Board Level Drop Reliability of Epoxy-Containing Sn-58 mass% Bi Solder Joints with Various Surface Finishes

Abstract

Board-level drop reliability testing under JEDEC (Joint Electron Device Engineering Council) drop conditions was conducted for low-temperature Sn-58 mass%Bi solder joints. The effects of surface finish and the number of reflow processes (one, three, or five) on the drop reliability of the Sn-58Bi joints were evaluated. Three types of surface finishes were used including electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG), electroless nickel electroless palladium immersion gold (ENEPIG), and organic solderability preservatives (OSP). We successfully fabricated six types of drop test specimens with various surface finishes and bonding materials, and then performed the board-level drop tests. The board-level drop reliability was improved when using the composite Sn-58Bi solder with epoxy as compared to Sn-58Bi solder without epoxy. In addition, the reliability of the Sn-58Bi epoxy solder/OSP joint was better than both the ENIG and ENEPIG surface finishes. When the number of reflow processes increased, the drop reliability showed two different behaviors; specifically, the reliability of the ENIG and ENEPIG surface finishes decreased while the OSP surface finish improved. The existence of epoxy in the solder paste improved the drop reliability of the solder joints. After drop testing, cracks propagated differently with different surface finishes, namely between Ni3Sn4 IMCs and the Ni-P layer for the ENIG surface finish, between Ni3Sn4 IMCs and the solder bulk for the ENEPIG surface finish, and within the solder bulk for the OSP surface finish. These data show that, when it is necessary to perform repeated reflow processes for electronic components, solder joints with an OSP surface finish provide better drop test reliability results.