New SMD ball pins designed for power

In this paper, we will present information on a new type of SMD termination using balls. In contrast to the solder balls used in low-power BGA applications for silicon packaging, the balls used for these DC-DC converters are rigid metal, plated to accept an optimum solder coating. We will analyze key parameters for these ball terminations such as co-planarity, positioning, soldering results and reliability, and compare them to more commonly used types of SMD pins.