化学镀镍镀钯浸金表面处理工艺概述及发展前景分析

随着电子封装系统集成度逐渐升高及组装工艺多样化的发展趋势,适应无铅焊料的化学镀镍镀钯浸金（ENEPIG）表面处理工艺恰好能够满足封装基板上不同类型的元件和不同组装工艺的要求,因此ENEPIG正成为一种适用于IC封装基板和精细线路PCB的表面处理工艺。ENEPIG工艺具有增加布线密度、减小元件尺寸、装配及封装的可靠性高、成本较低等优点,近年来受到广泛关注。文章基于对化学镍钯金反应机理的简介,结合对镀层基本性能及可靠性方面的分析,综述了ENEPIG表面处理工艺的优势并探讨了其发展前景。     

化学镍/化学钯/浸金的表面涂覆层的可焊性和可靠性

概述了化学镍/化学钯/浸金(ENEPIG)表面涂(镀)覆层的优点。它比化学镍/浸金(ENIG)有更好的可焊接性和焊接可靠性。化学镍/化学钯/浸金表面涂(镀)覆层应该是有发展前景的。     

以钯作扩散阻挡层——一种多功能线路板表面处理方法

电子工业不断的小型化,数种不同互联技术于线路板上电子零件连接及电接点被应用范畴不断增加。基于此用途,线路板组装垫位需被一层最后表面处理保护,如这最后表面处理层可用于不同互联技术,可被称为多功能表面层。钯是一个艮好的镍扩散阻挡层,故此层膜能抵受如焊接及键接之严酷老化测试条件。其两大优点为具有良好热超声波键接性及于无铅焊料之非常优艮焊接性。从预镀导线架过往多年经验已知即使很薄贵金属钯层及金层已可有保证可靠的金线键接性。从这一知识,沉镍浸钯浸金层膜系统（ENIPIG）被研发出来。此崭新表面处理ENIPIG三种金属镀液需互相配合才能于线路板工艺上达成理想多功能层膜。因着其薄贵金属层膜,相对于其他表面处理,可节省颇大的成本。     

Comparative Study of ENIG and ENEPIG as Surface Finishes for a Sn-Ag-Cu Solder Joint

Interfacial reactions and joint reliability of Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu solder with two different surface finishes, electroless nickel-immersion gold (ENIG) and electroless nickel-electroless palladium-immersion gold (ENEPIG), were evaluated during a reflow process. We first compared the interfacial reactions of the two solder joints and also successfully revealed a connection between the interfacial reaction behavior and mechanical reliability. The Sn-Ag-Cu/ENIG joint exhibited a higher intermetallic compound (IMC) growth rate and a higher consumption rate of the Ni(P) layer than the Sn-Ag-Cu/ENEPIG joint. The presence of the Pd layer in the ENEPIG suppressed the growth of the interfacial IMC layer and the consumption of the Ni(P) layer, resulting in the superior interfacial stability of the solder joint. The shear test results show that the ENIG joint fractured along the interface, exhibiting indications of brittle failure possibly due to the brittle IMC layer. In contrast, the failure of the ENEPIG joint only went through the bulk solder, supporting the idea that the interface is mechanically reliable. The results from this study confirm that the Sn-Ag-Cu/ENEPIG solder joint is mechanically robust and, thus, the combination is a viable option for a Pb-free package system.     

The effect of modifications to the nickel/gold surface finish on assembly quality and attachment reliability of a plastic ball grid array (peer review version)

Electrolytic and electroless Ni/Au are common pad surface finishes on area array (BGA or CSP) packages and printed wiring boards (PWB). The electroless nickel/immersion gold (ENIG) process often is implemented when there is insufficient space to allow bussing for the more common electrolytic Ni/Au plating. The ENIG process continues to be used despite evidence that it may cause catastrophic, brittle, interfacial solder joint fractures. In this investigation a plastic ball grid array (PBGA) test vehicle is used to compare quality and reliability of standard and experimentally modified ENIG surface finishes. The standard electrolytic Ni/Au surface finish is used as the control cell for the experiment. Ball shear tests and optical and scanning electron microscopy are performed on as-received and thermally preconditioned packages to evaluate package quality prior to assembly. Accelerated temperature cycling (0/+100/spl deg/C and -40/+125/spl deg/C) is used to evaluate solder joint attachment reliability. Detailed failure mode analysis is used to compare the fracture modes in the ball shear and thermal cycled samples in the electroless and electrolytic packages. The results are discussed in terms of the failure modes and the characteristics of the different Ni/Au surface finishes.     

Mechanisms and solutions to the brittle solder joint in electroless Ni plating

Brittle solder joints in Electroless Ni electroless Pd immersion Au (ENEPIG) surface finishes are one of the key reliability issues in electronics assembly. Previous characterization of the reflow process has indicated that interfacial voids formed after solder reflow are responsible for the decreases in solder joint strength. However, the mechanisms behind the formation of these voids in the ENEPIG process remain unclear. In this paper, the interaction between various aspects of the ENEPIG process and solder joint strength were investigated. Surface roughness, morphology, and nano-pitting at the interface between electroless Pd and Ni-P were characterized. The size and density of nano voids inside Ni₂SnP were measured after the specimens were reflowed with Sn4Ag0·5Cu solder ball. Additionally, high speed shear solder joint strength measurements were made. The results indicated that anion adhesion induced nano-pitting at the interface between the Ni₂SnP intermetallic and Pd, resulting in the formation of a nano void layer during reflow. These interfacial voids lead to lower solder joint strength. Based on the results, a solution to prevent the brittle solder joint failures is suggested.     

Effect of surface finish material on printed circuit board for electrochemical migration

This study investigates whether the electrochemical migration (ECM) is affected by factors such as the printed circuit board (PCB) surface finish, distance between the electrodes and bias voltage under water drop (WD) and polarization tests. The main element of the dendrite structure for ENIG (electroless nickel and immersion gold), electroless Ag and electroplate Sn was nickel, silver and tin, respectively. The order of speed in which the dendrite structure was formed from the cathode electrode to the anode electrode on the PCB with various surface finishes was electroless Ag, electroplate Sn and ENIG, irrespective of the distance between the electrodes and the bias voltage. The ECM rate was increased by decreasing the distance between conductors of the opposite polarity and increasing the bias voltage. The order of corrosion rate in distilled water with pH 6.5 and NaCl 1.0 wt% solution was electroless Ag, electroplate Sn and ENIG. This trend was corresponded with the tendency for ECM rate.     

表面处理工艺的新发展简

文章简述了当下流行的有机涂覆（OSP）、化学镀镍浸金（ENIG）、化学镀镍镀钯浸金（ENEPIG）等表面处理技术的发展现状;并对浸银（IAg）、浸锡（ISn）和直接浸金（DIG）以及自组装单分子（SAM）等新工艺进行了简单讨论,并提出了一些降低工艺成本,改进技术,提高工艺可靠性的方法。     

Morphology and Growth of Intermetallics at the Interface of Sn-based Solders and Cu with Different Surface Finishes

Several types of surface finishes have been applied on Cu substrates in an effort to facilitate bonding and improve the reliability of lead-free solder joints. In the current research, the effects of printed circuit board surface finishes on the reliability of the solder joints were investigated by examining the morphology and growth behavior of the intermetallic compounds (IMCs) between Sn-based solders and different surface finishes on Cu. Three types of Cu substrates with different surface finishes were fabricated in this study: organic solderability preservative (OSP)/Cu, Ni/Cu, and electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG)/Cu. Sn-3.5Ag and Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu were used as the solders. In the experiment, the solder joint specimens were aged isothermally at 150°C for up to 1000 h. Experimental results revealed that the OSP surface finish promoted the interdiffusion between Cu and Sn during soldering. The composition and morphology of the IMC layer at the solder/Ni/Cu interface were sensitive to the Cu concentration in the solder. Meanwhile, the solder joints with different morphological features of the IMCs exhibited significant differences in shear strengths. The Au-containing ENIG surface finish affected the shear strength of the solder joint significantly at the initial stage of isothermal aging.     

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.     

化学镀镍/化学镀钯/浸金表面涂覆层的再提出

文章概述了化学镀镍/化学镀钯/浸金表面涂(镀)覆层的特性.不仅它能够满足各种各样的类型元件和安装工艺的要求,而且也能满足高密度的IC基板封装的要求.因而,化学镀镍/化学镀钯/浸金表面镀层是一种"万能"的镀层,具有最广泛的应用前景.     

Evaluation of Electrochemical Migration on Flexible Printed Circuit Boards with Different Surface Finishes

This study investigated the influence of three parameters, the distance between electrodes, bias voltage, and surface finish material, on the electrochemical migration (ECM) in flexible printed circuit boards (FPCBs) during water drop testing. The ECM rate increased when the distance between electrodes of opposite polarity was decreased and the bias voltage was increased. Irrespective of the distance between the electrodes and the bias voltage, the growth rate of dendrites from the cathode to the anode decreased with the following order of surface finish material: Cu, electroless Ni, and electroless nickel-immersion gold. The order of the corrosion rate in distilled water with pH 6.5 was the same. Therefore, the ECM rate on the FPCB increased with increasing corrosion rate of the FPCB surface finish material.     

适用于IC封装的表面涂覆层——化学镀镍、钯、金的未来

概述了化学镀镍/化学镀钯/浸金涂（镀）覆层的优点,它比起化学镀镍/浸金,不仅更适用于IC封装,而且提高了可靠性,降低了成本。     

The influence of temperature and humidity on printed wiring board surface finishes: Immersion tin vs organic azoles

Substitution of lead-free solders in electronic assemblies requires changes in the conventional Sn:Pb finishes on substrates and component leads to prevent contamination of the candidate lead-free solder. Options for solderability preservative coatings on the printed wiring board include organic (azole or rosin/resin based) films and tin-based plated metallic coatings. This paper compares the solderability performance and corrosion protection effectiveness of electroless tin coatings vs organic azole films after exposure to a series of humidity and thermal cycling conditions. The solderability of immersion tin is directly related to the tin oxide growth on the surface and is not affected by the formation of SnCu intermetallic phases as long as the intermetallic phase is underneath a protective Sn layer. Thin azole films decompose upon heating in the presence of oxygen and lead to solderability degradation. Evaluations of lead-free solder pastes for surface mount assembly applications indicate that immersion tin significantly improves the spreading of Sn:Ag and Sn:Bi alloys as compared to azole surface finishes.     

Effect of Interfacial Reactions on the Reliability of Lead-Free Assemblies after Board Level Drop Tests

The reliability of lead-free electronic assemblies after board level drop tests was investigated. Thin small outline package (TSOP) components with 42 FeNi alloy leads were reflow soldered on FR4 printed circuit boards (PCBs) with Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu (wt%) solder. The effects of different PCB finishes [organic solderability preservative (OSP) and electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG)], multiple reflow (once and three times), and isothermal aging (500 h at 125°C after one time reflow) were studied. The ENIG finish showed better performance than its OSP counterparts. With the OSP finish, solder joints reflowed three times showed obvious improvement compared to those of the sample reflowed once, while aging led to apparent degradation. The results showed that intermetallic compound (IMC) types, IMC microstructure and solder microstructure compete with each other, all playing very important roles in the solder joint lifetime. The results also showed that it is important to specify adequate conditions for a given reliability assessment program, to allow meaningful comparison between results of different investigators.     

Drop impact reliability testing for lead-free and lead-based soldered IC packages

Board-level drop impact testing is a useful way to characterize the drop durability of the different soldered assemblies onto the printed circuit board (PCB). The characterization process is critical to the lead-free (Pb-free) solders that are replacing lead-based (Pb-based) solders. In this study, drop impact solder joint reliability for plastic ball grid array (PBGA), very-thin quad flat no-lead (VQFN) and plastic quad flat pack (PQFP) packages was investigated for Pb-based (62Sn–36Pb–2Ag) and Pb-free (Sn–4Ag–0.5Cu) soldered assemblies onto different PCB surface finishes of OSP (organic solderability preservative) and ENIG (electroless nickel immersion gold). The Pb-free solder joints on ENIG finish revealed weaker drop reliability performance than the OSP finish. The formation of the brittle intermetallic compound (IMC) Cu–Ni–Sn has led to detrimental interfacial fracture of the PBGA solder joints. For both Pb-based and Pb-free solders onto OSP coated copper pad, the formation of Cu₆Sn₅ IMC resulted in different failure sites and modes. The failures migrated to the PCB copper traces and resin layers instead. The VQFN package is the most resistant to drop impact failures due to its small size and weight. The compliant leads of the PQFP are more resistant to drop failures compared to the PBGA solder joints.     

Study of Electromigration-Induced Failures on Cu Pillar Bumps Joined to OSP and ENEPIG Substrates

This work studies electromigration (EM)-induced failures on Cu pillar bumps joined to organic solderability preservative (OSP) on Cu substrates (OSP–bumps) and electroless Ni(P)/electroless Pd/immersion Au (ENEPIG) under bump metallurgy (UBM) on Cu substrates (ENEPIG–bumps). Two failure modes (Cu pad consumption and gap formation) were found with OSP–bumps, but only one failure mode (gap formation) was found with ENEPIG–bumps. The main interfacial compound layer was the Cu₆Sn₅ compound, which suffered significant EM-induced dissolution, eventually resulting in severe Cu pad consumption at the cathode side for OSP–bumps. A (Cu,Ni)₆Sn₅ layer with strong resistance to EM-induced dissolution exists at the joint interface when a nickel barrier layer is incorporated at the cathode side (Ni or ENEPIG), and these imbalanced atomic fluxes result in the voids and gap formation. OSP–bumps showed better lifetime results than ENEPIG–bumps for several current stressing conditions. The inverse Cu atomic flux (J _Cu,chem) which diffuses from the Cu pad to cathode side retards the formation of voids. The driving force for J _Cu,chem comes from the difference in chemical potential between the (Cu,Ni)₆Sn₅ and Cu₆Sn₅ phases.     

半导体晶圆ENIG/ENEPIG产品设计考量

通过化学自催化反应在半导体晶圆I/O铝或铜金属垫上沉积具有可焊接性的镍金/镍钯金层,此工艺已在MOSFET、IGBT、RFID、SAW Filter等产品上得到广泛应用。着重阐述了在新产品设计和工程评估阶段,对于晶圆产品本身应予以考量的因素,如钝化层种类及厚度,I/O金属垫的成分及结构,切割轨道上金属图形的大小及钝化层的覆盖,不同I/O pad的电势等。其中一些因素导致的问题会直接影响化学镍金/镍钯金后产品的性能应用。在化镀工艺过程中,要充分了解产品本身结构以及可能造成的相应缺陷及问题,并且应综合考虑这些因素的影响。     

Study of immersion silver and tin printed-circuit-board surface finishes in lead-free solder applications

The wetting of I-Ag (immersion silver) and I-Sn (immersion tin) printed-circuit-board (PCB) finishes by Sn/Ag/Cu and eutectic Sn/Pb solders was studied in this work with Ni/Au (electroless nickel/immersion gold) and organic solderability preservative (OSP) finishes as baselines. Wetting tests were performed on fresh boards and boards subjected to different preconditioning treatments that simulated the effects of aging, storage, and multiple reflow cycles. When the boards are fresh, the wetting of the I-Sn and Ni/Au finishes is better than that on the I-Ag and OSP finishes. However, after the preconditioning treatments, the wetting of the I-Sn finish degrades the fastest, whereas the wetting of the I-Ag and OSP finishes degrade less through the different preconditioning treatments. The wetting of the Ni/Au finish remains excellent through all the preconditioning treatments. The chemical and microstructural changes in the finishes during aging treatments were evaluated using electron spectroscopy chemical analysis (ESCA), x-ray diffractometry (XRD), and cross-sectioning followed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results indicate that a single lead-free reflow cycle consumes the I-Sn layer faster than a Sn/Pb reflow cycle because of the formation of the Sn/Cu intermetallic compound (IMC). Consequently, I-Sn finished boards having an original Sn thickness of ∼1 μm will not withstand multiple lead-free reflow cycles without significant degradation in wetting but up to two Sn/Pb reflow cycles are still feasible. The minimum thickness of I-Sn required for adequate wetting was evaluated by comparing the wetting after different aging treatments. The exposure of I-Sn samples to 85°C/85% relative humidity (RH) conditions increases the thickness of the Sn-oxide layer, which, above a certain thickness, can degrade wetting. Oxidized copper areas formed on top of the I-Ag surface after exposure to 85°C/85% RH treatment, and this was considered a major factor influencing wetting. The formation of sulfides on I-Ag was detected, but their overall quantity remained too small to have a detectable impact on the wetting.     

Printed Circuit Board Surface Finish and Effects of Chloride Contamination,Electric Field,and Humidity on Corrosion Reliability

Corrosion reliability is a serious issue today for electronic devices, components, and printed circuit boards (PCBs) due to factors such as miniaturization, globalized manufacturing practices which can lead to process-related residues, and global usage effects such as bias voltage and unpredictable user environments. The investigation reported in this paper focuses on understanding the synergistic effect of such parameters, namely contamination, humidity, PCB surface finish, pitch distance, and potential bias on leakage current under different humidity levels, and electrochemical migration probability under condensing conditions. Leakage currents were measured on interdigitated comb test patterns with three different types of surface finish typically used in the electronics industry, namely gold, copper, and tin. Susceptibility to electrochemical migration was studied under droplet conditions. The level of base leakage current (BLC) was similar for the different surface finishes and NaCl contamination levels up to relative humidity (RH) of 65%. A significant increase in leakage current was found for comb patterns contaminated with NaCl above 70% to 75% RH, close to the deliquescent RH of NaCl. Droplet tests on Cu comb patterns with varying pitch size showed that the initial BLC before dendrite formation increased with increasing NaCl contamination level, whereas electrochemical migration and the frequency of dendrite formation increased with bias voltage. The effect of different surface finishes on leakage current under humid conditions was not very prominent.