Properties of molding compounds to improve package reliability of SMDs

Package cracking during reflow soldering process is the great problem in the reliability of plastic packages. The technique of lowering the glass transition temperature (Tg) of a molding compound is very effective for improvement of the package cracking resistance because of the properties of low moisture absorption and high adhesion strength for a molding compound. But the package reliability except for the package cracking resistance is also important. In this study, the effects of the Tg for molding compounds on the package reliability was discussed. It was confirmed that decreasing the crosslinking density was an important factor to improve the package cracking resistance. There was no problem in thermal resistance, even if the molding compound has low Tg. However, decreasing the crosslinking density by the lowering of Tg may not satisfy humidity resistance in some cases. It was found to be important to decrease the crosslinking density of molding compounds without lowering Tg in order to improve both the package cracking resistance and the humidity resistance. It was also confirmed that the introduction of rigid structural segments into the matrix resin molecules of the molding compound was a useful technique for achieving excellent package reliability.