Laser Milling Methods for Package Failure Analysis

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajen Dias ◽  
Lars Skoglund ◽  
Zhiyong Wang
Keyword(s):  
Flip Chip ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Printed Circuit Board ◽  
Fault Isolation ◽  
Circuit Board ◽  
Physical Analysis ◽  
Laser Milling ◽  
Plastic Package ◽  
Milling Tool ◽  
Diamond Saw

Abstract Current methods used for package level destructive physical analysis (DPA) such as chemical and mechanical decapsulation methods, reactive ion etching (RIE) and diamond saw x-section methods could potentially result in artifacts such as die cracking, delamination or corrosion when used on complex packaging technologies such as multiple thin die stacked packages with combination of flip chip and wire bond interconnections. Many of the shortcoming of these ubiquitous DPA tools are being addressed by a laser milling approach to DPA. The system described in this paper consists of a ultraviolet (UV) laser used for local micromachining or milling to access package internal features and a near infrared(IR) laser used for precise soldering of fine wires to enable testing and fault isolation. Applications of the laser milling tool described in the paper are 1) Delayering of multilayer printed circuit board (PCB) substrates to expose internal metal traces so that they can be tested to fault isolate the failure without loosing electrical functionality of the product. 2) Silicon milling to expose flip chip interconnections. 3) Package cross sectioning and 4) Plastic package decapsulation.

scholarly journals Toward a fully integrated automotive radar system-on-chip in 22 nm FD-SOI CMOS

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Philipp Ritter
Keyword(s):  
Millimeter Wave ◽  
Flip Chip ◽  
Printed Circuit Board ◽  
Digital Signal ◽  
Cmos Technology ◽  
Radar System ◽  
Circuit Board ◽  
Processing Unit ◽  
Automotive Radar ◽  
On Chip

Abstract Next-generation automotive radar sensors are increasingly becoming sensitive to cost and size, which will leverage monolithically integrated radar system-on-Chips (SoC). This article discusses the challenges and the opportunities of the integration of the millimeter-wave frontend along with the digital backend. A 76–81 GHz radar SoC is presented as an evaluation vehicle for an automotive, fully depleted silicon-over-insulator 22 nm CMOS technology. It features a digitally controlled oscillator, 2-millimeter-wave transmit channels and receive channels, an analog base-band with analog-to-digital conversion as well as a digital signal processing unit with on-chip memory. The radar SoC evaluation chip is packaged and flip-chip mounted to a high frequency printed circuit board for functional demonstration and performance evaluation.

Nonlinear-Time-Dependent Analysis of Micro Via-In-Pad Substrates for Solder Bumped Flip Chip Applications

2002 ◽  
Vol 124 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
John H. Lau ◽  
S. W. Ricky Lee ◽  
Stephen H. Pan ◽  
Chris Chang
Keyword(s):  
Cross Sections ◽  
Flip Chip ◽  
Printed Circuit Board ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Circuit Board ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Pcb Assembly ◽  
Creep Analysis ◽  
Chip Scale Package ◽  
Time Dependent Analysis

An elasto-plastic-creep analysis of a low-cost micro via-in-pad (VIP) substrate for supporting a solder bumped flip chip in a chip scale package (CSP) format which is soldered onto a printed circuit board (PCB) is presented in this study. Emphasis is placed on the design, materials, and reliability of the micro VIP substrate and of the micro VIP CSP solder joints on PCB. The solder is assumed to obey Norton’s creep law. Cross-sections of samples are examined for a better understanding of the solder bump, CSP substrate redistribution, micro VIP, and solder joint. Also, the thermal cycling test results of the micro VIP CSP PCB assembly is presented.

Analysis of 16 QFN Device I/O Pads for Solderability Failures

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 (1) ◽  
pp. 000675-000684
Author(s):  
Rama Hegde ◽  
Anne Anderson ◽  
Sam Subramanian ◽  
Andrew Mawer ◽  
Ed Hall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cross Section ◽  
Printed Circuit Board ◽  
Depth Profiling ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Circuit Board ◽  
Physical Analysis ◽  
Lead Frame ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Root Cause ◽  
Industry Standard

In-process failures were experienced during printed circuit board (PCB) SMT assembly of a 16 Quad Flat No Leads (QFN) device. The failures appeared to be solderability related with QFN unit I/O pads not soldering robustly and sometimes leading to QFN detachment following board mounting. When assembly did take place on affected QFN units, the resulting solder joint was observed to be weak. This paper reports on very systematic analyses of the QFN device I/O pads using optical inspections, AES surface, AES depth profiling, SEM/EDX, SIMS, FIB and TEM cross-sectional measurements to determine the root cause of the failure and the failure mechanism. The detached QFN units, suspect and good unsoldered units, passing and failing units obtained from customers were examined. The industry standard surface mount solderability testing was performed on good and suspect parts, and all were observed to pass as evidenced by >95% coverage of the I/O pads. Optical inspections and a wide variety of physical analysis of the pads on fresh parts showed no anomalies with only the expected Au over Pd over Ni found. AES analysis was performed including depth profiling to look for any issues in the NiPdAu over base Cu plating layers that could be contributing the solderability failures. The AES depth profiling indicated AuPd film on the Ni under layer for the I/O pads as expected. No unexpected elements or oxide layers were observed at any layer. Then, one failing and one passing units were compared by doing FIB cross-section, FIB planar section and TEM cross-section analysis. The cross-sectional analysis showed rough Ni surface for the failing units, while the Ni surface was relatively smooth for the passing unit. Further, finer Cu grains and Ni grains were observed on the passing units. Additionally, the lead frame fabrication process mapping showed rough Cu, Ni “texturing” and use of low electro chemical polishing (ECP) current on the bad units compared to that of the good units. All affected bad units were confirmed coming from a second source Cu supplier with the rough Cu. The weak and irregular NiSn IMC formation on the bad units caused IMC separation and possible spalling during board solder reflow primarily due to the rough base Cu and irregular grain sizes and resulting lower ECP lead frame plating current. A possible final factor was marginally low Pd thickness. In conclusion, the 16 QFN device solderability failure root cause summary and the lessons learned from a wide variety of analysis techniques will be discussed.

Flip Chip Thermal Test Vehicle Design: Requirements, Evaluations, and Validations

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teck Joo Goh ◽  
Chia-Pin Chiu ◽  
K. N. Seetharamu ◽  
G. A. Quadir ◽  
Z. A. Zainal
Keyword(s):  
Flip Chip ◽  
Printed Circuit Board ◽  
Thermal Characterization ◽  
Circuit Board ◽  
Vehicle Design ◽  
Test Chip ◽  
Test Vehicle ◽  
Design Processes ◽  
Thermal Test ◽  
Design Requirements

This paper reviews the design of a flip chip thermal test vehicle. Design requirements for different applications such as thermal characterization, assembly process optimization, and product burn-in simulation are outlined. The design processes of different thermal test chip structures including the temperature sensor and passive heaters are described in detail. In addition, the design of fireball heater, a novel test chip structure used for evaluating the effectiveness of heat spreading of advanced thermal solutions, is also illustrated. The design considerations and processes of the package substrate and printed circuit board with special emphasis on the physical routing of the thermal test chip structures are described. These design processes are supported with thermal data from various finite-element analyses (FEA) carried out to evaluate the capability and limitations of thermal test vehicle design. Design optimization as the outcome of these analyses is also elaborated. Lastly, the validation and calibration procedures of the thermal test vehicle are presented in this paper.

Evaluation of a Conductive Adhesive Based Approach to Lead Free Flip Chip Assembly

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muthiah Venkateswaran ◽  
Peter Borgesen ◽  
K. Srihari
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Flip Chip ◽  
Printed Circuit Board ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Conductive Adhesive ◽  
Circuit Board ◽  
Lead Free ◽  
Conductive Adhesives ◽  
Flip Chip Assembly ◽  
Placement Machine

Electrically conductive adhesives are emerging as a lead free, flux less, low temperature alternative to soldering in a variety of electronics and optoelectronics applications. Some of the potential benefits are obvious, but so far the adhesives have some limitations as well. The present work offers a critical evaluation of one approach to flip chip assembly, which lends itself particularly well to use with a high speed placement machine. Wafers were bumped by stencil printing of a thermoset conductive adhesive, which was then fully cured. In assembly, the conductive adhesive paste was stencil printed onto the pads of a printed circuit board and cured after die placement. The printing process was optimized to ensure robust assembly and the resulting reliability assessed.

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of the Reliability of Double-Sided Area Array Assemblies

2006 ◽  
Vol 128 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Chaparala ◽  
J. M. Pitarresi ◽  
S. Parupalli ◽  
S. Mandepudi ◽  
M. Meilunas
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Cycling ◽  
Flip Chip ◽  
Printed Circuit Board ◽  
Solder Joints ◽  
Mirror Image ◽  
Circuit Board ◽  
Thermal Dissipation ◽  
Electrical Performance ◽  
Area Array ◽  
Plastic Ball

One of the primary advantages of surface mount technology (SMT) over through-hole technology is that SMT allows the assembly of components on both sides of the printed circuit board (PCB). Currently, area array components such as ball grid array (BGA) and chip-scale package (CSP) assemblies are being used in double-sided configurations for network and memory device applications as they reduce the routing space and improve electrical performance (Shiah, A. C., and Zhou, X., 2002, “A Low Cost Reliability Assessment for Double-Sided Mirror-Imaged Flip Chip BGA Assemblies,” Proceedings of the Seventh Annual Pan Pacific Microelectronics Symposium, Maui, Hawaii, pp. 7–15, and Xie, D., and Yi, S., 2001, “Reliability Design and Experimental work for Mirror Image CSP Assembly”, Proceedings of the International Symposium on Microelectronics, Baltimore, October, pp. 417–422). These assemblies typically use a “mirror image” configuration wherein the components are placed on either side of the PCB directly over each other; however, other configurations are possible. Double-sided assemblies pose challenges for thermal dissipation, inspection, rework, and thermal cycling reliability. The scope of this paper is the study of the reliability of double-sided assemblies both experimentally and through numerical simulation. The assemblies studied include single-sided, mirror-imaged, 50% offset CSP assemblies, CSPs with capacitors on the backside, single-sided, mirror-imaged plastic ball grid arrays (PBGAs), quad flat pack (QFP)/BGA mixed assemblies. The effect of assembly stiffness on thermal cycling reliability was investigated. To assess the assembly flexural stiffness and its effect on the thermal cycling reliability, a three-point bending measurement was performed. Accelerated thermal cycling cycles to failure were documented for all assemblies and the data were used to calculate the characteristic life. In general, a 2X to 3X decrease in reliability was observed for mirror-image assemblies when compared to single-sided assemblies for both BGAs and CSPs on 62mil test boards. The reliability of mirror-image assemblies when one component was an area array device and the other was a QFP was comparable to the reliability of the single-sided area array assemblies alone, that is, the QFP had almost no influence on the double-sided reliability when used with an area array component. Moiré interferometry was used to study the displacement distribution in the solder joints at specific locations in the packages. Data from the reliability and moiré measurements were correlated with predictions generated from three-dimensional finite element models of the assemblies. The models incorporated nonlinear and time-temperature dependent solder material properties and they were used to estimate the fatigue life of the solder joints and to obtain an estimate of the overall package reliability using Darveaux’s crack propagation method.

Fatigue Life Analysis of Solder Joints in Flip Chip Bonding

1999 ◽  
Vol 122 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yutaka Tsukada ◽  
Hideo Nishimura ◽  
Masao Sakane ◽  
Masateru Ohnami
Keyword(s):  
Fatigue Life ◽  
Flip Chip ◽  
Printed Circuit Board ◽  
Electrical Potential ◽  
Potential Drop ◽  
Life Assessment ◽  
Circuit Board ◽  
Ratchet Effect ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Fatigue Life Analysis

This paper describes the life assessment of flip chip joints. Flip chip joints of 63Sn-37Pb and 5Sn-95Pb solders on a printed circuit board were stressed thermally for fatigue. Fatigue lives of the joints were determined by an electrical potential drop method and the effect of encapsulation on fatigue life was discussed. The encapsulation had a significant effect of prolonging the fatigue life of the joints. Thermo-mechanical finite element analyses proved that the encapsulation lowered the strain amplitude of the joints by distributing the strain over a whole package and bending effect. Cracking location was also discussed in relation with the strain concentration in the joints. Fatigue lives of the flip chip joints were compared with those of bulk round bar specimens and the difference in fatigue life between two types of specimens was discussed from the specimen dimensions and ratchet effect. [S1043-7398(00)00203-6]

Modelling the Performance of Lead-Free Solder Interconnects for Copper Bumped Flip-Chip Devices

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hua Lu ◽  
Chris Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Flip Chip ◽  
Printed Circuit Board ◽  
Circuit Board ◽  
Conductive Adhesives ◽  
Solder Interconnects ◽  
Flip Chips ◽  
Solder Bumps ◽  
Solder Volume ◽  
Joint Properties ◽  
Free Solder

Traditionally, before flip chips can be assembled the dies have to be attached with solder bumps. This process involves the deposition of metal layers on the Al pads on the dies and this is called the under bump metallurgy (UBM). In an alternative process, however, Copper (Cu) columns can be used to replace solder bumps and the UBM process may be omitted altogether. After the bumping process, the bumped dies can be assembled on to the printed circuit board (PCB) by using either solder or conductive adhesives. In this work, the reliability issues of flip chips with Cu column bumped dies have been studied. The flip chip lifetime associated with the solder fatigue failure has been modeled for a range of geometric parameters. The relative importance of these parameters is given and solder volume has been identified as the most important design parameter for long-term reliability. Another important problem that has been studied in this work is the dissolution of protection metals on the pad and Cu column in the reflow process. For small solder joints the amount of Cu which dissolves into the molten solder after the protection layers have worn out may significantly affect solder joint properties.

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