Ion contaminants from Printed Circuit Board (PCB) assembly processes pose a high reliability risk because they result in damaged circuits. Therefore, it is essential to understand the level of ionic species on the electronic circuitry as well as the reliability risks caused by these contaminants. There are a number of approaches available in the industry to assess the reliability risks ; for example, the water drop test (WDT) is one of the techniques used to determine the propensity of an ionic contaminant to cause electrical short failures by dendrite formation. The objective of this research is to determine the time to cause the failures, known as electrochemical migration (ECM) failures. A test vehicle was developed for the WDT to obtain the time to cause ECM failure in presence of different anions. The time to form dendritic bridges that cause short circuits was determined as a function of the different anions and the spacings between PCB pads. The experimental method involved dispensing aqueous solutions containing common inorganic and organic acid anions onto test vehicles, applying electrical bias voltages and measuring the time to form dendrites. Specially designed test structures cells were created to contain the test solutions. At each of the test cells, a cavity held the solution and constant current was applied through different metal geometries. To be representative of popular board finishes, test vehicle boards incorporated both Sn-Pb Hot Air Soldering Level (HASL) and Pb free HASL surface finishes.

Sabemos que em placas de circuito impresso montadas com tecnologia SMD Surface Mount Device podem ocorrer problemas com a migração eletroquímica. O fenômeno aparece principalmente porque os novos encapsulamentos possuem terminais com espaçamentos muito próximos. A migração eletroquímica pode tornar-se um potencial problema no processo de soldagem eletrônica quando é utilizado a tecnologia Lead Free na montagem das placas. O processo de migração eletroquímica ocorre quando temos metal, isolante e metal, em ambiente de alta umidade e sobre polarização elétrica, o metal deixa a posição inicial em forma de íon e se redeposita sobre o isolante. Em uma placa de circuito impresso, dois terminais adjacentes podem tornar-se eletrodos, dessa forma as dendritas crescem do cátodo para o ânodo. Podem aparecer diferentes morfologias com diferentes elementos envolvidos no processo de migração, dependendo da composição da pasta de solda ou acabamento da placa de circuito impresso. Uma estrutura do tipo pente comb feita sobre laminado FR4 foi utilizada nos experimentos. A distância entre as trilhas foram de 102 e 254 mícrons para simular uma distancia real dos terminais dos dispositivos. Os fatores considerados durante os experimentos foram: A distancia entre os terminais na estrutura (102 ou 254 mícrons), tensão aplicada (2 ou 3 V). Foi observado que a pasta de solda e o acabamento final não influenciam no processo de migração eletroquímica. O Estanho foi o principal metal que migrou. Todos os resultados obtidos nesse estudo concordam com a literatura. / It is well known that in printed circuits boards assembled by SMT technology may occur Electrochemical migration (ECM). This phenomenon appears mainly because the new packaging has the terminals very close. Also the Electrochemical migration may become a potential reliability problem in electronic soldering when lead free technology is used in soldering electronic devices. Electrochemical migration is an electrochemical process where metal on an insulating material, in a humid environment and under an applied electric field, leaves its initial location in ionic form and redeposit. In a PCB two adjacents terminal may behave as electrodes so the dendrites grow from cathode to anode. It can show different morphologies with the different migration elements involved depending on the solder paste composition or PCB surface finishing. A structure with a comb shape printed on FR4 substrate was used in the experiments. The distance between the fingers in the structure was 102 or 254 microns, in order to simulate a real distance between dispositive terminals. The factors considered during the experiments were surface finishing (ENIG or HASL), solder paste composition, distance between terminals (102 or 254 microns) and applied voltage (2 or 3 V). It was observed that the solder paste and the surface finishing dont influence the ECM process. Tin was the main metal that migrates. All the results obtained in these study agrees with the literature.

This research reports for the first time conductive anodic filament reliability of copper plated-through-vias with spacing of 75 – 200 µm in thin glass fiber reinforced organic packaging substrates with advanced epoxy-based and cyclo-olefin polymer resin systems. Reliability studies were conducted in halogenated and halogen-free substrates with improved test structure designs including different conductor spacing and geometry. Accelerated test condition (temperature, humidity and DC bias voltage) was used to investigate the effect of conductor spacing and substrate material influence on insulation reliability behavior. Characterization studies included gravimetric measurement of moisture sorption, extractable ion content analysis, electrical resistance measurement, impedance spectroscopy measurement, optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy analysis and elemental characterization using energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. The accelerated test results and characterization studies indicated a strong dependence of insulation failures on substrate material system, conductor spacing and geometry. This study presents advancements in the understanding of failure processes and chemical nature of failures in fine-pitch copper plated-through-vias in newly developed organic substrates and demonstrates potential methods to mitigate failures for high density organic packages.

Sabemos que em placas de circuito impresso montadas com tecnologia SMD Surface Mount Device podem ocorrer problemas com a migração eletroquímica. O fenômeno aparece principalmente porque os novos encapsulamentos possuem terminais com espaçamentos muito próximos. A migração eletroquímica pode tornar-se um potencial problema no processo de soldagem eletrônica quando é utilizado a tecnologia Lead Free na montagem das placas. O processo de migração eletroquímica ocorre quando temos metal, isolante e metal, em ambiente de alta umidade e sobre polarização elétrica, o metal deixa a posição inicial em forma de íon e se redeposita sobre o isolante. Em uma placa de circuito impresso, dois terminais adjacentes podem tornar-se eletrodos, dessa forma as dendritas crescem do cátodo para o ânodo. Podem aparecer diferentes morfologias com diferentes elementos envolvidos no processo de migração, dependendo da composição da pasta de solda ou acabamento da placa de circuito impresso. Uma estrutura do tipo pente comb feita sobre laminado FR4 foi utilizada nos experimentos. A distância entre as trilhas foram de 102 e 254 mícrons para simular uma distancia real dos terminais dos dispositivos. Os fatores considerados durante os experimentos foram: A distancia entre os terminais na estrutura (102 ou 254 mícrons), tensão aplicada (2 ou 3 V). Foi observado que a pasta de solda e o acabamento final não influenciam no processo de migração eletroquímica. O Estanho foi o principal metal que migrou. Todos os resultados obtidos nesse estudo concordam com a literatura. / It is well known that in printed circuits boards assembled by SMT technology may occur Electrochemical migration (ECM). This phenomenon appears mainly because the new packaging has the terminals very close. Also the Electrochemical migration may become a potential reliability problem in electronic soldering when lead free technology is used in soldering electronic devices. Electrochemical migration is an electrochemical process where metal on an insulating material, in a humid environment and under an applied electric field, leaves its initial location in ionic form and redeposit. In a PCB two adjacents terminal may behave as electrodes so the dendrites grow from cathode to anode. It can show different morphologies with the different migration elements involved depending on the solder paste composition or PCB surface finishing. A structure with a comb shape printed on FR4 substrate was used in the experiments. The distance between the fingers in the structure was 102 or 254 microns, in order to simulate a real distance between dispositive terminals. The factors considered during the experiments were surface finishing (ENIG or HASL), solder paste composition, distance between terminals (102 or 254 microns) and applied voltage (2 or 3 V). It was observed that the solder paste and the surface finishing dont influence the ECM process. Tin was the main metal that migrates. All the results obtained in these study agrees with the literature.

This work developed a process to provide physical, electrical, and environmental protection to the electrical lead system of an optical switch device. A literature review was conducted to find materials and processes suitable to the stress-sensitive, high voltage characteristics of many optical switch devices. An automatic dispensing dam and fill process, and three candidate materials (two epoxy and one silicone) were selected for investigation. Experimental and analytical techniques were used to evaluate the materials. Methods applied included interferometric die warpage measurements, electrochemical migration resistance tests (ECMT), thermal cycling, and finite element analysis. The silicone dam and fill system was selected based upon the results of die warpage and electrochemical migration resistance tests. A modified, selective dam and fill process was developed and preliminary reliability testing was performed. The paper provides detailed instructions for successful encapsulation of the optical switch's lead system.