Dr. Jennie Hwang to Address Solder Joint Reliability and Role of Intermetallic Compounds at IMAPS

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Solder joint reliability plays a critical role in the reliability of the entire spectrum of end-use electronic products from commercial to military from computing to smartphone from medical to avionic applications. In lead-free electronics, intermetallic compounds become increasingly important to the performance and reliability of solder interconnections in the chip level, package level and board level. Understanding the essential fundamentals and key factors behind intemetallics and solder joint reliability is a necessity to designing and manufacturing reliable products.

On October 10, Dr. Jennie S. Hwang leverages decades of extensive real-world experiences and deep knowledge of the industry by presenting on solder joint reliability and the role of intermetallic compounds at the upcoming IMAPS 2016 (49th International Symposium on Microelectronics) event, which will be held from October 10–13  in Pasadena, California. Dr. Hwang will discuss relevant aspects of solder joint reliability at Workshop B1 – "Reliability of Electronics – The Role of Intermetallic Compounds", and Workshop B2 – "Solder Joint Reliability - Principles and Applications". Attendees are encouraged to bring their own selected systems for deliberation.

Workshop B1 topics are as follows:

• Solder joint fundamentals – mechanical properties vs. microstructure evolution vs. services;
• Solder joint thermo-mechanical behavior and degradation – fatigue and creep interaction;
• Solder joint failures modes - interfacial, near-interfacial, bulk, inter-phase, intra-phase, voids-induced, surface-crack, and others;
• Solder joint failure mechanisms – ductile, brittle, ductile-brittle transition fracture;
• Solder joint strengthening metallurgy;
• Power of metallurgy for increased fatigue resistance and creep resistance;
• Distinctions and commonalties between Pb-free and SnPb solder joints;
• Thermal cycling conditions - effects on test results and test results interpretation;
• Testing solder joint reliability – discriminating tests and discerning parameters;
• Solder joint performance in harsh environments;
• What are on the horizon and what impact will be on reliability- present vs. future system;
• Best practices – competitive manufacturing (yield, cost, reliability);
• Ultimate reliability.

 Workshop B1 topics are as follows:

• Intermetallic compounds – definition, fundamentals, and characteristics;
• Intermetallic compounds in the intrinsic material- Pb-free vs. SnPb;
• Formation and growth during production process and in product service life;
• Different types of intermetallic compounds – effects on solder joint reliability;
• Intermetallic compounds - at-interface vs. in-bulk;
• Effects from substrates (hybrid module thick film pads, PCB surface finish) + component coating;
• SAC alloys incorporated with various doping elements – characteristics, performance;
• Effects on failure mode;
• Effects on reliability.

For more information or to register, visit http://www.imaps.org/imaps2016/pdcs.htm#b1 and  http://www.imaps.org/imaps2016/pdcs.htm#b2.