Direct Drop-on-Demand Printing of Molten Solder Bumps on ENIG Finishing at Ambient Conditions Through StarJet Technology

In this paper, we report on a detailed experimental study carried out with the StarJet technology to investigate the mechanical adhesion properties of directly printed solder bumps on electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG) plated PCB boards. The aim of this study is to determine the maximum bond strength achievable by this method and to find suitable printing parameters that allow for the production of reliable and consistent solder bumps by non-contact printing of molten solder (type SAC305). Molten solder droplets of about 250 μm diameter were printed at melt temperatures between 250 and 400 °C onto ENIG surfaces kept at temperatures in the range of 100 to 200 °C. Using shear force tests, the adhesion of the printed bumps was investigated as a function of the main process parameters: 1. printhead temperature, 2. substrate temperature, and 3. substrate preheating time. The formation of an intermetallic compound (IMC) between the solder and the ENIG was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) measurements. As a result of the comprehensive experimental parameter study, suitable printing parameters for establishing bond strengths corresponding to maximum shear force values of 3000 to 4000 mN could be found, i.e. high printhead temperature of 400 °C, short preheating and time of <; 2 min, and substrate heating at 180 °C The use of flux was found to slightly improve the bond strength and to improve the consistency of the printing results for extended operation times. The achieved high bond strength and the reasonable reproducibility of the printing results qualify the StarJet technology for further investigations regarding applications in the field of direct soldering of microelectronic chips and devices to PCB boards as well as other micro-assembly tasks in the future.