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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

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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.

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Acknowledgements

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

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Component Quality and Technology Group, Cisco Systems, Inc., San Jose, CA, 95134, USA

    Tae-Kyu Lee

  2. National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan

    Jeng-Gong Duh

Authors
  1. Tae-Kyu Lee
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  2. Jeng-Gong Duh
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Correspondence to Tae-Kyu Lee.

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Lee, TK., Duh, JG. 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. J. Electron. Mater. 43, 4126–4133 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-014-3315-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-014-3315-y

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