In order to meet the growing requirement of eliminating lead from electronics,the printed wiring board (PWB) industry is
migrating from hot-air-leveled solder (Sn/Pb) to lead free compatible alternative final finishes. Among the available
alternatives which include organic solderability preservative (OSP) immersion silver,immersion tin and electroless
nickel/immersion gold,the OSP type coating is considered to be one of the leading candidates because of its excellent
solderability,ease of processing and low cost.
This paper uses Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC/MS),Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA),and X-ray
Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) to characterize the relative thermal properties of a novel high temperature (HT) resistant
OSP coating. The GC work performed in this study clearly shows the key organic components in the HT OSP coating that
affects solderability. The GC work also shows the alkyl benzimidazole-HT used in HT OSP is of the lowest volatility. The
accompanying TGA data also illustrates that the HT OSP coatings have a higher decomposition temperature compared to
existing industry standard OSP coatings. The XPS shows that HT OSP has only about 1% increase of oxygen content after
five Lead Free reflow cycles. In combination,these improvements are assessed relative to the industry needs to meet the
performance challenges of lead free soldering.

The advent of surface mount technology and now the lead free issue have ushered in a new wave of solderability treatments,
in particular the flat hard metal finishes. Among others these include electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG),immersion
tin and immersion silver. All of these treatments are presently being used within the industry,but each has its own set of
issues. Recently a new coating has been introduced using electro plated nickel and gold. This coating was used by North
American suppliers in the 80’s,but lost its popularity with the introduction of Sn/Pb HASL.
Recently,a modified version of this technology has been resurrected,principally by Chinese PCB shops and is now being
offered at very competitive prices compared to the other hard metal finishes. The coating is referred to as “Flash Gold” and
consists of a soft gold over nickel structure. It is normally applied in a continuous electrolytic plating line. The discussion
below will describe the process and how it has been modified from the original process used by domestic shops two decades
ago.

Following previous reports by the authors on the general properties of a novel immersion silver process,this paper presents
the production experience in typical horizontal lines to demonstrate its robustness. In addition,several reliability issues
known to common immersion silver process are discussed; including galvanic attack,solder joint strength and BGA solder
joint integrity. It is found that galvanic attack is not necessarily caused by solder mask undercut,but is directly related to
silver thickness. The shear strength at the interface of both SnPb and SAC 305 alloy is independent of the silver thickness
(0.05 to 0.5 µm) and of Pb-free reflow treatment (up to three cycles). No “planar” micro voids that are detrimental to strength
and reliability are found in the BGA solder joints.

With the latest legislations from RoHS and WEEE dominating the horizon of the PCB landscape there is a need for
manufacturers and their suppliers to understand their impacts. The requirement to remove lead from the industry and
therefore the need for lead-free soldering operations means a large amount of stress is placed on the PCB substrates. The
laminate material suppliers are responding to the new legislation by introducing newer varieties of materials that have better
heat stress handling capacities as well as some added benefits like reduced z-expansion. Another concern for the laminate
manufacturers is the need to remove halogen based,flame retardants like bromine from their resin systems. This paper will
discuss the relevant legislations and the impact of these on the desmear and plating through hole processes. We will introduce
and discuss the changes that are taking place in the laminate materials sector needed to meet the newer requirements. We will
discuss the most significant advances in the halogen free as well as Pb-free capable materials. The significance of the changes
and their influence on the desmear and PTH processes will be highlighted. Test results from investigations and experiences
with the newer materials will be presented and compared to results normally found for the more standard materials. We will
propose options for handling the various issues arising from these new materials and so help to prepare PCB manufacturers
for the coming turbulence in the industry being generated by the new legislative demands.

When manufacturing printed wiring boards and assemblies it is often necessary to cover certain areas prior to soldering operations in order to avoid them being wetted with solder. Such areas may be gold contacts,gold-plated rotary contacts
multipoint connectors,carbon conductive touch-key contacts or even larger areas for which selective soldering and multiple
soldering is necessary (e.g. mixed assembly).
This covering can either be carried out out with heat-resistant tape or by using peelable solder masks which are usually
applied by screen printing to offer a very simple and yet cost-competitive coverage compared to tapes. However,the field of
application and requirements has grown enormously,with the latest challenge being compatibility with lead free soldering
processes and their increased processing temperatures.
After soldering,the masks are peeled off manually. Compared with the manual application of heat-resistant masking tapes,
peelable solder masks offer significant technical and economic advantages,e.g.:
• considerably less time- and cost-consuming application compared to adhesive tapes
• no difficult-to-remove adhesive residues
• automatable and reproducible register-true application by screen printing
• even difficult areas,such as gold-plated rotary contacts,can be covered and protected without any problems
• depending on the ink type also suitable for multiple soldering,reflow soldering and lead free soldering.

High Frequency and Lead-Free laminate materials are finding increased use in the PWB fabrication industry driven by end
user requirements for high-speed signal transmission and lead-free soldering temperatures. Along with these newer materials
has been the need for improved reliability. End users are continually pushing for thermal performance to exceed five solder
floats and exceed 300 cycles to failure on IST testing. The PWB industry,faced with ever increasing reliability requirements
compounded by the fact that these new resin materials are more difficult to desmear and metalize,have become more
concerned with plating adhesion to the copper interconnect and resin material. Concerns over interconnect defects and resin
adhesion of the copper are causing fabricators to reinvestigate their metallization technologies. The purpose of this paper is
to provide information on how to improve the adhesion of the copper deposit through a closer study of the critical success
factors influencing the metal adhesion to both the interconnect and hole wall. The research showed that the electroless copper
grain structure,plating rates and desmear parameters have a significant influence on PTH reliability. Specially designed high
layer count test vehicles were employed to quantify the adhesion and overall PTH reliability. The results were verified with
micro section evaluation after multiple solder float excursions and Interconnection Stress Testing (IST). This work validates
the necessity of the metallization process to improve the robustness of the PTH under high temperature conditions.

Solder joint void has been considered a typical phenomenon in electronics assembly. Voids are caused by entrapped gases
produced during flux volatilization during SMT,air entrapment in plated through holes and flux reaction with metal
contaminates during the assembly reflow process. The factors affecting void formation are complex and subjective. It has
been observed that BGAs with 2%Ag (62Sn36Pb2Ag) ball tend to create larger voids in reflow solder joints than eutectic
(63Sn37Pb) ball. This study investigates the effect of different process conditions on void formation in the eutectic and
2%Ag solder joints and their effect on long term (2nd level) reliability.
A series of test vehicle PCBs were populated for 2nd level reliability testing using three different BGA packages (165PBGA,
144PBGA,and 1657 FCBGA). A DOE was designed using three factorials; 1) BGAs were acquired with eutectic balls and
2%Ag balls,2) two reflow profiles were established,245C peak volcano-type profile with 3C/sec ramp and long soak profile
with 204C peak,3) two package preconditioning,60C/60%RH 10days and non-aged.
After SMT assembly test vehicles were x-ray inspected for void distribution and void size. X-ray results showed that large
voids,greater than 35% of the solder joint diameter according to IPC-7095A for class 2,were observed in both eutectic and
2%Ag solder joints assembled using large solder paste volume and reflowed using fast ramp rate to 245C peak temperature.
Approximately 60-250% higher distribution of voids was observed in 2%Ag ball packages than eutectic ball packages. It is
believed that the lower melting of 2%Ag (179C) solder ball can reflow slightly before the eutectic (183C) solder paste,thus
the solder ball collapses or encapsulates more solder paste/flux thus entrapping more gases within the bulk solder and
consequently promoting void formation. The effect of voiding on solder joint shock and thermal reliability was investigated
and discussed. It showed voids generated during board level assembly process do not degrade solder joint reliability.

A common source of defects on area array components is the “ball-in-socket” (or “pillowhead”) defect. This defect is
defined as one or more connections that show physical contact but no wetting or intermetallic connection after reflow. The
defect is difficult to detect on x-ray,and can only really be verified on cross section or if the joint in question is in a location
accessible to visual inspection. Worse,the assembly may pass electrical test,since there may physical contact between the
bulk solder and the metallization on the component lead. The lack of an intermetallic bond results in almost immediate
failure in the field,however.
The same sort of defect can also occur on large quad flat pack components,with the component lead resting on top of the
solder deposit without a metallurgical connection. In this case,the defect is referred to as a “foot-in-mud” defect.
The source of these defects is not always obvious,and little has been written about their prevention. This paper presents an
in-depth examination of the physical causes of this defect type,along with specific steps that may be taken to eliminate it.
There are several potential root causes,but the end result of all is vertical movement of one portion of the component
(tilting),resulting in lack of contact with the land during soldering. Formation of an intervening oxide layer prevents
soldering,even when the two metal surfaces are brought together.
Prevention of these defects relies on good design practices that limit thermal gradients,well-designed reflow profiles and
capable reflow equipment. The specific solder paste used can also have an impact on the appearance of this defect,for
several reasons including the alloy melting behavior,flux activity and rheology,and printing characteristics.

A process called computational reliability modeling is described herein as well as how the reliability predictions from this
modeling approach match experimental data (both lead and lead-free solder). It is described that material simulation is rolled
up to the overall board or system level to predict overall electronics reliability.

By now,most people in the industry understand how complex it is to convert a factory from using a Tin-Lead (Eutectic)
Solder process to a Lead Free process. The implementation of this change requires more than just developing a new process
to replace the current one that companies have spent years optimizing. The Lead Free implementation also brings up a new
challenge in calibrating and adjusting the equipment on the production lines to optimize their performance with the Lead Free
process1. For several years now,Flextronics has been using Automated X-ray Inspection (AXI) as effective test equipment
for the inspection of PCBA solder quality,as well as a process improvement tool. By analyzing the variable measurements
provided by AXI,Flextronics has been able to improve the SMT process2-3. Recently,Flextronics wanted to determine if
there was any difference in the AXI measurements of Lead Free and Tin-Lead solder joints. In order to do so,a Flextronics
team used AXI to measure two types of solder or “Test Vehicles:” a Test Vehicle that consisted strictly of Lead Free solder
joints/processes and a Test Vehicle that consisted strictly of Tin/lead solder joints/processes. Testing was conducted under
two different “Test Conditions.” This phrase refers to the manner in which the equipment was calibrated. Under Test
Condition #1,the AXI machine was calibrated with a Lead Free Calibration and Adjustment (C&A) panel. Under Test
Condition #2,the AXI machine was calibrated with a Tin/Lead C&A panel.
The objective of this study was to:
(1) Assess the current AXI Gage Repeatability & Reproducibility for Lead Free Test Vehicle with Lead Free Test
Condition.
(2) Compare and correlate several measurements,including BGA Ball diameter,BGA Ball Thickness,Fine Pitch
Gullwing Heel Thickness,Center Thickness,and Fillet Length,and Resistor 0402 Pad Thickness,for the two types
of Test Vehicles (Lead Free and Tin/Lead) under both the Lead Free and Tin/Lead C&A Calibration Test
Conditions.
The Test Vehicle boards contained 12 BGAs and two FPGullwing devices with a pitch size of 16 mils. More than 240,000
data points were collected for the study. We analyzed the data collected for BGA diameter,BGA Thickness,Fine Pitch
Gullwing Heel thickness,Center thickness,and Fillet Length,and Resistor 0402 pad thickness using the SPC tool MINITAB
and its Mood’s Median Test tool. The results showed a statistical difference for most of the measurements under both test
conditions,Lead Free and Tin/Lead C&A. The majority of the differences for the measurements averaged in the range of 5%
to 10% for the same type of Test Vehicle boards under the different Test Conditions.
The AXI test results not only report attribute data; it also provides variable data (the actual numerical measurements). With
the variable data obtained from this automatic test method,the AXI can be used as a good SMT process improvement tool,as
well as a tool for process defect detection. The variable data has been used to help Flextronics effectively control its SMT
processes. Based on our studies,we found that it is better to test Lead Free or Tin/Lead product boards with corresponding
test condition. For example,the FPGullwing average open signal of a Lead Free board using Test Condition #2 should be
16.5% higher than when using Test Condition #1. The FPGullwing average open signal of the Tin/Lead board using Test
Condition #1 should be 15.5% lower than when using Test Condition #2.