Effects of Multiple Reworks on the Accelerated Thermal Cycling and Shock Performance of Lead-Free BGA Assemblies

In this paper, the effect of multiple rework cycles (up to 5×) on reliability of lead-free assemblies is investigated. The test vehicle is designed to capture the reliability impact of rework processes on interconnects of ball grid array (BGA) devices, the solder joints of its adjacent components, and BGA devices of clamshelled devices. The effects on high aspect ratio plated through hole (PTH) vias and microvias are also considered. A variety of BGA packages, such as flip-chip BGA, plastic BGA, and chip array BGA are selected to represent different package technologies and stress levels. The effect of multiple reworks on the behavior of lead-free solder joints during accelerated thermal cycling (ATC) and mechanical shock is extensively explored in this paper. The experimental and analytical findings showed that multiple reworks significantly degraded the ATC performance of the reworked assemblies by up to 50% in terms of characteristic life. It is also found that multiple reworks affect the PTH vias significantly. The combination of increased lead-free rework temperature excursions and high-end printed circuit board (PCB) aspect ratios may incur higher stresses in the PTH copper barrel. Early failures are observed post multiple reworks and the subsequent ATC test due to PTH barrel cracking. However, the effects of multiple reworks are less severe for devices with microvias compared to those with PTH vias. Multiple reworks also cause severe degradation of long-term performance of devices with clamshell designs. With proper control in rework process, multiple reworks have minimum effects on the adjacent BGA solder joints. In addition, failure analysis is performed in order to study the impact of multiple rework on the microstructure of SnAgCu solder joints. It is found that the intermetallic compounds (IMC) layer grows thicker as the number of reworks increases; however, the IMC growth rate and morphology are dependent on the surface finish of the package substrate. The failure mode and failure mechanism after ATC are also compared for different number of rework cycles. The implications of these results for the reliability of lead-free solder joints are discussed in this paper.