Fatigue Life Of Solder Interconnects Research Articles

Evaluation of thermo-mechanical damage and fatigue life of solar cell solder interconnections

The soldering process of interconnecting crystalline silicon solar cells to form photovoltaic (PV) module is a key manufacturing process. However, during the soldering process, stress is induced in the solar cell solder joints and remains in the joint as residual stress after soldering. Furthermore, during the module service life time, thermo-mechanical degradation of the solder joints occurs due to thermal cycling of the joints which induce stress, creep strain and strain energy. The resultant effect of damage on the solder joint is premature failure, hence shortened fatigue life. This study seeks to determine accumulated thermo-mechanical damage and fatigue life of solder interconnection in solar cell assembly under thermo-mechanical cycling conditions. In this investigation, finite element modelling (FEM) and simulations are carried out in order to determine nonlinear degradation of SnAgCu solder joints. The degradation of the solder material is simulated using Garofalo-Arrhenius creep model. A three dimensional (3D) geometric model is subjected to six accelerated thermal cycles (ATCs) utilising IEC 61215 standard for photovoltaic panels. The results demonstrate that induced stress, strain and strain energy impacts the solder joints during operations. Furthermore, the larger the accumulated creep strain and creep strain energy in the joints, the shorter the fatigue life. This indicates that creep strain and creep strain energy in the solder joints significantly impacts the thermo-mechanical reliability of the assembly joints. Regions of solder joint with critical stress, strain and strain energy values including their distribution are determined. Analysis of results demonstrates that creep energy density is a better parameter than creep strain in predicting interconnection fatigue life. The use of six ATCs yields significant data which enable better understanding of the response of the solder joints to the induced loads. Moreover, information obtained from this study can be used for improved design and better-quality fabrication of solder interconnections in solar cell assembly for enhanced thermo-mechanical reliability. Thermo-mechanical damage of solder joints in Si solar cell assembly evaluated.FEM and simulations carried out to determine nonlinear degradation of solder joints.Results show that induced stress and strain impacts solder joints reliability.Creep energy density better than creep strain in solder joint life prediction.Results useful for improved design of solder joints and better-quality fabrication.

Effects of Extended Dwell Time on Thermal Fatigue Life of Ceramic Chip Resistors

The understanding of the effects of temperature cycling parameters, such as dwell and ramp times, mean cyclic temperature, and temperature range, on the fatigue life of solder interconnects is critical for qualification and reliability testing. After the solder achieves complete stress relaxation, a further increase in dwell time does not decrease the fatigue life of solder interconnects. Studies have shown that an increase in dwell time beyond a certain limit (10–20 minutes) has no effect on the fatigue life of eutectic tin-lead solder when cycled at peak cycle temperatures at or above 100°C. The duration of stress relaxation is longer in SnAgCu and SnCu solders than in eutectic tin-lead solder, resulting in higher creep damage accumulation and thereby reducing the fatigue life of solder interconnects. Experimental data for modeling of the effects of extended dwell time (beyond 60 minutes) on the temperature cycling reliability of tin-silver-copper solders is limited. In this study, forty 2512 ceramic chip resistors soldered onto an FR4 board using SAC105, SAC305, SN100C, and eutectic SnPb solders were subjected to temperature cycling tests with dwell time durations of 10 and 120 minutes, respectively. Resistors soldered on standard and narrow pads were compared to study the effects of pad size on thermal fatigue reliability. In eutectic SnPb-soldered narrow pad resistors, the increase in dwell time to 120 minutes did not change the cycles to failure. However, SnPb-soldered standard pad resistors showed a decrease in fatigue life with the increase in dwell time. For SAC105- and SAC305-soldered narrow and standard pad resistors, the 120-min dwell decreased the thermal fatigue life, compared to the 10-min dwell. The thermal fatigue life of SN100C-soldered narrow pad resistors increased when the dwell time was increased to 120 minutes, while that of the standard pad decreased. In the case of narrow pad resistors, extended dwell may be have annealed the SN100C solder, making it more robust to solder fatigue.

Improved Solder Joint Fatigue Models Through Reduced Geometry Dependence of Empirical Fits

Predicting the fatigue life of solder interconnections is a challenge due to the complex nonlinear behavior of solder alloys, the importance of the load history, and the wide variation in package constructions employed by the microelectronics industry. While material behavior can be captured by means of valid constitutive models, the empirical failure models in common use are strongly dependent on package construction due to the fact that they are derived from tests of solder joints with heterogeneous stress and microstructural variation. Despite this limitation, the empirical models have been used to identify reliable choices among package design alternatives. In this technical brief, some of the key limitations that the user of empirical models must be aware of are addressed. Physical arguments are proposed in order to justify the appropriate assumptions that may be made in the life model. Using data from two different sources in the literature, the constants in the empirical models are shown to be dependent on the solder joint geometry. Alternative fits to experimental data that reduce the dependence of the fits on solder joint geometry are proposed.

A Nonlinear Fracture Mechanics Approach to Modeling Fatigue Crack Growth in Solder Joints

Predicting the fatigue life of solder interconnections is a challenge due to the complex nonlinear behavior of solder alloys and the importance of the load history. Long experience with Sn–Pb solder alloys together with empirical fatigue life models such as the Coffin–Manson rule have helped us identify reliable choices among package design alternatives. However, for the currently popular Pb-free choice of SnAgCu solder joints, designing accelerated thermal cycling tests and estimating the fatigue life are challenged by the significantly different creep behavior relative to Sn–Pb alloys. In this paper, a hybrid fatigue modeling approach inspired by nonlinear fracture mechanics is developed to predict the crack trajectory and fatigue life of a solder interconnection. The model is shown to be similar to well accepted cohesive zone models in its theoretical development and application and is anticipated to be computationally more efficient compared to cohesive zone models in a finite element setting. The approach goes beyond empirical modeling in accurately predicting crack trajectories and is validated against experiments performed on lead-free as well as Sn–Pb solder joint containing microelectronic packages. Material parameters relevant to the model are estimated via a coupled experimental and numerical technique.

Fatigue analysis of high-speed photodiode submodule by using FEM

Higher frequencies, super high-speed, and low-cost demands in wireless communication devices have lead to high density packaging technologies such as flip chip interconnections and multichip modules, as substitutes for wire bonding interconnection. Solder is widely used to connect chips to their packaging substrates in flip chip technology and surface mount technology. We constructed global full 3-D FE models for one photodiode on a submount to predict the fatigue life of solder interconnects during an accelerated thermal cycling testing. The 3-D FE models applied is based on the Darveaux approach does this approach have a non-linear viscoplastic analysis. In the bump structural photodiode submodule, the shortest fatigue life of 233 cycles was obtained at the thermal cycling testing condition from −65 to 150 °C. The bump material, rather than submount material, affected and varied the fatigue life. Also, The fatigue life is decreased with increase in creep strain energy density.

Analysis of crack growth in solder joints

Understanding crack growth in solder joints is important for predicting the fatigue life of solder interconnects. In this paper, crack propagation in solder joints made of two solder alloys, 62Sn/36Pb/2Ag (by weight), a commonly used solder paste for SMT reflow applications, and 96.5Sn/3.5Ag (by weight), a lead‐free solder alloy, was examined during thermal cycling. Based on these observations, the rate of crack propagation was estimated. Microstructural changes in the solder during thermal cycling were also studied.

Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis of Surface Mount Interconnects: Part I—Theory

Solder joints are commonly used in surface mount technology microelectronics packaging. It is well known that the dominant failure mode for solder joints is thermal fatigue. When semiconductor devices are used in a vibrating environment, such as in automotive and military applications, dynamic stresses contribute to the failure mechanism and in certain circumstances they can become the dominant failure cause. In this paper a unified constitutive model for Pb40/Sn60 solder joints is developed and then implemented in a finite element dynamic analysis procedure. The purpose of the material model and the implementation is to study the contribution of vibration induced strains to the fatigue life of solder interconnects in low cycle and high cycle fatigue. The proposed material model, which is based on the disturbed state concept (DSC), is used for a dynamic analysis of a solder joint in the following paper, Part II, Basaran and Chandaroy (1998).