Mechanical behaviour and reliability of Sn3.8AgO.7Cu solder for a surface mount assembly

The demands for compact, light weight and Iow cost electronic products have resulted in the miniaturisation of solder interconnects to a sub-millimetre scale. With such a reduction in size, the solder joints cannot be assumed to behave in the same way as bulk solder in terms of reliability due to the fact that their material behaviours are influenced by the joint size and microstructure. The complexity of their reliability assessment is furthermore compounded by the demand for the replacement of traditional SnPb solder alloys with lead-free alloys, due to the presence of the toxic and health hazardous element (Pb) in the former alloy. However, these new lead-free alloys have much less history of industrial applications, and their material and reliability data is not as well developed as traditional lead-based alloys. In addition, most previous reliability assessments using finite element analysis have assumed a uniform distribution of temperature within the electronic assembly, which conflicts the actual temperature conditions during circuit operation. Therefore, this research was undertaken to analyse the effect of solder joint size on solder material properties from which material models were developed, and to determine the effect of an actual (nonuniform) temperature distribution in an electronic assembly on the reliability of its solder joints. Following a review of lead-free solders and potential lead-free alloys, lead-free solder microstructures, and the reliability issues and factors affecting the reliability of solder joints, the practical aspects of this research were carried out in two main parts. The first part consisted of substantial work on the experimental determination of the temperature distribution in a typical surface mount chip resistor assembly for power cycling conditions, and the stress-strain and creep behaviour for both Sn3.8AgO.7Cu solder joints and reflowed bulk solder. This also included building material models based on the experimental data for the solder joints tested and comparison with that for bulk solder. Based on the comparison of the material properties, two extreme material models were selected for the reliability study. Size and microstructure effects on the solder material properties were also discussed in this part. The second part comprised of extensive finite element analysis of a surface mount chip resistor assembly and reliability assessment of its solder joints. The simulation began with elasto-plastic analysis for 2D and 3D chip resistor assemblies to decide upon the kind of formulation to be used when the full complexity of both plasticity and creep is considered. The simulation was carried out considering the determined non-uniform temperature distribution and idealized or traditional uniform temperature condition. The solder joint's material properties were modelled using the two material models determined from the experimental results. The effect of temperature distribution during thermal cycling and of the selected material models on the solder joint reliability was demonstrated using finite element analysis and subsequent fatigue life estimation. In summary, this research has concluded that the material behaviour of the solder joint is different from that of bulk solder due to the effect of its size and microstructure. The anisotropic behaviour of the solder joint cannot be ignored in reliability studies, since it has a significant effect on the solder joint's fatigue life. The research also showed the significant effect of an actual (non-uniform) temperature distribution in the electronic assembly on the solder joint fatigue life

Creep damage study at powercycling of lead-free surface mount device

Soldering is extensively used to assemble electronic components to printed circuit boards or chips to a substrate in microelectronic devices. These solder joints serve as mechanical, thermal and electrical interconnections, therefore, their integrity is a key reliability concern. However, newly introduced lead-free solders do not have a long history of applications in the industry and there is a lack of established material models of their behaviour over the wide temperature range experienced by electronics systems. Therefore, an extensive reliability study is required before introducing a new lead-free solder material in the electronic industries. Moreover, most of the solder materials have low melting temperatures, and are prone to creep in service. The cyclic temperature operating condition (powercycling) of the solder joint can result in the creep fatigue failure. Thus, a computational technique is used to investigate creep damage in solder joints. The present paper deals with creep damage of leadfree solder joints for powercycling using finite element analysis with the consideration of experimentally observed non-uniform temperature distributions in the 1206 surface mount chip resistor. In addition, a comparison is made for inelastic strain accumulation and fatigue life for creep damage study for spatially uniform and non-uniform temperature powercycling

3D study of thermal stresses in lead-free surface mount devices

The paper presents the study of non-uniform temperature distributions in a flip chip electronic assembly, and the use of these temperature distributions to analyse the thermal stresses in lead-free solder joints in surface mount devices. The thermal stresses in the solder joints are mainly due to the mismatch in the coefficients of thermal expansions between the component and substrate materials, and temperature gradient in the electronic assembly. The thermo-elasto-visco-plastic finite element analysis is carried out to investigate the extent of thermal stresses induced in solder joints between a surface mount component and a FR4 circuit board (substrate) under conditions of thermal cycling with the chip resistor operating at its full power condition. Three different cases of spatial temperature distributions are considered including one with an experimentally obtained non-uniform temperature distribution. A comparative study of thermal stresses is performed using a near-eutectic SnAgCu solder material for three different thermal cases

Creep analysis of a lead-free surface mount device

In this paper finite element analysis (FEA) is used to understand the effect of a non-uniform temperature distribution on the creep and fatigue behaviour of lead-free solder joints in an electronic assembly comprising of a chip resistor mounted on printed circuit board (PCB). Solder joints in surface mount devices (SMDs) operate over a temperature range as extreme as -55degC to 125degC, which is high compared to the melting temperature of solder alloys. Exposure of solder joints to these temperatures can result in thermo-mechanical fatigue. Eutectic or near- eutectic tin-lead alloys have previously been used as an interconnection material, but the ban imposed on the use of toxic materials in electronic products demands new lead-free solder materials. This paper presents the experiments carried out using a thermal camera to obtain the real temperature distribution in the electronic assembly. These temperature distributions were used in FEA of the chip resistor under temperature cycling conditions. Unlike accelerated tests for obtaining reliability data, FEA is quick and less expensive

Thermo-mechanical damage accumulation during power cycling of lead-free surface mount solder joints

It is well known that in surface mount technology (SMT), thermal strains in electronic assemblies are induced in the solder joints by the mismatch between the coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) of the components, substrate and solder, both during their processing and in service. Therefore, thermo-mechanical damage is likely to occur in the solder and the principle reliability hazard in SMT assemblies is the resulting fatigue cracking of the solder fillet, caused by cyclic thermal stresses. These stresses may be caused by both cyclic variations in power dissipation within equipment and by external environmental temperature changes. Most work reported to date has focused on the effects of environmental temperature changes, although for many types of equipment power cycling may result in significant stresses. The present paper describes the experimental determination of the actual temperature distribution in a chip resistor assembly when it is powered. The paper also discusses the significance of such experimentally determined non-uniform temperature distributions in electronic assemblies to fatigue damage accumulation due to both power cycling and to cyclic variations in the ambient temperature whilst the chip resistor is powered. This fatigue damage accumulation study is carried out using finite element analysis

Creep analysis of a lead-free surface mount device

In this paper finite element analysis (FEA) is used to understand the effect of a non-uniform temperature distribution on the creep and fatigue behaviour of lead-free solder joints in an electronic assembly comprising of a chip resistor mounted on printed circuit board (PCB). Solder joints in surface mount devices (SMDs) operate over a temperature range as extreme as -55degC to 125degC, which is high compared to the melting temperature of solder alloys. Exposure of solder joints to these temperatures can result in thermo-mechanical fatigue. Eutectic or near- eutectic tin-lead alloys have previously been used as an interconnection material, but the ban imposed on the use of toxic materials in electronic products demands new lead-free solder materials. This paper presents the experiments carried out using a thermal camera to obtain the real temperature distribution in the electronic assembly. These temperature distributions were used in FEA of the chip resistor under temperature cycling conditions. Unlike accelerated tests for obtaining reliability data, FEA is quick and less expensive

Finite element analysis of lead-free surface mount devices

Transition to lead-free solder materials has raised concerns over the reliability of lead-free solder joints in the electronic industry. Solder joints provide electrical conduction and mechanical support for components and may operate over temperature extremes of -55oC to 125oC or greater. These temperatures are relatively high the melting point of the solder. A mismatch between coefficients of thermal expansion of the component, solder and substrate, combined with thermal variations during service, results in thermal fatigue that is a common failure mechanism for solder joints in electronic products. So far most of the studies of this issue have considered uniform temperature distributions in the electronic assembly. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the effect of the experimentally observed non-uniform temperature distribution in the electronic device on the structural response of solder joints in comparison with that for a uniform temperature distribution