Voidgenerationmethodyieldslowvoidsolderpaste

SincetheWasteElectricalandElectronicEquipment(WEEE)andtheRestrictionsontheuseofHazardous
Substances(RoHS)directivescameintoeectinJuly2006,theuseofsixtoxicsubstances,includingleadhasbecome
restricted.Todate,soldermanufacturershavecompletedtheshiftfromusingtheconventionalleadcontainedsolder
pastestoleadfreesolderpastes.
Comparedtoleadsolders,theSAC(Sn3Ag0.5Cu),atypicalleadfreealloy,hasstrongreactivityaswellashighsur
facetensionandmeltingpoint.However,ariseinthemeltingpointhasledtoanincreaseinthepreheattemperature
andtheoxidationofsolderpowder,causingmanycasesofunwettinganddefectivejointing.Thesedefectshavebeen
almostsolvedasaresultoftheimprovementsinsolderpasteuxandthechangesinmountingconditions.However,
therearestillnocluesonthereductionofvoidsthattendtodevelopduetohighsurfacetension.Thevoidsoccurring
onalargepatmayinvolvenotonlythedecreaseofjointingreliability,butalsothedefectivepartsduetopoor
radiationperformanceifthepatisusedinaheadsink,thusbecomingamajorissue.Ahostofcustomershave
requestedimprovementsandnewdevelopmentstoreducethevoids,eventodaywhenleadfreesoldershave
becomemorecommon.
ThisarticlewilloutlinetheM420Series,anultralowvoidsolderpastedevelopedbyKOKICo.,Ltd.usinganew
concept.

VoidGeneratingMechanism

Thevoidgeneratingmechanismbeginswhentheuxsolventstartstovaporizeatthetimeofpreheatinginthe
mountingprocess.Inaddition,theoxidationofsolderpowder,polarzone,anduxstartsaswellduetotheheat(Fig.
1).

Fig.1:Voidgeneratingmechanism
Whenenteringthemainheatingstage,thevolatilizationofsolventadvancesfurther,andthevolatilizationoflow
volatilitycomponentsinadditivesandrosinformsairbubbles.Inaddition,thereactionoftheorganicacidand
oxidizedmetalsproducewatertoincreasetheairbubbles.Theairbubblesthatgrowfairlybiginsizearepushedout
whenthepartisputin.
Inthelatterhalfofthemainheatingprocess,thesoldersurfacebecomesoxidized,andbecauseoftheoxidelm,it
willbemoredicultfortheairbubblesformedtopassout.Theairbubblescontinuetodevelopduetovaporization
andthereactionofaddedmaterialsandleadtosolidication.Asaresult,anumberofvoidsoccur.

TraditionalLowVoidSolderPaste

Theconventionallowvoidproductsweredevelopedundertheconceptofreducingvoidsgeneratedduringthepre
heatandmainheatingstages,andtryingtoforcethemout.
Therearetwoapproachestoimplementthisconcept:(1)increaseuxuiditytoallowthevoidtooweasily,and(2)
improvethesolderwettabilityandstrengthenthepressureoftheparttoforcevoidsout.Thesetwoapproacheshave
beentakentoreducevoids.However,intherstmethod,aproblemarisesinwhichtheuxowingintheearlystage
causesthesoldertobeexposedduringpreheatingtoacceleratetheoxidation,givingrisetounwetting.Inthe
secondmethod,addinglargeamountsoforganicacidsandhalidetendstoresultindefects,suchasthedecreaseof
electricreliabilityormigrationdevelopmentandtheviscositychangeduetotimechange.

Untiltoday,KOKIhasbeenpromotingitssolderproductdevelopmentusingtheconceptdescribedabove.However,the
companyhasrealizedthelimitationsoftheseapproachesandhasstartedthedevelopmentofultralowvoidproducts
usingatotallynewconcept.

DevelopmentConceptofM420Series

TheM420solderpasteisaproductdevelopedbyadoptinganapproachtotallydierentfromtheexistinglowvoidsol
derpastesbasedonanewconceptofincreasingtheamountofgeneratedvoidsanddrivingoutthevoidswiththe
voids(Fig.2).

Fig.2:UsingM420Seriessolderpaste
Asinthecaseofexistingproducts,airbubblesdevelopduetothevolatilizationofsolventupuntilmainheating.
Whenenteringthemainheatingprocess,alargeamountofgasisgeneratedduetothedecompositionofthenew
additiveagent.Thatgasabsorbsanddischargesthevoidformedasaresultofthereactionoforganicacidandmetals
andthevolatilizationofsolvent.
Thereactionofthenewadditiveswillendwhenthetemperaturereachesitspeak,andgaseswillnotbegenerated
afterwards.Thiswillresultinalowlevelofvoidsashasneverseenbefore.

EvaluationResultsofM420Series

Fig.3:Summaryofvoidevaluationresults
Fig.3summarizesthevoidevaluationresultsinthemountingsubstrate.
Itcanbeseenthattheamountofvoidsinthelargepatarea,wherethereductionofvoidshasbeenconsideredtobe
dicultforleadfreesolderpasteuptonow,hasbecomeextremelysmall.Thevoidswillnotincreaseevenwhen
changingthesubstratesurfaceprocessing,realizingastablelowvoidcondition(Table1).
Product

S3X48M420

S3X58M420

Alloycomposition

Sn96.5,Ag3.0,Cu0.5

Meltingpoint(C)

217219

Solderparticlesize(m)

2045

2038

Productuxcontent(%)

11.5

Viscosity(Pa.S)

220

Copperplatecorrosiontest

Passed

Solderexpansionrate(%)

>78

Tacktime

>72hours

Shelflife(below10C)

6months
Table1:SpecicationsofM420Series

AnothercharacteristicoftheM420Seriesisthatthereisalmostnodeteriorationresultingfromcontinuoususe.The
M420Seriesusesanadditivethatdoesnotreactatnormaltemperature,sothesolderpowderandtheadditivehardly
reactatnormaltemperature.AsseeninFig.4,therearesmallchangesinviscosityandTivalueatthetimeofcon
tinuoususe,andprintability,nefusibilityandvoidsarestabilizedwithoutdeterioration.

Fig.4:ViscosityandTivaluelevelatcontinuoususe

Conclusion

TheM420Seriesadoptsasystem,whichgeneratesanexcessiveamountofvoidswiththehelpofanewadditiveagent
anddischargestheminbulk,torealizethelowvoidcondition.Asaresult,thedecreaseonthenumberofvoidsinthe
largepatarea,whichwasconsideredtobedicultforleadfreesolderpastes,becomespossibleandsodoesthe
improvementofradiationperformanceoftheheatsinksandothers.Inaddition,byincreasingthedurabilityfor
continuoususeofsolderpaste,theamountofdisposalisalsodrasticallycutdown,whichhasimprovedeconomic
eciency(Fig.5).

Fig.5:Increaseddurabilityofsolderpaste
AboutThisArticle:
Theauthor,NoriyoshiUchida,ispartoftheNo.1DevelopmentDivisionElectronicMaterialsTechnicalDepartmentof
KOKICompanyLtd.