的热疲劳寿命与PCB焊盘尺寸成正比,大于上焊盘时成反比,大约相等时焊点寿命最大。当PCB焊盘和模板开孔尺寸固定时,通过增大模板厚度来增加焊料体积在一定程度上可提高LGA焊点的热疲劳寿命,但是模板厚度增大到一定值时LGA焊点寿命会逐渐降低。     

High Cycle Cyclic Torsion Fatigue of PBGA Pb-Free Solder Joints

In this study, a comprehensive experimental and numerical approach was used to investigate high cycle cyclic torsion fatigue behavior of lead-free solder joints in a plastic ball grid array (PBGA) package. The test vehicle was a commercial laptop motherboard. The motherboard was subjected to torsional loading and life tests were conducted. Using finite element analysis (FEA), the test assembly was simulated as a global model and the BGA component was simulated as a local model. Strains measured on the motherboard surface near by the BGA were used to calibrate the FEA models. By combining the life test results and FEA simulations, a high cycle fatigue model for the lead-free solder joints was generated based on the Coffin-Manson strain-range fatigue damage model. This model can now be used to predict the cycles to failure of BGA interconnects for new electronic product design under cyclic torsion loading.     

Evaluation on Influencing Factors of Board-Level Drop Reliability for Chip Scale Packages (Fine-Pitch Ball Grid Array)

Board-level drop testing is an effective method to characterize the solder joint reliability performance of miniature handheld products. In this study, drop test of printed circuit boards (PCBs) with a four-screw support condition was conducted for a 15 mm times 15 mm fine-pitch ball grid array (FBGA) package assembly with solder ball compositions of 36Pb-62Sn-2Ag and Sn-4Ag-0.5Cu on printed circuit board (PCB) surface finishes of organic solderability preservative, electroless nickel immersion gold, and immersion tin. Finite element modeling of the FBGA assembly was performed to study the stress-strain behavior of the solder joints during drop test. The drop test results revealed a strong influence of different intermetallic compound formation on soldered assemblies drop durability. The lead-based solder supersedes the lead-free composition regardless of the types of surface finish. Joints on organic solderability preservative were found to be strongest for each solder type. Other factors affecting drop reliability such as component location on the board and thermal cycling aging effects are reported. Finite element modeling results showed that a solder joint is more prone to failure on the PCB side, and the predicted solder joint stresses are location dependent. Predicted failure sites based on simulation results are consistent with experimental observations.     

A review of board level solder joints for mobile applications

The reliability of electronics under drop-shock conditions has attracted significant interest in recent years due to the widespread use of mobile electronic products. This review focuses on the drop-impact reliability of lead-free solder joints that interconnect the integrated circuit (IC) component to the printed circuit board (PCB). Major topics covered are the physics of failure in drop-impact; the use of board level and component level test methods to evaluate drop performance; micro-damage mechanisms; failure models for life prediction under drop-impact; modelling and simulation techniques; and dynamic stress–strain properties of solder joint materials. Differential bending between the PCB and the IC component is the dominant failure driver for solder joints in portable electronics subjected to drop-impact. Board level drop-shock tests correlate well with board level high speed cyclic bending tests but not with component level ball impact shear tests. Fatigue is the micro-damage mechanism responsible for the failure of solder joints in the drop-shock of PCB assemblies and the fatigue strength of solder joints depends strongly on the strain rate, test temperature, and the sequence of loading. Finally, tin-rich lead-free solders exhibit significantly higher strain rate sensitivity than eutectic SnPb solder.     

Computational parametric analyzes on the solder joint reliability of bottom leaded plastic (BLP) package

The bottom-leaded plastic (BLP) package is a lead-on-chip type of chip scale package (CSP) developed mainly for memory devices. Because the BLP package is one of the smallest plastic packages available, solder joint reliability becomes a critical issue. In this study, a 28-pin BLP package is modeled to investigate the effects of molding compound and leadframe material properties, the thickness of printed circuit board (PCB), the shape of solder joint and the solder pad size on the board level solder joint reliability. A viscoplastic constitutive relation is adopted for the modeling of solder in order to account for its time and temperature dependence on thermal cycling. A three-dimensional nonlinear finite element analysis based on the above constitutive relation is conducted to model the response of a BLP assembly subjected to thermal cycling. The fatigue life of the solder joint is estimated by the modified Coffin-Manson equation. The two coefficients in the modified Coffin-Manson equation are also determined. Parametric studies are performed to investigate the dependence of solder joint fatigue life on various design factors.