A novel approach for reliability assurance of solder pastes against dew condensation

The advancing usage of electronic devices combined with a progressive trend to miniaturization sets high demands on reliability assurance. As complexity of systems and loads at mission locations rise, suitable test strategies are needed, which provide expressive statements about the reliability of electronic and mechatronic products. In this article a novel approach for qualifying solder pastes against the influence of dew condensation is presented. Using a water drop test method to simulate dew condensation on electronic assemblies, the robustness of three different solder pastes against the effects of electrochemical migration was investigated with suitable test specimen. As the experiments revealed, there are great differences in the robustness of solder pastes concerning failure mechanisms due to dew condensation on electronic devices. Whereas one of the evaluated solder pastes showed no defects at all, the lifetime of the other solder pastes varied significantly.