ABSTRACT
Insight into the thermomechanical response of solder joints is critical to the design and deployment of reliable electronic circuit board assemblies. Understanding the mechanics of lead-free (Pb-free) soldered assemblies is also essential to the development of accelerated test plans, predictive reliability models, and to their use as effective tools for product reliability assessment. Lead-free electronic transition has been successfully completed for computing and consumer electronics applications. The solder joint reliability performance of Pb-free solders (that is, Sn-Ag-Cu [SAC] solders) has been extensively studied for various package types, and most of the studies to date have shown improved Pb-free electronic reliability performance compared to Sn-Pb solder. However, mixed reliability results were also observed for high cyclic strain components such as large ceramic ball grid arrays (BGAs) and quad flat no (QFN) leads packages. There is also renewed interest in understanding the reliability performance of Pb-free solders in other applications such as telecom, automotive electronics, and aerospace industries.
