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Compared to conventional Sn-Pb solder, ternary Pb free solder alloys are particular susceptible to brittle fracture through the formation of intermetallic compound layers. However, the conventional...

The hygrothermal and mechanical reliability of board-level packages with various underfills under sequential temperature and humidity (TH) testing and drop testing were investigated. Board-level packages with underfill had greater resistance to drop shock than that without underfill, indicating that underfill protects the package from failure by absorption of the applied drop shock. The underfill, which was composed of polypropylene glycol epoxy resin and silane, exhibited good reliability for drop shock because of the improved adhesion of the underfill compared with that without the polypropylene glycol epoxy resin and silane. In addition, the drop reliability of board-level packages with underfill decreased with increasing TH test duration. Adhesion between the substrate and underfill or between the solder and underfill was decreased by moisture absorption. Components positioned at the board center were more susceptible to failure by drop shock than were corner components.

The effect of displacement rate and intermetallic compound (IMC) growth on the shear strength of electroplated Sn-2.5Ag (in wt.%) flip chip solder with Cu under-bump metallization (UBM) were investigated after multiple reflows. Cu"6Sn"5 IMC was formed at the interface after one reflow. After five reflows, two different IMC layers, consisting of a scallop-shaped Cu"6Sn"5 phase and a planar Cu"3Sn phase, and their thicknesses increased with increasing reflow number up to 10. The shear strengths peaked after four reflows, and then decreased with increasing reflow number. Increasing displacement rate increased the shear force. The tendency toward brittle fracture characteristics was intensified with increasing displacement rate and reflow number.

The traditional ball shear test is not suitable for evaluating joint reliability under drop loading, since the applied test speeds, usually lower than 5 mm/s, are well below the impact velocity applied to the solder joint in a drop test. The present study expands recently reported research by investigating the effect of thermal aging on the joint strength and fracture mode of Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu ball grid arrays during high-speed shear testing, with a shear height of 50 μm and a shear speed ranging from 0.01 m/s to 3 m/s. The test specimens were aged at 393 K for 1000 h. After reflow, a (Ni,Cu)3Sn4 intermetallic compound (IMC) layer was observed at the solder/Ni-P interface and the thickness of the IMC layer was increased through the aging process. The shear strength increased with increasing shear speed. The fracture surface of the solder joints showed three different fracture modes according to the shear speed and aging time. The fracture mode changed from ductile fracture to brittle fracture with increasing shear speed.

This study investigated the microstructural evolution and evaluated the thermo-mechanical reliability of a Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu (in wt.%) flip chip package during a thermal shock test. The reliability of the flip chip bonded packages was evaluated by means of the thermal shock in the temperature range of 233 K to 398 K. After 250 thermal shock cycles, cracks finally occurred at the corner solder bump joint on the chip side interfacial regions. In that, the crack initiated at the solder region near the intermetallic compound (IMC) layers. For the interpretation of the failure mechanism of the package, finite element analyses were conducted. From the finite element analysis or computational simulation result, the distribution of the plastic work in the corner solder bump was found to be most considerable. This means that the corner solder bump has the highest potential for first crack initiation and growth, because the thermo-mechanical failure of the solder joints is mainly caused by the accumulation of the plastic work. This matched well with the experimental results.

The failure behaviors of flip chip solder joints under various loading conditions of the high-speed shear test (H-SST) were investigated with an experimental and non-linear 3-dimensional finite element modeling study. The solder composition used in this study was Sn -3.0 Ag -0.5 Cu ( in wt .%). The shear forces were far greater by H-SST than by low-speed shear test (L-SST). The shear force further increased with increasing shear speed, mainly due to the high strain-rate sensitivity of the solder alloy. Brittle interfacial fractures were more easily achieved by H-SST, especially at the higher shear speed. This was discussed in terms of the relationship between the strain-rate and work-hardening effect and the resulting stress concentration at the interfacial regions

The electromigration of conventional Sn-37Pb and Pb-free Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu (in wt.%) solder bumps was investigated with a high current density of 2.5 × 104 A/cm2 at 423 K using flip-chip specimens comprised of an upper Si chip and a lower bismaleimide triazine (BT) substrate. Electromigration failure of the Sn-37Pb and Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu solder bumps occurred with complete consumption of electroless Ni immersion Au (ENIG) underbump metallization (UBM) and void formation at the cathode side of the solder bump. Finite element analysis and computational simulations indicated high current crowding of electrons in the patterned Cu on the Si chip side, whereas the solder bumps and Cu line of the BT substrate had a relatively low density of flowing electrons. These findings were confirmed by the experimental results. The electromigration reliability of the Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu solder joint was superior to that of Sn-37Pb.