Thermal Cycling Reliability of Sn-Ag-Cu Solder Interconnections. Part 1: Effects of Test Parameters

The work presented in part 1 of this study focuses on identifying the effects of thermal cycling test parameters on the lifetime of ball grid array (BGA) component boards. Detailed understanding about the effects of the thermal cycling parameters is essential because it provides means to develop more efficient and meaningful methods of reliability assessment for electronic products. The study was carried out with a single package type (BGA with 144 solder balls), printed wiring board (eight-layer build-up FR4 structure), and solder interconnection composition (Sn-3.1Ag-0.5Cu) to ensure that individual test results would be comparable with each other. The effects of (i) temperature difference (ΔT), (ii) lower dwell temperature and lower dwell time, (iii) mean temperature, (iv) dwell time, and (v) ramp rate were evaluated. Based on the characteristic lifetimes, the thermal cycling profiles were categorized into three lifetime groups: (i) highly accelerated conditions, (ii) moderately accelerated conditions, and (iii) mildly/nonaccelerated conditions. Thus, one might be tempted to use the highly accelerated conditions to produce lifetime statistics as quickly as possible. However, to do this one needs to know that the failure mechanisms do not change from one lifetime group to another and that the failure mechanisms correlate with real-use failures. Therefore, in part 2 the observed differences in component board lifetimes will be explained by studying the failure mechanisms that take place in the three lifetime groups.     

Characterization of Submillimeter Wave Absorbers from 200–600 GHz

This paper presents measurements of both specular and non-specular scattering from several submillimeter wave absorber materials designed for antenna testing and from low-cost carpet materials. The frequency range is 200–600 GHz in specular scattering, and 300–400 GHz in non-specular scattering measurements. The constructed bistatic test bench allows testing of the full continuous angular range of 0°–90°. The measurement results show large differences in performance of different materials. It is shown that reflectivities below ?50 dB over limited angular ranges are possible with a correct alignment of the material. Also, low-cost carpet materials have lower than ?15 dB reflectivities in most angles, and may be useful in non-critical parts of the antenna test range. The results can be used to optimise the absorber placement inside an antenna range, concerning both best performance and lowest cost.     

The Reliability of Microalloyed Sn-Ag-Cu Solder Interconnections Under Cyclic Thermal and Mechanical Shock Loading

In this study, the performance of three microalloyed Sn-Ag-Cu solder interconnection compositions (Sn-3.1Ag-0.52Cu, Sn-3.0Ag-0.52Cu-0.24Bi, and Sn-1.1Ag-0.52Cu-0.1Ni) was compared under mechanical shock loading (JESD22-B111 standard) and cyclic thermal loading (40 ± 125°C, 42 min cycle) conditions. In the drop tests, the component boards with the low-silver nickel-containing composition (Sn-Ag-Cu-Ni) showed the highest average number of drops-to-failure, while those with the bismuth-containing alloy (Sn-Ag-Cu-Bi) showed the lowest. Results of the thermal cycling tests showed that boards with Sn-Ag-Cu-Bi interconnections performed the best, while those with Sn-Ag-Cu-Ni performed the worst. Sn-Ag-Cu was placed in the middle in both tests. In this paper, we demonstrate that solder strength is an essential reliability factor and that higher strength can be beneficial for thermal cycling reliability but detrimental to drop reliability. We discuss these findings from the perspective of the microstructures and mechanical properties of the three solder interconnection compositions and, based on a comprehensive literature review, investigate how the differences in the solder compositions influence the mechanical properties of the interconnections and discuss how the differences are reflected in the failure mechanisms under both loading conditions.     

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Increase in Perceived Odor Emissions with Loading of Ventilation Filters

The development of odor emission rates from EU6 classified glass fiber bag filters was studied in four air-handling units (AHU), and emissions from the same kind of filters with EU3 classified polyester prefilters were studied in two units. The filters were loaded in six AHU in downtown Helsinki. The pressure drop was measured, and the odors of the filters were evaluated by a trained panel under laboratory conditions (T = 20°C, face velocity 1.0 m/s) every sixth week. The odor emissions of simultaneous atmospheric dust samples were also studied. The odor emissions of the filters rose during the first three months to a level where every third person would be dissatisfied. The emissions from coarse prefilters were similar to those from the more efficient filters without prefilters, and the emissions of the main filters were significantly lower if used with prefilters. This result indicates that the prefilters effectively protected the fine filters from odor-causing particles. The results of tests made with atmospheric samples agree with this result. Relative odor emissions were the highest in coarse fractions (> 10.0 μm). The pressure drop increased with the particle mass collected on the ventilation filter, but it did not correlate well with the odor emission of the filter. Thus, pressure drop alone is not an adequate criterion for changing supply air filters when hygienic aspects are a concern.     

Programmable SiGe BiCMOS low-pass filter for a multicarrier WCDMA base-station receiver

SiGe BiCMOS low-pass filter for a multicarrier WCDMA base-station receiver is described in this paper. The 4th-order Chebyshev filter with a 0.1-dB passband ripple is designed to drive a high-resolution A/D converter. The −3-dB frequency of the implemented filter can be programmed to four different bandwidths: 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10 MHz depending on the number of received WCDMA channels. The filter achieves +9.7-dBV in-band IIP3, +20-dBV out-of-band IIP3, and 8.5-nV/√Hz input-referred noise density with 10-MHz bandwidth. The circuit uses a 2.5 V supply and has been fabricated in a 0.25-μm SiGe BiCMOS process.     

An 8-hour system for Salmonella detection with immunomagnetic separation and homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence PCR

We describe a system consisting of rapid sample enrichment and homogeneous end-point PCR analysis that enables the detection of Salmonella in various food matrices in 8 h. Sample preparation starts with 6 h enrichment step in supplemented broth, after which Salmonella cells are collected with immunomagnetic particles. The particles are washed and dispensed to ready-to-use PCR reaction vessels, which contain dried assay-specific reagents and an internal amplification control. PCR is performed with a novel instrument platform utilising the sensitive label technology of time-resolved fluorometry. Qualitative assay results are automatically interpreted and available in 45 min after sample addition. The overall accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of the Magda CA Salmonella system were 99.1%, 98.4% and 100.0%, respectively, based on the evaluation of 107 samples (beef, pork, poultry and ready-to-eat meals) artificially contaminated with sub-lethally injured Salmonella cells.     

Porous Enzymatic Membrane for Nanotextured Glucose Sweat Sensors with High Stability toward Reliable Noninvasive Health Monitoring

Development of reliable glucose sensors for noninvasive monitoring without interruption or limiting users' mobility is highly desirable, especially for diabetes diagnostics, which requires routine/long‐term monitoring. However, their applications are largely limited by the relatively poor stability. Herein, a porous membrane is synthesized for effective enzyme immobilization and it is robustly anchored to the modified nanotextured electrode solid contacts, so as to realize glucose sensors with significantly enhanced sensing stability and mechanical robustness. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of utilizing such nanoporous membranes for electrochemical sensor applications, which eliminates enzyme escape and provides a sufficient surface area for molecular/ion diffusion and interactions, thus ensuring the sustainable catalytic activities of the sensors and generating reliable measureable signals during noninvasive monitoring. The as‐assembled nanostructured glucose sensors demonstrate reliable long‐term stable monitoring with a minimal response drift for up to 20 h, which delivers a remarkable enhancement. Moreover, they can be integrated into a microfluidic sensing patch for noninvasive sweat glucose monitoring. The as‐synthesized nanostructured glucose sensors with remarkable stability can inspire developments of various enzymatic biosensors for reliable noninvasive composition analysis and their ultimate applications in predictive clinical diagnostics, personalized health‐care monitoring, and chronic diseases management.     

Oxidation of MC-LR and -RR with chlorine and potassium permanganate: toxicity of the reaction products

Toxin-producing cyanobacteria are abundant in surface waters used as drinking water resources. Microcystins (MC) produced by certain cyanobacteria present acute and chronic toxicity, and their removal in drinking water treatment processes is of increasing concern. Previous studies have demonstrated that chlorine and potassium permanganate are feasible oxidants for the removal of MCs present in drinking water resources, although the oxidation might lead to toxic oxidation products. In this paper, the toxicity of the oxidation products of MC-LR and -RR has been studied using protein phosphatase 1 inhibition assay (PPIA). The HPLC and ELISA analyses correlated with the PPIA results for both toxins. The samples containing the oxidation products were fractionated by HPLC and the toxicity of the fractions was tested with PPIA. The results revealed that protein phosphatase 1 inhibition emerged only from intact MC, while the oxidation products were non-toxic. Similar results were obtained in experiments performed in natural waters: no reaction products or interactions exhibiting protein phosphatase 1 inhibition were detected.