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March 2001

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Subject:
From:
David Hillman <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
TechNet E-Mail Forum.
Date:
Fri, 30 Mar 2001 07:30:58 -0600
Content-Type:
text/plain
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text/plain (156 lines)
Hi Rudolph! Some comments:

"I hope this is not too much for you guys.  I just wish that one day I can
find out the root cause for this interesting case ( for me at least).
There
are so many responses since I sent out my question yesterday.  Because of
my
workload, I am sorry that I cannot reply and thanks each of you."

** Don't worry about having a problem that seems huge. Technet can solve
both easy and impossible problems - it just takes the group three days
longer to solve the impossible stuff!

"Now to my theory and please don't laugh if it sounds funny."

** There is never a silly question (well maybe except for a few from Doug
Pauls before he has his morning caffeine)

"Can a current high enough to generate heat to the joint and thicken the
intermetallic layer or simply induce a crack to the joint?  The failure
joint is used as an bi-polar address line which requires a very small amp.
But what if a nearby circuitry, which carry a strong current, shorts with
the trace attached to the ball because of low yield from the fab vendor (A
build-in narrow electrical spacing )  Can the intermetallic layer /joint be
affected by this?"

** Interesting theory. I have not seen a case nor could I find a case of
excess current in a trace inducing sufficient intermetallic growth to cause
a solder joint failure. There have been a couple of cases of overheating to
a point of melting the solder joint which resulted in failure.

"Question:
What is the intermetallic growth rate with Tin/lead and Ni?"

** Take a look at page 101 of the American Welding Society's Soldering
Handbook, 3rd Edition, Editor Paul Vianco, ISBN 0-87171-618-6. The growth
rate of SnNi intermetallic at 170C (338F) was approximately 6 um (157
uinches) over a 4 day period. That would be a lot of intermetallic but I
would have trouble believing that you could have a trace sustain a 170C
temperature for a 4 day period of time. Therefore the amount of
intermetallic you would generate over a short period of time at an elevated
temperature would most likely not result in significant growth of the
intermetallic.

Hope this helps. Good Luck.

Dave Hillman
Rockwell Collins
[log in to unmask]





Rudolph Yu <[log in to unmask]>@IPC.ORG> on 03/29/2001 05:02:06 PM

Please respond to "TechNet E-Mail Forum." <[log in to unmask]>; Please respond
      to Rudolph Yu <[log in to unmask]>

Sent by:  TechNet <[log in to unmask]>


To:   [log in to unmask]
cc:

Subject:  [TN] BGA crack Summary, theory, and questions


I hope this is not too much for you guys.  I just wish that one day I can
find out the root cause for this interesting case ( for me at least).
There
are so many responses since I sent out my question yesterday.  Because of
my
workload, I am sorry that I cannot reply and thanks each of you.

Let me just quickly summarize my problem, and I want to share with the
group
one of my theories of how this could happen.  Since I don't have a EE
degree, so it may sounds funny to many of you. I want to know if this make
sense at all to you guys.

Problem: BGA Mirco -fracture was found on every 4-5K boards we built at a
same I/O. The board is a single sided with through hole connectors.
(reflow
and wave) (actually we also had used the paste in hole process and see the
same failure mode).The board is FR4, 8layers with HASL finish.  The same
ASIC is used on the other product with no failure reported. ( yes, the vias
routing on the fab is different between the two design)
If you are interested in this case, Stephen R. Gregory had helped me to
post
my pictures at http:www.xdrive.com/share/985835366039IhSi4tEHHweAj9vYGZA6

George, Robert and several of you have pointed out the double reflow
phenomenon, and that the pad with a long trace to the via can induce stress
to the joint.  A very good point.
However I just find out that our oversea contractor did also use the
paste-in-hole process as part of the experiment, ( As you see, i just
picked
up the project) and some of those boards have the same problem too.

Now my first question of the day:  If double reflow on the SMT joint is
indeed the root cause for the failure at this particular joint, should it
happens more frequently than 1 out of every 4-5 thousand boards we built?
How repeatable this phenomenon should be?

Now to my theory and please don't laugh if it sounds funny.

Can a current high enough to generate heat to the joint and thicken the
intermetallic layer or simply induce a crack to the joint?  The failure
joint is used as an bi-polar address line which requires a very small amp.
But what if a nearby circuitry, which carry a strong current, shorts with
the trace attached to the ball because of low yield from the fab vendor (A
build-in narrow electrical spacing )  Can the intermetallic layer /joint be
affected by this?

Question:

What is the intermetallic growth rate with Tin/lead and Ni?
How much current does it needs to have to increase 1 degree C at the joint?

I am going to the CAD group to see if the trace spacing had been violated
or
is abnormal on this product.


Comments, thought, or it is enough??

Anyway, thanks for taking the time reading this.

Rudolph Yu

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information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315
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