Solder Joint Reliability Assessment for Flip Chip Ball Grid Array Components with Various Designs in Lead-Free Solder Materials and Solder Mask Dimensions

Abstract

This study investigates the reliability of flip chip ball grid array (FCBGA) components with three types of solder materials: eutectic solder with a composition Sn63Pb37 and the lead-free solders SnAg3.0Cu0.5 and SnAg4.0Cu0.5. Two substrate-side solder mask (S/M) opening sizes, 0.4 mm and 0.525 mm, were used. Both the monotonic and cyclic mechanical four-point bend tests are conducted for the reliability assessment. It is found that the FCBGA components with SnAg3.0Cu0.5 solder have the best durability during the cyclic bend test, yet the eutectic solder is the strongest during the monotonic bend test. Besides, the FCBGA components with 0.525-mm S/M opening have around 3 times more life cycles than those with the 0.4-mm S/M opening in the cyclic bend test. It is also noteworthy that the lead-free solder materials have much variation in the failed cycles during the cyclic test. Moreover, the failure locations for those components with 0.4-mm S/M openings are found to be at the interface between the package side metal pad and the solder ball, and those with an S/M opening of 0.525 mm are observed to be failed mostly at the interface between the printed circuit board (PCB) side metal pad and the solder ball.