Jetting- a New Paradigm in Dispensing

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Today’s advanced packages for electronics are required to meet a wide range of requirements for reliability,size and cost.
Surface mount technology still prevails in low cost electronics (televisions,VCR’s,washing machines,etc). Most surface
mount IC’s are wire-bonded,molded devices,and not considered “advanced packaging”. The challenges in packaging
increase as the need for portability,performance,or reliability increases. The size and performance constraints of notebook
computers,mobile phones,gaming devices and other handheld portable electronics are drivers,as is automotive electronics.
The mantra “smaller,faster,cheaper” has turned into a fevered battle cry in electronics manufacturing today.
Automated Fluid dispensing is a process found throughout electronics manufacturing. Notable among the applications are die
attach adhesives,wire bond encapsulants,and flip-chip underfills. Materials manufacturers continue to innovate,enabling
new processes to develop,as well as bringing the cost to manufacture down. Traditional needle dispensing is a mature
solution to many of the manufacturing challenges that exist. But a new application method,known as jetting,is breaking
formerly established barriers and enabling new applications that simply were not possible with traditional techniques.
This presentation discusses the physical action of jetting and highlights the fluid parameters that relate to jetting. The main
advantage to jetting arises from the fact that the fluid is imparted with momentum and is actually shot from the nozzle. This
property not only affects the flow rate through the nozzle,but also considerably affects the overall rate of the entire process.
The jetting process is independent of the dispense gap,a highly important parameter in needle dispensing. (The surface of the
substrate is used to pull the fluid deposit from the needle.)
Because proximity to the dispensing surface is a critical parameter of needle dispensing,it is usual for the robot controller to
use precious time moving the needle to the correct Z-location for each deposit. With jetting the robot can literally fly above
the surface and shoot from a distance,eliminating Z-axis motion time as well as many of the dwells and delays used to
account for the flow of the material from the needle.
Additionally,the dimensions of the fluid stream from a jet permit control of the fluid to never-before-possible restricted areas.
Stacked Die,RF shields,and sub-250 micron fillets for underfill are now not only possible but a production reality.
The bulk of underfill processing throughout the semiconductor industry has turned to jetting as a new and improved method
because of its inherent speed and precision. A brief review of the many dispensing applications in electronics will establish
the landscape into which jetting fits. Specific dispensing applications are detailed; with traditional fluid application methods
shown. The impact that the new jetting technology has on cost and productivity is then discussed.

Author(s)
Bob Hoffman
Resource Type
Technical Paper
Event
IPC APEX EXPO 2006

Dispensing Solder Paste Micro-Deposits to 0.2mm – A Process Solution

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Solder paste dispensing is not a new process. However,today’s microelectronics present a daunting array of technical
challenges to meet deposit size requirements. The need for better paste formulations,more precise equipment,and more
tightly controlled processes is driving paste suppliers and equipment suppliers to develop new methods and materials.
The most challenging solder paste deposits are those smaller than 0.25mm in diameter and today’s electronics demand
such deposits. This paper addresses the process requirements for solder paste micro-deposits in terms of material,
equipment and process variable control required for success in producing 0.25mm and smaller deposits.

Author(s)
John Vivari
Resource Type
Technical Paper
Event
IPC APEX EXPO 2006

Accuracy Improvements for the Dispensing Operation

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Technology requirements within the electronics industry are rapidly driving the miniaturization of and increasing component
densities on the printed circuit board. As a result,assembly equipment must offer increased accuracy capabilities while
delivering both the required high yield and high throughput capabilities.
Typically,dispensing platforms only specify XY repeatability and/or dot placement accuracy,expressed as a sigma value.
These specifications do not include the error associated with positional mechanisms,which greatly contribute to final
accuracy and repeatability. Many factors influence positional accuracy,including the XY gantry,camera calibration,
fiducial teaching errors and camera-to-needle offset calculations.
To determine the true machine capability,including positional accuracy and express it as a Cpk value,a new test method
must be developed to take into consideration all influencing factors. Call it “Total System Accuracy™.” By calculating the
“Total System Accuracy” of a dispensing platform,including material placement accuracy on a substrate relative to a defined
target,it is possible to determine the true platform capability and provide a better understanding of how the product will work
for various applications.

Author(s)
Brian Prescott
Resource Type
Technical Paper
Event
IPC APEX EXPO 2006

JCAA/JG-PP Lead Free Solder Project: Combined Solder Project: Combined Environments Test

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A combined environment testing was conducted for the Joint Council on Aging Aircraft/Joint Group on Pollution Prevention
Lead free Solder project. The purpose of the project was to validate and demonstrate lead free solders as potential
replacements for conventional tin-lead solders used on circuit card assemblies against the requirements of the aerospace and
military electronics community.
The solder alloys tested include: Sn3.9Ag0.6Cu,Sn3.4Ag1.0Cu3.3Bi,Sn0.7Cu0.05Ni and Sn37Pb. These solder alloys
were used to assemble various components on three different printed wiring board test vehicles: manufactured,rework and
hybrid. The test vehicles were subjected to a combined environments test consisting of thermal cycling from –55 to 125
degrees Celsius at a ramp rate of 20 degrees Celsius per minute,dwell at the temperature extremes for 15 minutes and
pseudorandom vibration of 10 grms for the last 10 minutes of the dwell periods. After every 50 cycles,the vibration level was
increased by 5 grms until a maximum of 55 grms was reached. The test vehicles were electrically monitored using event
detectors.
The solder joint failure data of a given component type,component finish and solder alloy were evaluated using Weibull
analysis. The reliability of the lead free solder alloys was compared to the baseline tin-lead (Sn37Pb) solder alloy.

Author(s)
Jeff Bradford,Joe Felty,Bill Russell
Resource Type
Technical Paper
Event
IPC APEX EXPO 2006

JCAA/JG-PP No-Lead Solder Project: -55ºC to +125ºC Thermal Cycle Testing Status Report

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The use of conventional tin-lead (Sn/Pb) solder in circuit board manufacturing is under ever-increasing political scrutiny due
to environmental issues and new regulations concerning lead,such as the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment
(WEEE) and the Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directives in Europe. In response to this,global commercial
electronic manufacturers are initiating efforts to transition to lead-free assembly. Lead-free (Pbfree) materials will be finding
their way into the inventory of aerospace and military assembly processes under government acquisition reform initiatives.
Any potential banning of lead compounds could reduce the supplier base and adversely affect the readiness of missions led
by NASA and the DoD. The Joint Council on Aging Aircraft (JCAA)/ Joint Group on Pollution Prevention (JGPP) Lead-
Free Solder Project,a partnership between DoD,NASA and OEMs,was initiated to examine the reliability of Pbfree solders
exposed to harsh environmental conditions representative of NASA and DoD operational conditions. This paper reports
results to date on the JCAA/JGPP consortia -55ºC to +125ºC thermal cycle testing. The main goal of the thermal cycle testing
effort is to generate data from test boards that are representative of IPC Class III High Performance Electronic Products.

Author(s)
David Hillman,Sarah Olson
Resource Type
Technical Paper
Event
IPC APEX EXPO 2006

JCAA/JG-PP No-Lead Solder Project: -20°C to +80°C Thermal Cycle Test

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Thermal cycle testing is being conducted by Boeing Phantom Works (Seattle) for the Joint Council on Aging Aircraft/Joint
Group on Pollution Prevention (JCAA/JG-PP) No-Lead Solder Project. The JCAA/JG-PP Consortium is the first group to
test the reliability of lead-free solder joints against the requirements of the aerospace/military community.
The solder alloys selected for test were:
Sn3.9Ag0.6Cu for reflow and wave soldering
Sn3.4Ag1.0Cu3.3Bi for reflow soldering
Sn0.7Cu0.05Ni for wave soldering
Sn37Pb for reflow and wave soldering
Test vehicles were assembled using these solders and a variety of component types and the test vehicles are being thermally
cycled (from -20°C to +80°C). To date,5700 thermal cycles have been accumulated.
The solder joints on the components are being electrically monitored using event detectors and any solder joint failures are
recorded on a Labview-based data collection system. The failures of a given component type attached with SnPb solder will
be compared to the failures of the same component type attached with lead-free solders by using Weibull analysis.

Author(s)
Thomas A. Woodrow
Resource Type
Technical Paper
Event
IPC APEX EXPO 2006

Are Scandinavian Companies Ready for Production of Lead Free PCBs?

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For more than two years,experts,authorities and sales people in the electronic industry have talked about WEEE and
RoHS. In most cases,it has been theoretical and few companies in Scandinavia have any practical experience with lead
free production. What is even more significant is that many OEMs don’t have any knowledge about what actions they
have to do to meet the requirements for a successful implementation of WEEE and RoHS. In addition to a lack of
knowledge for EMS and OEM companies,the authorities in the Scandinavian countries have kept a very low profile
which undermines the political system in European Union and the consequences of the WEEE and RoHS directives.

Author(s)
Lars Wallin
Resource Type
Technical Paper
Event
IPC APEX EXPO 2006

Implementing Pb-Free Process

European directive2002/95/EC (RoHS) bans the use of several substances for electronic assemblies by July 2006. These
regulations have a great impact on the Electronic Packaging and Interconnection Technology. They affect specifications and
handling of Components,Printed Boards,Materials,Manufacturing processes,Rework / Repair and last,but not least,the
Reliability and Costs of products. Lead is the element that most affects the electronic manufacturing processes and designs,
as it is part of the standard soldering alloy (Sn63Pn37).
International associations (JEITA and IPC’s Solder Products Value Committee) recommend the use of the SAC 305 alloy
(3% Ag,0.5%Cu,96.5%Sn) as the alternative to SnPb.
This paper describes a Lead-free Test Vehicle that was used to test both the Design For Manufacture (DFM) guidelines and
the process variations in comparison with the current SnPb process. The paper is the result of a co-development project held
between OCE and Celestica to validate and modify,if necessary,the design,assembly specifications,and process control
parameters associated with the new soldering alloy.
The project was developed to test all aspects of the Pb-free assembly process from the double sided reflow process,single
sided reflow with cure process,selective wave solder process to standard wave solder processes. Different rework processes
were also evaluated,such as manual soldering,hot gas rework and solder fountain rework for TH connectors. The goal was
to determine if there was a preferred process flow for this new technology and if it could handle different processes without
any direct effect on functionality,yield or Reliability.

Author(s)
Francisco Serrano Prats,Jeff Kennedy
Resource Type
Technical Paper
Event
IPC Fall Meetings 2006

Lead Free Implementation - A Case Study Correlating the Thermal Profile and Laboratory Analysis

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The electronic industry has been migrating to lead-free solder alloys by legislation forces. In Europe the WEEE/RoHS are
scheduled to ban Pb alloys in July 2006. China is in process of preparing similar regulation. In Japan legislation governing
products containing Pb has already been established. In the US,some states are exploring legislation to require recycling of
electronics to reduce Pb in products. The objective of this work is to describe a study of Surface Mounted BGA Components
when using a lead-free solder paste and two different reflow profiles. The 387SAC solder paste alloy (95.5Sn/3.8Ag/0.7Cu)
was printed on PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards) for one specific phone project under study. The devices were submitted to
thermal cycling,shock,humidity,drop and red dye penetration tests according to Motorola’s standard tests procedures. The
BGAs component interconnects were inspected from cross sectioning for solder joints quality performance. Solder ability
tests showed to be correlating with the reflow process parameters and were used as guides to get the process improvement.
The laboratory analysis suggested the use of a different thermal reflow profile was required to increase the BGA joints
reliability.

Author(s)
Lícia Maestrelli,Eliane M. Grigoletto
Resource Type
Technical Paper
Event
IPC APEX EXPO 2006

Thermally Conductive Free-Standing Dielectric Materials for Printed Circuit Boards without Halogens or Phosphorous

At the same time the electronics industry is moving towards higher power and faster clock speed,components are becoming
smaller in size and packed more densely on circuit boards. Together these factors result in tremendous heat flux that must be
dissipated to improve performance and maintain reliability. As a result,the need for improved board level thermal
management is becoming more and more critical. In addition to improving traditional heat sinks mounted directly to
integrated circuits,designers are turning more frequently to thermal solutions that utilize the printed circuit board itself to
supplement heat dissipation. Based on application needs,thermally conductive dielectric materials with the following characteristics were investigated: 1)
thermal conductivity ranging from 1.7 to 3 W/mK; 2) halogen and phosphorus-free material,passing UL94V0 flammability
test; 3) environmentally friendly solvent-free process; 4) high glass transition temperature with excellent 288 oC solder float
and immersion test results; and 5) free-standing dielectric layer with processing conditions similar to FR-4. The
characteristics of the free-standing sheets were chosen in order that they could be processed as IMPCB,double sided
laminate (DSL),and hybrid combinations with single or multilayer FR-4 assemblies. In this paper the characteristics of
IMPCB’s made with a variety of filler systems and environmentally friendly polymeric systems are discussed. The effects of
the filler and polymer choices on achievable thermal performance,adhesion,and flammability are investigated. The
improvement in thermal stability through the use of a non-brominated resin system is discussed. Compositions with high
thermal conductivity,high glass transition temperature,and high electrical insulation resistance are evaluated.

Author(s)
Richard F. Hill,Yuqin Li
Resource Type
Technical Paper
Event
IPC Fall Meetings 2006