Reliability of an 1657CCGA (Ceramic Column Grid Array) Package With 95.5SN3.9AG0.6CU Lead-Free Solder Paste on PCBS (Printed Circuit Boards)

Abstract

In many applications such as computers and telecommunications, the IC chip sizes are very big, the on-chip frequency and power dissipation are very high, and the number of chip I/Os is very large. The CCGA (ceramic column grid array) package developed by IBM is one of the best candidates for housing these kinds of chips. There are two parts in this study. One is to show that the two-parameter Weibull life distribution is adequate for modeling the thermal-fatigue life of lead-free solder joints. This is demonstrated by comparing the two-parameter and three-parameter Weibull distributions with life test data of an 1657-pin CCGA package with the 95.5 wt %Sn3.9 wt %Ag0.6 wt %Cu lead-free solder paste on lead-free printed circuit boards under thermal cycling conditions. The other part of this study is to determine the time-history creep strain energy density of the 1657-pin CCGA solder column with two different solder paste materials, namely, 95.5 wt %Sn3.9 wt %Ag0.6 wt %Cu and 63 wt %Sn37 wt %Pb and under three different thermal cycling profiles, namely, 25↔75°C, 0↔100°C, and −25↔125°C. The effects of these solder pastes and temperature conditions on the thermal-fatigue life of the high-lead (10 wt %Sn90 wt %Pb) solder columns of the CCGA package are provided and discussed.