Mechanical characterization of solder mask materials in electronic packaging applications

Mechanical properties of solder masks are critical in the reliability performance of flip-chip packages. Many recent studies show that the mechanical properties of solder mask materials have great influence on moisture absorption, delamination at interconnections and solder fatigue life in flip-chip packages. There are also assembly process issues related to the properties of solder masks. In this article, an experimental investigation that mechanically characterizes solder one mask material is conducted. Mechanical properties such as Young's modulus, failure strength and creep behaviors are determined based on the measured data from the experiments. The testing temperature is set at two levels: 25/spl deg/C and 80/spl deg/C. The major instrument is a sophisticated micromechanical tester.