Electrical termination techniques

A technical review of high reliability electrical terminations for electronic equipment was made. Seven techniques were selected from this review for further investigation, experimental work, and preliminary testing. From the preliminary test results, four techniques were selected for final testing and evaluation. These four were: (1) induction soldering, (2) wire wrap, (3) percussive arc welding, and (4) resistance welding. Of these four, induction soldering was selected as the best technique in terms of minimizing operator errors, controlling temperature and time, minimizing joint contamination, and ultimately producing a reliable, uniform, and reusable electrical termination

Space station power semiconductor package

A package of high-power switching semiconductors for the space station have been designed and fabricated. The package includes a high-voltage (600 volts) high current (50 amps) NPN Fast Switching Power Transistor and a high-voltage (1200 volts), high-current (50 amps) Fast Recovery Diode. The package features an isolated collector for the transistors and an isolated anode for the diode. Beryllia is used as the isolation material resulting in a thermal resistance for both devices of .2 degrees per watt. Additional features include a hermetical seal for long life -- greater than 10 years in a space environment. Also, the package design resulted in a low electrical energy loss with the reduction of eddy currents, stray inductances, circuit inductance, and capacitance. The required package design and device parameters have been achieved. Test results for the transistor and diode utilizing the space station package is given

MICROSTRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION AND THERMAL CYCLING RELIABILITY OF SOLDERS UNDER ISOTHERMAL AGING AND ELECTRICAL CURRENT

Solder joints on printed circuit boards provide electrical and mechanical connections between electronic devices and metallized patterns on boards. These solder joints are often the cause of failure in electronic packages. Solders age under storage and operational life conditions, which can include temperature, mechanical loads, and electrical current. Aging occurring at a constant temperature is called isothermal aging. Isothermal aging leads to coarsening of the bulk microstructure and increased interfacial intermetallic compounds at the solder-pad interface. The coarsening of the solder bulk degrades the creep properties of solders, whereas the voiding and brittleness of interfacial intermetallic compounds leads to mechanical weakness of the solder joint. Industry guidelines on solder interconnect reliability test methods recommend preconditioning the solder assemblies by isothermal aging before conducting reliability tests. The guidelines assume that isothermal aging simulates a "reasonable use period," but do not relate the isothermal aging levels with specific use conditions. Studies on the effect of isothermal aging on the thermal cycling reliability of tin-lead and tin-silver-copper solders are limited in scope, and results have been contradictory. The effect of electrical current on solder joints has been has mostly focused on current densities above 104A/cm2 with high ambient temperature (≥100oC), where electromigration, thermomigration, and Joule heating are the dominant failure mechanisms. The effect of current density below 104A/cm2 on temperature cycling fatigue of solders has not been established. This research provides the relation between isothermal aging and the thermal cycling reliability of select Sn-based solders. The Sn-based solders with 3%, 1%, and 0% silver content that have replaced tin-lead are studied and compared against tin-lead solder. The activation energy and growth exponents of the Arrhenius model for the intermetallic growth in the solders are provided. An aging metric to quantify the aging of solder joints, in terms of phase size in the solder bulk and interfacial intermetallic compound thickness at the solder-pad interface, is established. Based on the findings of thermal cycling tests on aged solder assemblies, recommendations are made for isothermal aging of solders before thermal cycling tests. Additionally, the effect of active electrical current at 103 A/cm2 on thermal cycling reliability is reported

Microstructure Influence of SACX0307-TiO2 Composite Solder Joints on Thermal Properties of Power LED Assemblies

The effect of the microstructure of solder joints on the thermal properties of power LEDs was investigated. Solder joints were prepared with different solder pastes, namely 99Sn0.3Ag0.7Cu (as reference solder) and reinforced 99Sn0.3Ag0.7Cu-TiO2 (composite solder). TiO2 ceramic was used at 1 wt% and with two different primary particle sizes, which were 20nm (nano) and 200nm (submicron). The thermal resistance, the electric thermal resistance, and the luminous efficiency of the power LED assemblies were measured. Furthermore, the microstructure of the different solder joints was analyzed on the basis of cross-sections using scanning electron and optical microscopy. It was found that the addition of submicron TiO2 decreased the thermal and electric thermal resistances of the light sources by 20% and 16%, respectively, and it slightly increased the luminous efficiency. Microstructural evaluations showed that the TiO2 particles were incorporated at the Sn grain boundaries and at the interface of the intermetallic layer and the solder bulk. This caused considerable refinement of the Sn grain structure. The precipitated TiO2 particles at the bottom of the solder joint changed the thermodynamics of Cu6Sn5 formation and enhanced the spalling of intermetallic grain to solder bulk, which resulted in a general decrease in the thickness of the intermetallic layer. These phenomena improved the heat paths in the composite solder joints, and resulted in better thermal and electrical properties of power LED assemblies. However, the TiO2 nanoparticles could also cause considerable local IMC growth, which could inhibit thermal and electrical improvements

The durability of solder joints under thermo-mechanical loading; application to Sn-37Pb and Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu lead-free replacement alloy

Solder joints in electronic packages provide mechanical, electrical and thermal connections. Hence, their reliability is also a major concern to the electronic packaging industry. Ball Grid Arrays (BGAs) are a very common type of surface mount technology for electronic packaging. This work primarily addresses the thermo-mechanical durability of BGAs and is applied to the exemplar alloys; traditional leaded solder and a popular lead-free solder. Isothermal mechanical fatigue tests were carried out on 4-ball test specimens of the lead-free (Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu) and leaded (Sn-37Pb) solder under load control at room temperature, 35°C and 75°C. As well as this, a set of combined thermal and mechanical cycling tests were carried out, again under load control with the thermal cycles either at a different frequency from the mechanical cycles (not-in-phase) or at the same frequency (both in phase and out-of-phase). The microstructural evaluation of both alloys was investigated by carrying out a series of simulated ageing tests, coupled with detailed metallurgical analysis and hardness testing. The results were treated to produce stress-life, cyclic behaviour and creep curves for each of the test conditions. Careful calibration allowed the effects of substrate and grips to be accounted for and so a set of strain-life curves to be produced. These results were compared with other results from the literature taking into account the observations on microstructure made in the ageing tests. It is generally concluded that the TMF performance is better for the Sn-Ag-Cu alloy than for the Sn-Pb alloy, when expressed as stress-life curves. There is also a significant effect on temperature and phase for each of the alloys, the Sn-Ag-Cu being less susceptible to these effects. When expressed as strain life, the effects of temperature, phase and alloy type are much diminished. Many of these conclusions coincided with only parts of the literature and reasons for the remaining differences are advanced

Index to 1981 NASA Tech Briefs, volume 6, numbers 1-4

Short announcements of new technology derived from the R&D activities of NASA are presented. These briefs emphasize information considered likely to be transferrable across industrial, regional, or disciplinary lines and are issued to encourage commercial application. This index for 1981 Tech Briefs contains abstracts and four indexes: subject, personal author, originating center, and Tech Brief Number. The following areas are covered: electronic components and circuits, electronic systems, physical sciences, materials, life sciences, mechanics, machinery, fabrication technology, and mathematics and information sciences

Characterization of High Temperature Superconductor Cables for Magnet Toroidal Field Coils of the DEMO Fusion Power Plant

Nuclear fusion is a key technology to satisfy the basic demand for electric energy sustainably. The official EUROfusion schedule foresees a first industrial DEMOnstration Fusion Power Plant for 2050. In this work several high temperature superconductor sub-size cables are investigated for their applicability in large scale DEMO toroidal field coils. Main focus lies on the electromechanical stability under the influence of high Lorentz forces at peak magnetic fields of up to 12 T

Heat Transfer and Thermodynamics: a Compilation

A compilation is presented for the dissemination of information on technological developments which have potential utility outside the aerospace and nuclear communities. Studies include theories and mechanical considerations in the transfer of heat and the thermodynamic properties of matter and the causes and effects of certain interactions

Modeling the SAC microstructure evolution under thermal, thermomechanical and electrical constraints

[no abstract