Knowledge Hub

Your Gateway to Technical Knowledge Exchange for the Global Electronics Community

Explore our database of industry knowledge that fuels innovation, learning, and professional growth. Knowledge Hub is a collection of conference technical papers, webinars, presentations, on-demand video and more. You can search by author, title, keyword and type of content. You can also search for keywords and topics in the Tag field. Access to Knowledge Hub is reserved for members.

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Prediction of Drop Impact Reliability for Electronics Using Finite Element Analyses

This paper presents some of the recent in-situ studies of drop impact reliability for electronic equipment using Finite Element Analyses. The work covers simulation methods, verification wit .. read more

Effect of Aging on BGA Solder Strengths & Thermal Cycles for Low Temperature Hybrid Assembly

This paper presents two key aspects of reliability of ball grid array (BGA) technologies: one aspect for high-reliability and the other for commercial applications. For high reliability, it .. read more

Effects of BGA Rework on Board-Level Reliability

The research goal was to establish a limit for the number of rework cycles for Ball Gird Arrays (BGAs) and to determine the clearance required between a BGA and its surrounding components on .. read more

Non-Destructive BGA Rework Using Infrared Heating Technology

During the past few years, it has become increasingly difficult to physically rework printed circuit board (PCB) assemblies. Such mundane operations as soldering, desoldering and component r .. read more

Assembly Cleanliness and Whisker Formation

This paper describes the results of a whisker formation study on SAC305 assemblies,evaluating the effects of cleanliness and lead-frame materials in room temperature/high humidity (25°C/85%RH) .. read more

Reliability of Lead-Free LGAs and BGAs: Effects of Solder Joint Size,Cyclic Strain and Microstructure

An accelerated thermal cycle experiment comparing similarly constructed area array devices representing Land Grid Array (LGA) and Ball Grid Array (BGA) technology with 0.254,0.30,and 0.40mm dia .. read more

Mixed Metals Impact on Reliability

With the adoption of RoHS and implementation of Lead Free solders a major concern is how this will impact reliability. Both commercial and military hardware are impacted by this change even tho .. read more

Evaluating the Accuracy of a Nondestructive Thermo Couple Attach Method for Area Array Package Profiling

The oven recipe,which consists of the reflow oven zone temperature settings and the speed of the conveyor,will determine a specific time-temperature profile for a given PCB assembly. In order t .. read more

Assembly and Reliability of 1704 I/O FCBGA and FPBGAs

Commercial-off-the-shelf ball/column grid array packaging (COTS BGA/CGA) technologies in high reliability versions are now being considered for use in a number of National Aeronautics and Space .. read more

The Relationship between Backward Compatible Assembly and Microstructure on the Thermal Fatigue Reliability of an Extremely Large Ball Grid Array

Accelerated temperature cycling was used to evaluate the thermal fatigue reliability for the case of backward compatible assembly (mixed alloy,Pb-free BGA/SnPb paste) of a 3162 pin count,extrem .. read more

Reliability of BGA Solder Joints after Re-Balling Process

Due to the obsolescence of SnPb BGA components,electronics manufacturers that use SnPb solder paste either have to use lead-free BGAs and adjust the reflow process or re-ball these components w .. read more

Thermal Cycle Reliability Study of Vapor Phase BGA Solder Joints

Prior to committing production boards to vapor phase soldering,we performed an evaluation to assess reliability and evaluate the vacuum soldering option. The reliability of vapor phase processe .. read more

An Evaluation of the Insulation Resistance and Surface Contamination of Printed Circuit Board Assemblies

The overall effectiveness of 20 circuit board assembly processes,made up of 4 solder/flux combinations and 6 cleaning processes was investigated by using in-situ surface insulation resistance m .. read more

Application of the Advanced Activator Technology on Halogen-Free Lead-Free Solder Paste Development

The Surface Mount Technology (SMT) industry has been faced with several challenges in the past decades. Two of the most recent ones are RoHS compliant lead-free assembly and the adoption of fin .. read more

Investigation of Pad Cratering in Large Flip-Chip BGA using Acoustic Emission

Electronics assemblies with large flip-chip BGA packages can be prone to either pad cratering or brittle intermetallic (IMC) failures under excessive PCB bending. Pad cratering cracks are not d .. read more

Solder Charge Grid Array: Advancements in the Technology of Surface Mount Area Array Solder Joint Attachment

Surface mount area arrays (SMAA) have been in existence for decades and are increasingly becoming more important as printed circuit board (PCB) assemblies become further complex with package mi .. read more

The Effects of Non-filled Microvia in Pad on Pb-free Solder Joint Reliability of BGA and QFN Packages in Accelerated Thermal...

The High Density Packaging Users Group (HDPUG) Consortium has completed an experiment to investigate the effect of non-filled microvias in SMT solder joint pads and the associated solder voids .. read more

Mechanical Shock Test Performance of SAC105 (Sn-1.0Ag-0.5Cu) and Sn-3.5Ag,BGA Components with SAC305 Solder Paste on NiAu and OSP Board Surface...

Many BGA and CSP component suppliers have begun shipment of components with a variety of second generation lead-free solder ball alloys based on the improved mechanical shock resistance. Althou .. read more

Low-Silver BGA Assembly Phase II – Reliability Assessment Seventh Report: Mixed Metallurgy Solder Joint Thermal Cycling Results

Some ball grid array suppliers are migrating their sphere alloys from SAC305 (3% Ag) or SAC405 (4% Ag) to alloys with lower silver contents and often with “micro alloying” additions. There are .. read more

Investigation of Process Feasibility / Compatibility and Solder Joint Reliability of Tin-Lead Dippable Solder Paste Ball Grid Array (BGA) Component...

This paper is an examination of the process feasibility,solder joint reliability,and materials/process compatibility of a dippable solder paste material for an area array component rework/repai .. read more

NASA-DoD Lead-Free Electronics Project: Mechanical Shock Test

Mechanical shock testing was conducted by Boeing Research and Technology (Seattle) for the NASA-DoD Lead-Free Electronics Solder Project. This project is follow-on to the Joint Council on Aging .. read more

Telecommunications Case Studies Address Head-In-Pillow (Hnp) Defects and Mitigation through Assembly Process Modifications and Control

One of the most perplexing phenomena in the electronic manufacturing industry today is the defect called “head-in-pillow.” Head-in-Pillow (HnP) defects occur on the blind solder joints of area .. read more

A Novel Approach to Experimentally Create and Mitigate Head-in-Pillow Defects

One of the solder joint failures encountered frequently during Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA) is due to Head-in-Pillow (HiP) defects. The primary cause of HiP defect is due to the warpag .. read more

Reliability and Microstructure of Lead-Free Solder Joints in Industrial Electronics after Accelerated Thermal Aging

The reliability of lead-free (LF) solder joints in surface-mounted device components (SMD) has been investigated after thermo-cycle testing. Kirkendall voids have been observed at the interface .. read more

Solder Ball Attachment Assessment of Reballed Plastic Ball Grid Array Packages

This paper presents lead-free ball grid array (BGA) packages subjected to two ball removal and two ball attachment techniques. Solder attach strength is used as a metric to examine the reballin .. read more

BGA and QFN Repair Process

Repairing a PCB with a defective BGA,uBGA,or QFN is often a difficult and tedious task. The conventional method is to remove the defective device from the PCB; clean the pads on the PCB,then pr .. read more

Low-Silver BGA Assembly Phase I – Reflow Considerations and Joint Homogeneity Initial Report

Some Ball Grid Array suppliers are migrating their sphere alloys from SAC305 (3% Ag) or 405 (4% Ag) to alloys with lower silver contents. There are a numerous perceived benefits to this move in .. read more

BGA Breakout Challenges

The routing of large pin-count and dense BGAs has a significant impact on the cost of the PCB,primarily in terms of layer count and via technology. This paper is the result of considerable rese .. read more

THE EFFECT OF FILLING VIA-IN-PAD ON VOIDING RATES IN PWB ASSEMBLY FOR BGA COMPONENTS

The debate on the effect of voiding on BGA reliability has continued for years. Many PWB assemblers strive to minimize voiding,particularly with the advent of lead-free processing and in fine f .. read more

Reliability of CCGA and PBGA Assemblies

Area Array Packages (AAPs) with 1.27 mm pitch have been the packages of choice for commercial applications; they are now starting to be implemented for use in military and aerospace application .. read more

Prediction of Drop Impact Reliability for Electronics Using Finite Element Analyses

This paper presents some of the recent in-situ studies of drop impact reliability for electronic equipment using Finite Element Analyses. The work covers simulation methods, verification wit .. read more

Effect of Aging on BGA Solder Strengths & Thermal Cycles for Low Temperature Hybrid Assembly

This paper presents two key aspects of reliability of ball grid array (BGA) technologies: one aspect for high-reliability and the other for commercial applications. For high reliability, it .. read more

Effects of BGA Rework on Board-Level Reliability

The research goal was to establish a limit for the number of rework cycles for Ball Gird Arrays (BGAs) and to determine the clearance required between a BGA and its surrounding components on .. read more

Non-Destructive BGA Rework Using Infrared Heating Technology

During the past few years, it has become increasingly difficult to physically rework printed circuit board (PCB) assemblies. Such mundane operations as soldering, desoldering and component r .. read more

Assembly Cleanliness and Whisker Formation

This paper describes the results of a whisker formation study on SAC305 assemblies,evaluating the effects of cleanliness and lead-frame materials in room temperature/high humidity (25°C/85%RH) .. read more

Reliability of Lead-Free LGAs and BGAs: Effects of Solder Joint Size,Cyclic Strain and Microstructure

An accelerated thermal cycle experiment comparing similarly constructed area array devices representing Land Grid Array (LGA) and Ball Grid Array (BGA) technology with 0.254,0.30,and 0.40mm dia .. read more

Mixed Metals Impact on Reliability

With the adoption of RoHS and implementation of Lead Free solders a major concern is how this will impact reliability. Both commercial and military hardware are impacted by this change even tho .. read more

Evaluating the Accuracy of a Nondestructive Thermo Couple Attach Method for Area Array Package Profiling

The oven recipe,which consists of the reflow oven zone temperature settings and the speed of the conveyor,will determine a specific time-temperature profile for a given PCB assembly. In order t .. read more

Assembly and Reliability of 1704 I/O FCBGA and FPBGAs

Commercial-off-the-shelf ball/column grid array packaging (COTS BGA/CGA) technologies in high reliability versions are now being considered for use in a number of National Aeronautics and Space .. read more

The Relationship between Backward Compatible Assembly and Microstructure on the Thermal Fatigue Reliability of an Extremely Large Ball Grid Array

Accelerated temperature cycling was used to evaluate the thermal fatigue reliability for the case of backward compatible assembly (mixed alloy,Pb-free BGA/SnPb paste) of a 3162 pin count,extrem .. read more

Reliability of BGA Solder Joints after Re-Balling Process

Due to the obsolescence of SnPb BGA components,electronics manufacturers that use SnPb solder paste either have to use lead-free BGAs and adjust the reflow process or re-ball these components w .. read more

Thermal Cycle Reliability Study of Vapor Phase BGA Solder Joints

Prior to committing production boards to vapor phase soldering,we performed an evaluation to assess reliability and evaluate the vacuum soldering option. The reliability of vapor phase processe .. read more

An Evaluation of the Insulation Resistance and Surface Contamination of Printed Circuit Board Assemblies

The overall effectiveness of 20 circuit board assembly processes,made up of 4 solder/flux combinations and 6 cleaning processes was investigated by using in-situ surface insulation resistance m .. read more

Application of the Advanced Activator Technology on Halogen-Free Lead-Free Solder Paste Development

The Surface Mount Technology (SMT) industry has been faced with several challenges in the past decades. Two of the most recent ones are RoHS compliant lead-free assembly and the adoption of fin .. read more

Investigation of Pad Cratering in Large Flip-Chip BGA using Acoustic Emission

Electronics assemblies with large flip-chip BGA packages can be prone to either pad cratering or brittle intermetallic (IMC) failures under excessive PCB bending. Pad cratering cracks are not d .. read more

Solder Charge Grid Array: Advancements in the Technology of Surface Mount Area Array Solder Joint Attachment

Surface mount area arrays (SMAA) have been in existence for decades and are increasingly becoming more important as printed circuit board (PCB) assemblies become further complex with package mi .. read more

The Effects of Non-filled Microvia in Pad on Pb-free Solder Joint Reliability of BGA and QFN Packages in Accelerated Thermal...

The High Density Packaging Users Group (HDPUG) Consortium has completed an experiment to investigate the effect of non-filled microvias in SMT solder joint pads and the associated solder voids .. read more

Mechanical Shock Test Performance of SAC105 (Sn-1.0Ag-0.5Cu) and Sn-3.5Ag,BGA Components with SAC305 Solder Paste on NiAu and OSP Board Surface...

Many BGA and CSP component suppliers have begun shipment of components with a variety of second generation lead-free solder ball alloys based on the improved mechanical shock resistance. Althou .. read more

Low-Silver BGA Assembly Phase II – Reliability Assessment Seventh Report: Mixed Metallurgy Solder Joint Thermal Cycling Results

Some ball grid array suppliers are migrating their sphere alloys from SAC305 (3% Ag) or SAC405 (4% Ag) to alloys with lower silver contents and often with “micro alloying” additions. There are .. read more

Investigation of Process Feasibility / Compatibility and Solder Joint Reliability of Tin-Lead Dippable Solder Paste Ball Grid Array (BGA) Component...

This paper is an examination of the process feasibility,solder joint reliability,and materials/process compatibility of a dippable solder paste material for an area array component rework/repai .. read more

NASA-DoD Lead-Free Electronics Project: Mechanical Shock Test

Mechanical shock testing was conducted by Boeing Research and Technology (Seattle) for the NASA-DoD Lead-Free Electronics Solder Project. This project is follow-on to the Joint Council on Aging .. read more

Telecommunications Case Studies Address Head-In-Pillow (Hnp) Defects and Mitigation through Assembly Process Modifications and Control

One of the most perplexing phenomena in the electronic manufacturing industry today is the defect called “head-in-pillow.” Head-in-Pillow (HnP) defects occur on the blind solder joints of area .. read more

A Novel Approach to Experimentally Create and Mitigate Head-in-Pillow Defects

One of the solder joint failures encountered frequently during Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA) is due to Head-in-Pillow (HiP) defects. The primary cause of HiP defect is due to the warpag .. read more

Reliability and Microstructure of Lead-Free Solder Joints in Industrial Electronics after Accelerated Thermal Aging

The reliability of lead-free (LF) solder joints in surface-mounted device components (SMD) has been investigated after thermo-cycle testing. Kirkendall voids have been observed at the interface .. read more

Solder Ball Attachment Assessment of Reballed Plastic Ball Grid Array Packages

This paper presents lead-free ball grid array (BGA) packages subjected to two ball removal and two ball attachment techniques. Solder attach strength is used as a metric to examine the reballin .. read more

BGA and QFN Repair Process

Repairing a PCB with a defective BGA,uBGA,or QFN is often a difficult and tedious task. The conventional method is to remove the defective device from the PCB; clean the pads on the PCB,then pr .. read more

Low-Silver BGA Assembly Phase I – Reflow Considerations and Joint Homogeneity Initial Report

Some Ball Grid Array suppliers are migrating their sphere alloys from SAC305 (3% Ag) or 405 (4% Ag) to alloys with lower silver contents. There are a numerous perceived benefits to this move in .. read more

BGA Breakout Challenges

The routing of large pin-count and dense BGAs has a significant impact on the cost of the PCB,primarily in terms of layer count and via technology. This paper is the result of considerable rese .. read more

THE EFFECT OF FILLING VIA-IN-PAD ON VOIDING RATES IN PWB ASSEMBLY FOR BGA COMPONENTS

The debate on the effect of voiding on BGA reliability has continued for years. Many PWB assemblers strive to minimize voiding,particularly with the advent of lead-free processing and in fine f .. read more

Reliability of CCGA and PBGA Assemblies

Area Array Packages (AAPs) with 1.27 mm pitch have been the packages of choice for commercial applications; they are now starting to be implemented for use in military and aerospace application .. read more