The market for ball grid array packages

The Ball Grid Array (BGA) package has been developed to provide a high density, leadless surface mount alternative to existing packages. The development of BGA packages represents a departure from the established road map for packaging. BGAs are under consideration for a number of semiconductor products and will be supplied by several companies in the future. This paper discusses users and suppliers of the package, as well as business issues effecting the widespread use of the package. Today's BGA packages are used mainly in environments not subject to extreme temperatures and conditions. This paper examines reliability issues of BGA packages for areas including long life telecommunications markets and automotive applications. Market trends for tape, ceramic, and plastic BGA packages are provided.