Dr. Jennie Hwang to Address Reliability of Electronics at SMTA International

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Gain knowledge on solder joint reliability and the role of intermetallics to the reliability of electronics at SMTA International Conference Virtual On-Demand Programs on November 15 and 16, 2021.

Solder joint reliability plays a critical role in the reliability of the entire spectrum of end-use electronic products from consumer to industrial, from computing to IoT, from medical to military 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 intermetallics and solder joint reliability is a necessity to designing and manufacturing reliable products.

On Monday and Tuesday, November 15 and 16, Dr Jennie S. Hwang leverages her decades of comprehensive real-world experiences and deep knowledge to address solder joint reliability (PDC 3) and the role of intermetallic compounds (PDC 8) by integrating scientific fundamentals with practical requirements. Join your industry colleagues to hear the true authority in solder joint reliability. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own selected systems for deliberation.

PDC 3: “Solder Joint Reliability – Principle and Practice”

Monday, November 15, 2021

Course Objectives
Emphasizing on practical, working knowledge, yet balanced and substantiated with science, the course provides a holistic view of the important aspects of solder joint reliability including the critical “players” (e.g., manufacturing process, PCB/component coating surface finish, solder alloys); and highlights the fundamentals in fatigue and creep damage mechanisms via ductile, brittle, ductile-brittle fracture. Likely solder joint failure modes of interfacial, near-interfacial, bulk, inter-phase, intra-phase, voids-induced and surface cracks will be illustrated. To withstand harsh environments, the strengthening metallurgy to further increase fatigue resistance, and the power of metallurgy and its ability to anticipate the relative performance will be illustrated by contrasting the comparative performance vs. metallurgical phases and microstructure. The question on whether existing life-prediction models can assure reliability will be highlighted. A relative reliability ranking among commercially available solder systems including newer lead-free alloys (“Low Temperature Solder”), as well as the scientific, engineering and manufacturing reasons behind the ranking will be outlined. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own selected systems for deliberation.

Topics Covered

1. Premise – what is reliability? What are critical players?
2. Solder joint fundamentals - thermo-mechanical degradation – strength, fatigue and creep interaction
3. Solder joint failures modes - interfacial, near-interfacial, bulk, inter-phase, intra-phase, voids-induced, surface-crack, and others
4. Solder joint failure mechanisms – ductile, brittle, ductile-brittle transition fracture
5. Solder joint strengthening metallurgy
6. Solder joint voids vs. reliability - effects, criteria
7. Solder joint surface-crack –causes, effects
8. Distinctions and commonalties between Pb-free and SnPb solder joints
9. Thermal cycling conditions - effects on test results and test results interpretation
10. Testing solder joint reliability – discriminating tests and discerning parameters
11. Life-prediction model vs. reliability
12. Solder joint performance in harsh environments
13. “Low Temperature Solder” and SnCu+ x, y, z and SnAgCu + x, y, z systems with dopants
14. Best practices and competitive manufacturing
15. Summary

PDC 8: “Reliability of Electronics – Role of Intermetallic Compounds”

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Course Objectives

Intermetallic compounds (IMCs) play an increasingly critical role to the performance and reliability of solder interconnections in the chip level, package level and board level of lead-free electronics. This course covers the relevant and important aspects of intermetallic compounds ranging from scientific fundamentals to practical application scenarios. IMCs before solder joint formation, during solder joint formation, and after solder joint formation in storage and during service will be examined. Intermetallics at-interface and in-bulk, as well as the role of PCB surface finish/component coating in relation to intermetallics, in turn, to reliability will be discussed. The difference between SnPb and Pb-free solder joint in terms of intermetallic compounds, which affects production-floor phenomena and the actual field failure, will be outlined. The course will also address the relevant aspects of low-temperature solders and other newer lead-free alloys that were recently introduced to the market. Attendees are welcome to bring their own selected systems for deliberation.

Main topics:

1. Intermetallic compounds – definition, fundamentals, characteristics
2. Phase diagrams of Pb-free vs. SnPb
3. Intermetallic compounds in the intrinsic material- Pb-free vs. SnPb
4. Formation and growth during production process and product service life
5. Intermetallic compounds - at-interface vs. in-bulk
6. Failure phenomena as the result of IMCs
7. Effects from substrate compositions (hybrid module thick film pads, PCB surface finish, component surface coating)
8. Gold embrittlement
9. Different types of intermetallic compounds – effects on solder joint reliability (Ni/Au, Ni/Pd/Au, Ni/Pd, Cu)
10. SAC alloys incorporated with various doping elements – characteristics, performance
11. “Low-Temperature” solders – critical areas to product reliability
12. Effects on failure mode
13. Effects on reliability