Common Failure Phenomenon of Microwave Components/Modules in Quality Inspection and Measures of Process Improvement

Microwave components/modules are vital parts of communication devices, and their reliability greatly impacts the performance and lifespan of the entire device. Prior to the production and widespread use of communication equipment, product reliability was typically evaluated from various perspectives, with quality inspection being the most common method of assessment. In recent years, there has been a relatively high incidence of loss of efficacy in microwave components/modules during quality inspection, yet few papers and reports have summarized and analyzed their failure modes and causes. This article presents an analysis of 15 cases of loss of efficacy among 51 quality inspection cases of microwave components. The findings indicate that electrical performance decline due to Hydrogen Effect and appearance damage of microwave components after undergoing Salt Spray Test are two common failure modes observed during quality inspection. This article analyzes the reasons behind these two typical failure modes and proposes corresponding suggestions for improving manufacturing technology. For failures caused by Hydrogen Effect, the hydrogen resistance reliability of microwave components/modules can be effectively improved by reasonably selecting hydrogen resistant bare chips, adding hydrogen absorption materials, changing the thickness of passivation layer, high-temperature baking to reduce hydrogen content, and optimizing design of chips and microwave circuit. For failures caused by Salt Spray condition, process improvement should be implemented during the production and packaging process, such as perfecting the surface treatment process before coating, adding chemical polishing procedures during the lead sintering and plating processes for those components with glass insulators, properly selecting the coating material and thickness and Strictly controlling the uniformity of coating. Those means will effectively reduce the incidence of phenomena like Fracture of Leads, coating corrosion and peeling after salt spray test. Based on the process improvement measures proposed in this article, several failure types of microwave components/modules were rectified accordingly. Those rectified components/modules successfully passed the quality inspection of salt spray testing, which further made verification of the effectiveness of those process improvement measures. The research presented in this paper has significant implications for enhancing the reliability of microwave components/modules.