• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.41-47
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• 2010

The effect of PCB and BGA pad designs was investigated on the mechanical property of Pb-free solder joints. The mechanical property of solder joint was tested by three different test methods of drop impact tests, bending impact test, and high speed shear test. Two kinds of pad design such as NSMD (Non-Solder Mask Defined) and SMD (Solder Mask Defined) were applied with the OSP finished Pb-free solder (Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu, Sn-1.2Ag-0.5Cu). in the drop impact test and bending impact test, the characterized lifetime showed the same tendency, and SMD design showed better mechanical property of solder joint than NSMD regardless of test method, which was due to the different crack path. The fracture crack on SMD pad was propagated along the intermetallic compound (IMC) layer of solder joint, while the fracture crack on NSMD pad propagated through upper edge of land which shields pattern. In the high speed shear test, pad lift occurred on the solder joint of NSMD. SMD/SMD combination of pad design consequently illustrated the best mechanical property of BGA/PCB solder joint, followed by SMD/NSMD, NSMD/SMD, and NSMD/NSMD.