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Panasonic Soldering Process Considerations for Land Grid Array Modules

This document provides a comprehensive guide on the soldering process for Land Grid Array (LGA) modules, emphasizing the importance of optimizing various parameters such as solder paste stencil design, reflow profiles, and cleaning processes. It highlights the differences between LGA and Ball Grid Array (BGA) technologies and outlines best practices to minimize voids and ensure reliable solder joints. Key recommendations include using no-clean solder pastes and adhering to the solder paste vendor's reflow profile guidelines to achieve high-quality assemblies.

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9 views

Panasonic Soldering Process Considerations for Land Grid Array Modules

This document provides a comprehensive guide on the soldering process for Land Grid Array (LGA) modules, emphasizing the importance of optimizing various parameters such as solder paste stencil design, reflow profiles, and cleaning processes. It highlights the differences between LGA and Ball Grid Array (BGA) technologies and outlines best practices to minimize voids and ensure reliable solder joints. Key recommendations include using no-clean solder pastes and adhering to the solder paste vendor's reflow profile guidelines to achieve high-quality assemblies.

Uploaded by

mark.schau
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Soldering Process Considerations for Land

Grid Array Modules

The reflow process is dependant on many parameters; this application note is


presented as a guide to soldering LGA modules. Manufacturers are responsible to
optimize the process.

Introduction
Land Grid Array is a packaging technology with a square grid of contacts on the
underside of a package. The contacts are to be connected to a grid of contacts on the PCB.
The contacts are made by using solder-paste.

LGA packaging is related to Ball Grid Array (BGA) although land grid array packages
need solder paste before they can be soldered down. BGA packages have solder-balls as
their contacts, and are soldered down without solder-paste.

The LGA solder interconnect is formed solely by solder paste applied at board assembly
because there are no spheres attached to the LGA. This results in a lower stand-off height
of approximately 0.06 mm to 0.10 mm, depending on solder paste volume and printed
circuit board (PCB) geometry. • LGA also eliminates risk that customers receive
components with missing or damaged spheres due to shipping or handling.

Manufacturing with LGA

Land Design
The solderable area on the mother board should match the nominal solderable area on the
LGA package 1:1.

Solder Methods
Critical factors to ensure successful circuit board assembly with LGA devices are the
design of the solder paste stencil, the solder paste and reflow profile used, and the PCB
pad design. This section recommends stencil attributes that have been known to succeed,
such as solder stencil thickness, aperture diameter, paste release characteristics, and
practices to ensure consistent solder paste volumes that exceed recommended minimums.

Solder Paste Printing


Use automatic equipment to screen print solder paste onto the PCB and a pick and place
system to put the RF module LGA package onto the wet solder paste. Typically, an
automatic conveyor will take the board into a reflow furnace to solder the components
onto the PCB. Normally, solder paste is applied by automatically dispensing paste
through a metal stencil that has been machined to correspond with the pattern of
solderable surfaces on the mother board. Panasonic has found good results with a 5 to 6
mil (120 μm to 150 μm) thick stencils and the apertures on the solder paste stencil being
the same size as the pads. Industry practice typically uses stencils from 4 mils to 8 mils
in thickness with the thinner stencils typically being associated with finer pitch, more
closely spaced application. However, local manufacturing experience may find other
combinations of stencil thickness and aperture size, give good results.

It is strongly recommended that the process should be controlled to maintain a consistent


quantity of solder paste on the same sized lands. If a stencil becomes partially blocked,
then the part may be electrically functional. However, a fragile joint will form. This will
result in far less mechanical durability for such a joint than the recommended solder joint.

Our used temp. profile


for reflow soldering
30 +20/-10s
Temp.[°C] 230°C -250°C max.

220°C

150°C – 190°C

90 30s

Time [s]
Figure One: Temperature Profile for Lead Free Solder
Reflow for Lead Free Solder Paste
Optimal reflow profile depends on solder paste properties and should be optimized and
proven out as part of overall process development. The following guidelines for solder
reflow represent good soldering practices to help yield high quality assemblies with
minimum rework. It is important to provide a solder reflow profile that matches the
solder paste supplier's recommendations. Some fluxes need a long dwell time below the
temperature of 180 ºC, while others will be burned up in a long dwell time. Temperatures
out of bounds of the solder paste flux recommendation could result in poor solderability
of all components on the board. All solder paste suppliers should recommend an ideal
reflow profile to give the best solderability. Panasonic has achieved good results with a
peak temp of 230 ºC to 250 ºC and a dwell time above 150 ºC for greater than 60 seconds
and less than 120 seconds as shown in Figure 1.
In IR or convection processes the temperature can vary greatly across the PC board
depending on the furnace type, size and mass of components, and the location of
components on the PCB. Profiles must be carefully tested to determine the hottest and
coolest points on the assembly. The hottest and coolest points should fall within
recommended temperatures in the reflow profile

Cleaning Under LGA


Due to the lower stand-off height of the LGA device, no-clean solder pastes are
recommended. Full drying of no-clean paste fluxes as a result of the reflow process must
be ensured. This may require longer reflow profiles and/or peak temperatures toward the
high end of the process window, as recommended by the solder paste vendor. Instances
of uncured flux residues after reflow have been encountered with LGA. It is believed that
uncured flux residues could lead to corrosion and/or shorting in accelerated testing and
possibly the field. The presence and extent of uncured flux residues can be detected by
mechanical removal of the module after reflow as part of the overall assembly
development process. Cross-sectioning and flat sectioning are also recommended to
assess not only residues, but overall joint geometry. Solder flux technologies have
improved dramatically in recent years, to the point that most of the industry is using no-
clean fluxes. Some of these fluxes require specific reflow profiles. The flux vendor’s
recommendations should always be followed precisely taking precedent over any the
guidelines described in this application note.
Voids:

Expected Void Content and Reliability


The likelyhood of voids can be larger on LGA modules than for modules with BGA or
leads. The outgassing flux at an LGA solder joint must migrate a longer distance to the
surface of the solder and it has a relatively small surface to the air.
The void content of the module must conform to IPC-A-610D (25% or less voiding
area/area). See Figure Two.

Voids_IPC_A_610D.vsd

Figure Two: X-ray Picture Showing Voids Conforming to IPC-A-610D


Consider the following parameters, to reduce void area.

Solderability on module and PCB

Bad solderability is often connected to oxidation and has therefore a major impact on
voiding. Flux gets trapped on oxidized surfaces. In general, Ni/Au pads have fewer voids
than HASL and OSP.

Solder paste

Using higher activity flux removes oxide rapidly so less flux will be trapped.
Voiding increases with increasing solder paste exposure time, since long exposure time
will result in more oxidation and moisture pickup.

Pad size

A large soldering pad means that the outgassing flux must travel more distance to the
surface of the solder, and will thereby create more voids.

Solder paste

Smaller powder size and higher metal load means more metal surface to deoxidize and
thereby more trapped flux and voiding. Higher metal load also means higher viscosity
making it more difficult for outgassed flux to escape from the solder.

Stencil thickness

A thicker solder paste stencil creates more surface area which improves outgassing and
decreases voids.

Temperature soldering profile

When the preheat time is too short the flux does not get enough time to react causing it to
get trapped in the solder and create voids.
When the reflow time is too long, larger voids are created
When the reflow time is too short, the void area increases.

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