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Evaluation of Ni/Pd/Au as an alternative metal finish on PCB

Zequn Mei , Ali Eslambolchi . Circuit World. Bradford: 1999. Vol. 25, Iss. 2; pg. 18
Abstract (Summary)

Multi-layer surface finish, from the bottom to top, of electroless Ni, electroless Pd, and immersion Au (Ni/Pd/Au) have been introduced in the printed circuit board industry recently. This paper reports an evaluation of this surface finish from the perspective of solder joint attachment reliability, especially to see if the Ni/Pd/Au could be immune from the brittle inter facial fracture of PBGA on electroless Ni/immersion Au, recently observed and reported. PCBs with Ni/Pd/Au finishes, made from two vendors with varied Pd layer thickness were attached with PBGA packages, and tested in four-point bending.

Full Text (4824 words)

Copyright MCB UP Limited (MCB) 1999 Zequn Mei: Hewlett-Packard Company, Electronic Assembly Development Center, Palo Alto, California, USA Ali Eslambolchi: Hewlett-Packard Company, Electronic Assembly Development Center, Palo Alto, California, USA ACKNOWLEDGMENT: This paper was presented at the 1998 Surface Mount International Conference, California, USA. The authors greatly appreciate Matt Kaufmann and Pat Johnson for valuable discussions and advice, Rod Martens and Judy Gates for directions and support, Ulrike Majer for providing testing samples, and Eugenia Corrales, Carlos Avila, and Ted Lancaster for project management. Introduction Multi-layer surface finishes including palladium (Pd), e.g. Cu/Ni/Pd/Au, and Cu/Pd, have been introduced in the printed circuit board (PCB) industry recently (Stacy et al., 1997). The motivation is to use Pd as a low cost alternative for gold (Au); the recent price of Pd was 3 times lower than Au. Also its lower density than Au (12.02 vs. 19.3 g/cm[sup]3) provides Pd with an even greater advantage with regard to cost per plating thickness. The Pd plating used for PCB surface finish is an electroless process, similar to the electroless Ni plating, but at a lower plating temperature and fast deposition rate (Johal, 1997). The general materials properties of Pd look promising. The dissolution rate of Pd in molten 63Sn-37Pb solder is much slower than those of Au and Cu (Gader, 1981). Pd is readily wettable with Sn-Pb solders, die and wire bondable. However, because of the lack of knowledge and experience, the application of Pd in PCB surface finishes has not gained great popularity. Although metal finishes containing Pd are being tested as PCB finish only recently, Ni/Pd has been used on lead frame finish for integrated circuits as an alternative to Sn-Pb solder coating by Texas Instrument since 1989 (Abbott et al., 1991). Both Romm and Abbott (1998), and McGuiggan and Benedetto (1997) found that contact angle data for Ni/Pd and Ni/Pd/Au lead-finish components are higher than that for Sn-Pb parts, but the lead pull strength data for Ni/Pd and Ni/Pd/Au finished leads are higher than or comparable to that for Sn/Pb finished leads. Since Pd on lead frame is plated by electrolytic process, while Pd on PCB surface finish is plated by electroless process, these studies may not be totally transferable. A multi-organizational evaluation of alternative PCB surface finishes, compared wettability of organic coated Cu, immersion Au, immersion Ag, electroplated Pd, immersion Au over Pd, and SnPb (Iman et al., 1997) concluded that immersion Ag had the best result, both immersion Au and electroplate Pd behaved worst, especially after baking. The performance of immersion Au/Pd was better than that of electroplated Pd, especially when reflowed in nitrogen. The intermetallic formation and growth between Sn-Pb solder and Pd or Pd containing surfaces finishes were reported by several groups of people. Frear et al. identified the interfacial intermetallic compound between Sn-Pb solder and a Pd alloy resulted from soldering and subsequent solid state aging to be PdSn[sub]4 (Frear et al., 1993). Blair et al. (1998) studied the solid state growth of the intermetallic compounds on Ni, Ni/Au, and Ni/Pd substrates with Sn/Pb, Sn/Ag, and Sn solders, and derived the empirical formulas for the growth rates. Kim et al. (1997), Wang et al. (1995) and Wang and Tu (1995) studied the soldering reaction of eutectic Sn-Pb and Sn-Bi with Pd surface and plated Pd/Ni thin films. Rapid reaction rate and unstable wetting angle were observed.

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The motivation of this study is to evaluate Ni/Pd/Au finish from the perspective of solder joint attachment reliability, especially to see if Ni/Pd/Au could replace currently used Ni/Au as a PCB surface finish for reliable PBGA (plastic ball grid array) attachment. Ni provides strong via strength, the Pd and Au protect Ni from oxidation, and offer good contact conductivity. In our previous study, brittle fracture of PBGA packages soldered on electroless Ni/immersion Au finish was observed (Mei et al., 1998). The fracture, occurring usually at much lower loads than normal during mechanical testing, e.g. shock and vibration, was a shear separation between PBGA solder balls and PCB conducting pads. If the assembled PBGA packages were aged, the packages became even more brittle. The root cause for the brittle fracture before aging has not been identified with certainty yet, although phosphorous segregation was observed on the PCB side of the fracture surface. The root cause for the more brittle fracture after aging was identified to be the Au-Sn intermetallic particles deposited at the interface between the solder and Ni-Sn intermetallic layer. The brittle fracture before aging occurred only with the electroless Ni/immersion Au finish, not with electrolytic Ni/electrolytic Au finish; the brittle fracture after aging occurred in both types of Ni/Au finishes. It is hoped that the addition of the Pd layer between electroless Ni and immersion Au could improve the fracture behavior. Experiments Sample preparation The structure of Cu/Ni/Pd/Au finish on PCB is, from the bottom to the top, a layer of electrolytic Cu, an electroless Ni of about 150mil (3.8mm), an electroless Pd of several different thickness, and an immersion Au of about 4 micro-inches (1,000A). The thickness of the Cu, Ni, and Au are typical for PCB surface finish, the Pd layer thickness studied here was between 5 and 30 micro-inches (0.13 and0.76[mu]m). PCB finishes were plated by two vendors, A and L. The Pd by vendor L contained about 2 wt percent phosphorus, while the Pd by vendor A contained zero wt percent phosphorus, resulting from the two different chemical processes. Four more types of surface finishes were included in this study as reference, they are: 1. electroless Ni of about 150mil (3.8mm) coated with immersion Au of 4 micro-inches (1,000A); 2. organic coated Cu (OCC); 3. hot air leveled Sn-Pb (HAL) on Cu; and 4. electrolytic Ni of about 150mil (3.8mm) coated with electrolytic Au of of 10 micro-inches (2,500A). Thermal enhanced PBGA packages of 352 I/O with cavity-down structure were used. The basic configuration of the PBGA consists of a 6-9 layer, 2mm BT (Bismaleimide Triazine) core substrate with wire-bonded die directly attached to a 1.0mm copper heat slug. The ball configurations consists of a perimeter array, with solder mask defined, electroplated Ni/Au pads and eutectic Sn-Pb balls. The package dimension is 35mm x 35mm square. The assembly process of attaching PBGA packages on PCBs was the following. Solder paste of 63Sn-37Pb with no-clean flux of NC-SMQ 71, manufactured by Indium Corp. of America was dispensed on PCBs. PBGA packages were picked and placed on PCBs. The reflow was achieved in a regular belt furnace, using the temperature profile of approximate 5 minutes at 150[degrees]C and a 1.5 minutes between 183[degrees]C and 220[degrees]C. Some of assembled samples were aged in air in a furnace at 150[degrees]C or 100[degrees]C for a few days. The assembled PCBs were cut into strips of 2 inch (50.8mm) wide. Each strip contained one PBGA package. These test pieces were tested in a mechanical testing machine with a four-point bending fixture of outside stride of 55 or 65mm and inner stride of 30mm. The crosshead speed was set as 0.25 inch/minute (6.35mm/minute). Four-point bending The first shipment The PCB boards were manufactured and shipped to us on two separate occasions. The first shipment included Ni/Pd/Au boards made by vendor L with two Pd layer thickness, 6 micro-inches (0.15[mu]m) and 18 micro-inches (0.45[mu]m), Ni/Pd/Au boards made by vendor A with a single Pd layer thickness of 12 micro-inches (0.3[mu]m). The Pd thickness was measured by cross section, as shown later. The reference boards, OCC, HAL, and electrolytic Ni/electrolytic Au, were made by a third vendor. The loads vs displacement plots of four-point bending tests are shown in Figure 1. Because the crosshead of the mechanical testing machine was moving downwards, the load and displacement recordings were negative. As shown in Figure 1, as a test piece was bend, the load vs. displacement plot, starting from zero values, moved along a straight line, (i.e. bending of both PCB and PBGA). When PBGA started to separate from PCB, the straight line started to curve. When a fracture occurred, load dropped. After PBGA was totally separated from PCB, the load vs. displacement plot moved along another straight line (i.e. bending of PCB only). The maximum load just before the load drop is defined here as the fracture load. Three samples were tested for each metal finish and aged condition. The data scattering among three tests

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are within 10 percent. Only one test result was plotted. The curves in Figure 1(a) are seen to divide into three groups. The first group of the curves, shown in broken lines, exhibits the fracture loads about 40lb. The second group of the curves, shown in solid lines, exhibits the fracture loads between 80 and 100lb. There is one curve, with fracture load of about 60lb. The samples in the first and third groups failed by the interfacial fracture, as shown in Figure 2(a). The samples in the second group failed by peeling off Cu pads, as shown in Figure 2(b). The fracture loads and fracture modes are correspondent. As expected, the fracture loads of PBGA on HAL, OCC, and electrolytic Ni/electrolytic Au were high, and the fracture mode was peeling off Cu pads; while the fracture load of PBGA on electroless Ni/immersion Au is low, and the fracture mode was the fracture at the interface between Sn-Ni intermetallic compound and the underneath Ni layer that we observed previously (Mei et al., 1998). It is interesting that PBGA on the Ni/Pd/Au (Pd = 6 micro-inches) made by vendor L had a high fracture load and the fracture mode was peeling off Cu pads. It is also interesting that the PBGA on the Ni/Pd/Au (Pd =18 micro-inches) made by vendor L, and that on the Ni/Pd/Au made by vendor A had low fracture loads and the interfacial fracture. The fracture loads and failure mode are listed in Table I. The effect of aging on the attachment strength was studied by subjecting assembled PBGA packages to a heat treatment of nine days at 150[degrees]C. Four point bending tests, as shown in Figure 1(b), indicate that except OCC and HAL, the samples of electrolytic Ni/electrolytic Au, Ni/Pd/Au, and electroless Ni/immersion Au showed much reduced fracture loads after aging. The interfacial fracture started to prevail for all the samples, including HAL and OCC. Detailed observation of the fracture surface revealed that the fracture occurred at a new interface containing Au-Sn particles, as explained later. The aged samples made by vendor A were not tested, because they were weak and brittle even before aging. The fracture loads and failure mode are listed in Table II. The second shipment The second shipment included Ni/Pd/Au boards made by vendor L and vendor A with three nominal Pd layer thickness, 10, 20, and 30 micro-inches (0.25, 0.51, and 0.76[mu]m). The Pd layer thickness was given by vendors, but was not confirmed by cross-section yet. A third vendor made the reference boards of electroless Ni/immersion Au. Figure 3(a) contains the plots of four-point bending tests of the samples before aging. The plots are divided in three groups. All the Ni/Pd/Au samples made by vendor A fractured at loads between 30 to 40lb, and the failure mode was the interfacial fracture as shown in Figure 2(a). OCC, electrolytic Ni/electrolytic Au, electroless Ni / immersion Au, Ni/Pd/Au made by vendor L (Pd = 10, 20 micro-inches) fractured at loads between 85 to 95lb, and the fracture mode was peeling off Cu pads as shown in Figure 2(b). The Ni/Pd/Au (Pd = 30 micro-inches) made by vendor L fractured at about 55lb, and the fracture mode was the interfacial fracture. However, a detailed observation of fracture surface revealed that the fracture occurred at the interface between PdSn[sub]4 and Pd-Ni. The fracture loads in Figure 3 should not be compared quantitatively with those in Figure 1, because the four-point bending fixtures used in the two separate tests were different. The fracture loads and modes are listed in Table III. The effect of aging on the attachment strength was studied by subjecting assembled PBGA packages to a heat treatment of three days at 150[degrees]C. Four point bending tests, as shown in Figure 3(b), indicate that the fracture loads of PBGA on all the surface finishes deteriorated, and the interfacial fracture started to prevail. The reason is related to the Au embrittlement as shown later. The fracture loads and modes are listed in Table IV. Fractographs The fracture mode of peeling off Cu pads, as shown in Figure 2(b), is not a concern here. The brittle interfacial fracture at low load conditions poses a threat of mechanical failure of interconnects during product shipping and transportation. In fact, the products with this problem could not pass the shock and vibration tests for product qualifications (Mei et al., 1997). Detailed observation of the interfacial fracture surface showed that before aging, the fracture occurred at the interface between Ni-Sn intermetallic compound layer and the underneath Ni-P layer. (The electroless Ni plating, because of hypophosphite being used as reducing agent, deposits Ni-P alloy with the P concentration of about 8 to 10 weight per cent.) The only exception was the Ni/Pd/Au sample with thick Pd layer (Pd = 30 micro-inches) made by vendor L in the second shipment, "Pd-L(30)" in Figure 3(a), where the fracture occurred at the interface between PdSn[sub]4 and Pd. After aging, the fracture occurred at the interface between Au-Sn compound layer and Ni-Sn compound layer. Fractographs are presented in the following. As-reflowed samples (before aging) Figures 4(a) and (b) are SEM photos of complementary fracture surface of electroless Ni/immersion Au sample in the first shipment. The PCB side of the fracture surface is mainly Ni-P with some Ni-Sn compound traces. There were grain-like cracks even though the electroless Ni was amorphous. EDX analysis showed mainly Ni, P, and little Sn. The PBGA side (attached with solder ball) of the fracture surface was very flat and featureless, EDX showed the presence of Ni, Sn, and Pb, indicating Sn-Ni intermetallic compound and underneath Sn-Pb solder. Figures 5(a) and (b) are fracture surfaces of Ni/Pd/Au sample made by vendor A. Figures 6(a) and (b) are EDX spectra

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from the fracture surfaces. The PCB side of the fracture surface shows patches of Sn-Ni intermetallic compound on Ni-P substrate, which is consistent with EDX spectrum of Ni, P, and Sn. The BGA side (attached with solder balls) of fracture surface shows a thin layer of Sn-Ni intermetallic compound with some open areas exposing underneath materials. The EDX spectrum of BGA side of the fracture surface shows Ni, Sn, and Pb. (C came from SEM sample coating, and should be ignored.) Pd is visible on the BGA side of the fracture surface only for the samples with thick Pd, (Pd = 20, 30 microinches). Other than the variation in the Pd concentration on the BGA side of the fracture surface, the fracture surface morphology and chemistry are the same for all the Ni/Pd/Au samples made by vendor A. Figures 7(a) and (b) are SEM photos in low and high magnifications of the fracture surfaces of Ni/Pd/Au (Pd = 30 microinches) made by vendor L. Figures 8(a) and (b) are their EDX spectra. The grain-like surface morphology shown in Figures 7(a) and (b) came from the grain boundaries of the underneath electroless Ni. There are mainly Sn and Pd on the BGA side (attached with solder balls) of the fracture surface, indicating the existence of Pd-Sn intermetallic compound. This compound was identified, as shown later, to be PdSn[sub]4. The shape of the PdSn[sub]4 intermetallic particles are long and narrow. The EDX from the PCB side, Figure 8(a), shows a much stronger Pd peak than Sn peak, indicating that the Pd on the PCB side of the fracture surface must not be in the form of PdSn[sub]4 intermetallic. The Pd exists probably as a Ni-Pd alloy, Ni and Pd form a continuous solid solution from 0 to 100 percent (Brandes and Brook, 1992). Aged samples After aging, all the samples including Ni/Pd/Au of different Pd thickness from both vendors and even the reference sample of OCC, HAL, and electrolytic Ni/electrolytic Au show a tendency of brittle fracture at the interface between Au-Sn and Ni-Sn. For OCC and HAL samples, the fracture occurred between solder balls and PBGA substrate metallization (electrolytic Ni/Au); for other samples, the fracture occurred on both sides, between solder balls and PBGA substrate, and between solder balls and PCB metal finish. Figure 9 shows the fracture surfaces of electroless Ni/immersion Au sample. The BGA side of fracture surface show Ni-Sn intermetallic nodules and flat sheets of Au-Sn compound. The PCB side (attached with solder ball) shows the imprints produced by the Ni-Sn nodules (from the other side of the fracture surface), and sheets of Au-Sncompounds. The failure occurred by either separation at the interface between the Ni-Sn and Au-Sn, or fracture of the Au-Sn. Figure 10 shows the fracture surfaces of Ni/Pd/Au (Pd = 10 micro-inches) made by vendor L, which are similar but not identical to those of electroless Ni/immersion Au. Figures 11a and b are the EDX spectra of the fracture surfaces. The PCB side contains Sn, Ni, Pb, and Au, indicating the existence of Ni-Sn intermetallic phase, Sn-Pb solder, and An-Sn phase. The surface morphology of the PCB side shows nodules of Ni-Sn, flat sheets of Au-Sn, and some plastic deformation ridges of Sn-Pb solder. The PBGA side (attached with solder ball) of the fracture surface contains Sn, Pb, Au, and Ni. The surface morphology shows the Sn-Ni particle imprints, An-Sn sheets, and plastic deformation ridges of Sn-Pb. Pd was not visible on either side of the fracture surfaces. Figures 12 and 13 shows the fracture surface morphology and chemistry of Ni/Pd/Au with thick Pd (Pd = 30 micro-inches) made by vendor L. The PCB side shows almost all Sn-Ni nodules, and PBGA side (attached with solder ball) shows mostly Au-Sn and some Ni-Sn nodules. No Pd was detected. Surface morphology and cross section Figures 14(a) and (b) are the surface morphologies of the Ni/Pd/Au surface finishes made by vendor L and vendor A. Both show some grain-like surface feature, which came from the underneath electroless Ni. It is puzzling because of the fact that electroless Ni is actually amorphous. Cracks along "grain boundaries" are visible on the samples made by vendor L. Small features are seen on the vendor A sample surface, but could not be identified chemically. Figure 15 shows the cross sections of the Cu/Ni/Pd/Au surface finishes. In order to obtain a good quality of the cross section, the surface finishes were plated with electroless Ni, achieved in our lab by soaking them into electroless plating solution at 80[degrees]C for about 2 hours. The Pd and Au layers are uniform. The intermetallic compound phases formed between Ni/Pd/Au and PBGA solder joints are shown in Figure 16. In Figure 16(a), for a sample of Ni/Pd/Au (Pd = 10 micro-inches), the block-shaped Sn-Pd particles are sparsely located near but separated from the interface. The Sn-Ni intermetallic compound layer is barely visible. In Figure 16(b), for a sample of Cu/Ni/Pd/Au (Pd = 30 micro-inches), a densely packed Sn-Pd layer is observed. The chemical composition of Sn-Pd phase was identified to be PdSn[sub]4 by quantitative EDX analysis. Small amount of Au was detected in the PdSn[sub]4 phase. No Ni was detected in PdSn[sub]4 phase, which is different from the observation by Kim et al. (1997) of the intermetallic phase being Pd-Ni-Sn. A cross section of solder joint attached on electroless Ni/immersion Au surface finish usually shows a phosphorous segregation layer at the interface between Ni-Sn intermetallic compound layer and Ni-P layer. This is because the phosphorus does not take part in the Sn-Ni reaction, and is left behind. In the cross-sections of solder joints on Cu/Ni/Pd/Au of different Pd thickness, it was observed that the phosphorous segregation layer became less obvious and eventually disappeared as the Pd thickness increased. During aging, the barely visible Ni-Sn layer became thick, and the Au that was once dissolved into molten solder

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deposited back at the interface in the form of Au-Sn intermetallic. Discussion The main objective of this study is to see if Ni/Pd/Au finish is immune from the interfacial fracture observed with electroless Ni/immersion Au. Some of the samples, Ni/Pd/Au (Pd = 6 micro-inches) by vendor L in the 1st shipment, and Ni/Pd/Au (Pd = 10, 20 micro-inches) by vendor L in the second shipment did not break by the interfacial fracture, but the other Ni/Pd/Au samples failed by the exactly same interfacial fracture as electroless Ni/Au. The logical explanation is that whether or not the failure mode was the interfacial fracture was controlled by something else other than the Pd, and the existence of the Pd did not prevent the interfacial fracture. The difference between samples made by vendor L and vendor A is currently being investigated. The existence of Pd did not solve the problem, but it did not create problems either, unless it was too thick, as demonstrated by Ni/Pd/Au (Pd = 30[sub]4 micro-inches) sample made by vendor L. The thick PdSn4 intermetallic compound, 7 or 8[mu]m, much thicker than 2 to 3[mu]m for Cu[sub]6Sn[sub]5 intermetallic compound formed between Sn-Pb solder and Cu, led to a brittle fracture at the interface between PdSn[sub]4 intermetallic and Pd-Ni alloy. The root cause for the interfacial fracture in the as-reflowed condition is still unclear, but it is unlikely to be the phosphorous segregation. There is about 2 wt percent phosphorus in the electroless Pd made by vendor L, and none in the Pd made by vendor A. But all the samples made by vendor A failed by the interfacial fracture, while some of the samples by vendor L did not fail by the interfacial fracture. It is also observed that as the Pd thickness increased, the phosphorous segregation reduced. However, the reduction in the P segregation did not lead to a reduced tendency for the interfacial fracture. The existence of Pd did not prevent the interfacial fracture in the aged condition. Au dissolved into molten Sn-Pb solder and precipitated as either AuSn[sub]2 or AuSn[sub]4 during the solidification of solder inside the solder joints. During aging, the An-Sn intermetallic compound disappeared from the interior of the solder joint, and deposited at the interface between Ni-Sn intermetallic and solder, resulting a weak interface. The existence of Pd or PdSn[sub]4 phase did not prevent the Au migration. Conclusions and summary 1. All the samples of PBGA packages attached on Ni/Pd/Au finishes of PCB plated by vendor A, failed in 4 point bending by the same interfacial fracture of PBGA packages on electroless Ni/immersion Au. Some samples of PBGA packages attached on Ni/Pd/Au finishes plated by vendor L, did not fail by the interfacial fracture. 2. The interfacial fracture was controlled by something else other than the Pd, and the existence of the Pd did not prevent the interfacial fracture. 3. The root cause for the interfacial fracture was unlikely the phosphorous segregation at the interface between the Ni-Sn intermetallic compound layer and Ni-P layer. 4. When the Pd layer in Ni/Pd/Au was too thick, e.g. > 30 micro-inches in this study, a thick and dense PdSn[sub]4 layer formed, resulting a weak interface between the PdSn[sub]4 layer and Pd-Ni alloy. 5. On aging, e.g. 150[degrees]C for a few days, Au-Sn intermetallic compound once resided inside the solder joint, deposited at the interface between Sn-Ni intermetallic compound and solder, resulting an a brittle interfacial fracture. The presence of Pd, could not prevent the Au migration and subsequent fracture. References 1. Abbott, D.C., Brook, R.M., McLelland, N. and Wiley, J.S. (1991), "Palladium as a lead finish for surface mount integrated circuit packages", IEEE Trans-CHMT, Vol. 14 No. 3, September, pp. 567-72. 2. Blair, H.D., Pan, T.-Y. and Nicholson, J.M. (1998), "Intermetallic compound growth on Ni, Au/Ni, and Pd/Ni substrates with Sn/Pb, Sn/Ag, and Sn solders", Proceedings of the 48th Electronic Components & Technology Conference, Seattle, WA, May 25-28, pp. 259-67. 3. Brandes, E.A. and Brook, G.B. (1992), Smithells Metals Reference Book, 7th ed., Butterworth-Heinemann, Jordan Hill, Oxford, pp. 11-399. 4. Frear, D.R., Michael, J.R. and Hlava, P.F. (1993), "Analysis of the reaction between 60Sn-40Pb solder with a Pd-PtAg-Cu-Au alloy", Journal of Electronic Materials, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 185-94. 5. Gader, W.G. (1981), in Kossowsky, R. and Glicksman, M.E. (Eds), Physical Metallurgy of Metal Joining, The Metallurgical Society of AIME, p. 260. 6. Iman, R.L.et al. (1997), "Screening test results for developing guidelines for conformal coating usage and for evaluating alternative surface finishes", Circuit Assembly and Materials Task Force, June.

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7. Johal, K. (1997), private communication, (803) 817-3572, Atotech company. 8. Kim, P.G., Tu, K.N. and Abbott, D.C. (1997), "Soldering reaction between eutectic SnPb and plated Pd/Ni thin films on Cu lead frame", Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 71, pp. 61-3. 9. McGuiggan, T. and Benedetto, E.E. (1997), "Impact of palladium lead frames on PCA manufacturing", Circuits Assembly, November. 10. Mei, Z., Kaufmann, M., Eslambolchi, A. and Johnson, P. (1998), "Brittle interfacial fracture of PBGA packages soldered on electroless nickel/immersion gold", Proceedings of the 48th Electronic Components & Technology Conference, Seattle, WA, pp. 952-61. 11. Mei, Z., Callery, P., Fisher, D., Hua, F. and Glazer, J. (1997), "Interfacial fracture mechanism of BGA packages on electroless Ni/Au", Advances in Electronic Packaging 1997, Proceedings of InterPack'97, Vol. 2, pp. 1543-50. 12. Romm, D.W. and Abbott, D.C. (1998), "Lead-free solder joint evaluation", SMT, March, pp. 84-8. 13. Stacy, B.F., Straschil, H.K., Abys, J.A., Fan, C. and Mayer, L.J. (1997), "Applications of palladium in the electronic circuit industry", IPC National Conference: A Summit on PWB Surface Finishes and Solderability, September 22-23, Bloomington, MN, pp. 80-102. 14. Tu, K.N., The 3rd Report from UCLA to SEMATECH on Low Cost Flip Chip Technology. 15. Wang, Y. and Tu, K.N. (1995), "Ultrafast intermetallic compound formation between eutectic SnPb and Pd where the intermetallic is not a diffusion barrier", Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 67, pp. 1069-71. 16. Wang, Y., Kim, H.K., Liou, H.K. and Tu, K.N. (1995), "Rapid soldering reactions of eutectic SnPb and eutectic SnBi on Pd surfaces", Scripta Metallurgica et Materialia, Vol. 32 No. 12, pp. 2087-92.
[Illustration] Caption: Figure 1; Plots of four-point bending of (a) as-reflowed and (b) aged samples. The fracture modes were also labelled: "IF" and "PP" stand for interfacial fracture and peeling off pads. Refer to Tables I and II for sample labels and fracture loads; Figure 2; Two fracture modes from four-point bending test, (a) when joint strength was weak, solder balls separated from Cu pads (interfacial fracture); (b) when joint strength was strong, Cu pads were peeled off; Table I; The fracture loads and modes of PBGA packages attached on different metal finishes, first shipment, as-reflowed samples (see Figure 1(a)); Table II; The fracture loads and modes of PBGA packages attached on different metal finishes, first shipment, aged samples (150[degrees]C for nine days) (see Figure 1(b)); Figure 3; Plots of four-point bending of (a) as-reflowed and (b) aged samples. The fracture modes were also labeled: "IF" and "PP" stand for interfacial fracture and peeling off pads. (Refer to Tables III and IV for sample labels and fracture loads); Table III; The fracture loads and modes of PBGA packages attached on different metal finishes, second shipment, as-reflowed samples (see Figure 3(a)); Table IV; The fracture loads and modes of PBGA packages attached on different metal finishes, second shipment, aged samples, 150[degrees]C for 75 hours (see Figure 3(b)); Figure 4; SEM photos of complementary fracture surfaces of PBGA on electroless Ni/immersion Au, after bending test, (a) PCB side and (b) PBGA side (attached with solder ball); Figure 5; SEM photos of complementary fracture surfaces of PBGA on Ni/Pd/Au (Pd = 20[mu]-inches) made by vendor A, (a) PCB side and (b) PBGA side (attached with solder ball); Figure 6; EDX spectra from the fracture surfaces in Figure 5; Figure 7; SEM photos of complementary fracture surfaces of PBGA on Ni/Pd/Au (Pd = 30[mu]-inches) made by vendor L, (a) PCB side and (b) PBGA side (attached with solder ball); Figure 8; EDX spectra from the fracture surfaces in Figure 7; Figure 9; SEM photos of complementary fracture surfaces of PBGA on electroless Ni/immersion Au, after 75 hours (a) 150[degrees] side and (b) PBGA/PCB side (attached with solder ball); Figure 10; Fracture surfaces of PBGA on Ni/Pd/Au (Pd = 10 [mu]-inches) made by vendor L, after 75 hours @ 150[degrees]C: (a) PCB side and (b) PBGA side (attached with solder ball); Figure 11; EDX spectra from the fracture surfaces in Figure 10; Figure 12; Fracture surfaces of PBGA on Ni/Pd/Au (Pd = 30 [mu]-inches) made by vendor L, after 75 hours @ 150[degrees]C: (a) PCB side and (b) PBGA side (attached with solder ball); Figure 13; EDX spectra from the fracture surfaces in Figure 12; Figure 15; Cross section of Cu/Ni/Pd/Au multi-layer surface finish, in (a) low and (b) high magnifications; Figure 14; Surfaces of Ni/Pd/Au from the two vendors; Figure 16; Cross sections of BGA solder joints on Ni/Pd/Au, made by vendor L, of (a) thin and (b) thick Pd layers Indexing (document details) Subjects: Classification Codes Author(s): Document types: Publication title: Source type: ISSN: Printed circuit boards, Flexibility, Surface mount technology, Metals, Experiments 9130, 8650 Zequn Mei, Ali Eslambolchi Feature Circuit World. Bradford: 1999. Vol. 25, Iss. 2; pg. 18 Periodical 03056120

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