Reliability of tin‐lead balled BGAs soldered with lead‐free solder paste

Abstract

This paper will describe tests of the interconnect reliability of BGA components with tin‐lead bumps soldered with lead‐free solder paste during temperature cycling. Tin‐lead BGA components soldered with tin‐lead solder paste and lead‐free BGA components soldered with lead‐free solder paste were used as a reference. The lead‐free solder used was eutectic tin‐silver‐copper. Two kinds of surface finishes were used on the printed circuit boards (PCB), an immersion gold over electroless nickel and an organic solderability preservative. The test PCBs were temperature‐cycled for 2500 cycles in the range of −40°C to +125°C and they were continuously electrically monitored during the cycling. The results of the temperature cycling test showed that lead‐ containing BGA components soldered with lead‐free solder paste don't show any serious reliability risks and can actually withstand temperature cycling stresses better than entirely lead‐free BGA assemblies.

Citation

Tapani Nurmi, S. and Olavi Ristolainen, E. (2002), "Reliability of tin‐lead balled BGAs soldered with lead‐free solder paste", Soldering & Surface Mount Technology, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 35-39. https://doi.org/10.1108/09540910210427808