Journal of Electronic Materials

, Volume 43, Issue 11, pp 4126–4133 | Cite as

Effect of Isothermal Aging on the Long-Term Reliability of Fine-Pitch Sn–Ag–Cu and Sn–Ag Solder Interconnects With and Without Board-Side Ni Surface Finish

Article
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

The combined effects on long-term reliability of isothermal aging and chemically balanced or unbalanced surface finish have been investigated for fine-pitch ball grid array packages with Sn–3.0Ag–0.5Cu (SAC305) (wt.%) and Sn–3.5Ag (SnAg) (wt.%) solder ball interconnects. Two different printed circuit board surface finishes were selected to compare the effects of chemically balanced and unbalanced structure interconnects with and without board-side Ni surface finish. NiAu/solder/Cu and NiAu/solder/NiAu interconnects were isothermally aged and thermally cycled to evaluate long-term thermal fatigue reliability. Weibull plots of the combined effects of each aging condition and each surface finish revealed lifetime for NiAu/SAC305/Cu was reduced by approximately 40% by aging at 150°C; less degradation was observed for NiAu/SAC305/NiAu. Further reduction of characteristic life-cycle number was observed for NiAu/SnAg/NiAu joints. Microstructure was studied, focusing on its evolution near the board and package-side interfaces. Different mechanisms of aging were apparent under the different joint configurations. Their effects on the fatigue life of solder joints are discussed.

Keywords

Pb-free solder isothermal aging microstructure NiAu surface finish OSP surface finish 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Notes

Acknowledgements

This work is a research project supported by the Cisco Component Quality and Technology group in the Technology and Quality group.

References

  1. 1.
    D.R. Frear and P.T. Vianco, Metall. Trans. A 25A, 1509 (1994).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. 2.
    J. Glazer, Int. Mater. Rev. 40, 65 (1995).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. 3.
    H.K. Kim and K.N. Tu, Phys. Rev. B 53, 16027 (1996).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. 4.
    H. Ma, J.C. Suhling, P. Lall, and M.J. Bozack, Proceeding of the 56th Electronic Components and Technology Conference (May 2006, San Diego, CA).Google Scholar
  5. 5.
    T.-K. Lee, H. Ma, and K.-C. Liu, J. Electron. Mater. 39, 2564 (2010).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. 6.
    M. Mori, K. Miura, T. Sasaki, and T. Ohtsuka, Corros. Sci. 44, 887 (2002).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. 7.
    M. Abtew and G. Selvaduray, Mater. Sci. Eng. R 27, 95 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. 8.
    B. Liu, T.-K. Lee, and K.-C. Liu, J. Electron. Mater. 40, 2111 (2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. 9.
    H.G. Song, J.W. Morris Jr, and F. Hua, JOM 56, 30 (2002).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. 10.
    K.W. Moon, W.J. Boettinger, U.R. Kattner, F.S. Biancaniello, and C.A. Handwerker, J. Electron. Mater. 29, 1122 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. 11.
    W.K. Choi and H.M. Lee, J. Electron. Mater. 29, 1207 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. 12.
    A.J. Sunwoo, J.W. Morris Jr, and G.K. Lucey Jr, Metall. Trans. A 23A, 1323 (1992).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. 13.
    Z. Mei and J.W. Morris, J. Electron. Mater. 21, 599 (1992).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. 14.
    F. Bartels, J.W. Morris Jr, G. Dalke, and W. Gust, J. Electron. Mater. 23, 787 (1994).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. 15.
    T.-K. Lee, W. Xie, B. Zhou, T. Bieler, and K.-C. Liu, J. Electron. Mater. 40, 1967 (2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. 16.
    T.-K. Lee, J. Electron. Mater. 42, 599 (2013).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. 17.
    L.Y. Hsiao, G.Y. Jang, K.J. Wang, and J.G. Duh, J. Electron. Mater. 36, 1476 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. 18.
    S.‐H. Chae, B. Chao, X. Zhang, J. Imand, and P.S. Ho, Electronic Components and Technology Conference (2007), p. 1442.Google Scholar

Copyright information

© The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Component Quality and Technology GroupCisco Systems, Inc.San JoseUSA
  2. 2.National Tsing Hua UniversityHsinchuTaiwan

Personalised recommendations