Engineering solutions for pcb manufacturing Forensics Uncovers Elusive Defects and Saves PCB Design p.30

Conformal Coating

april 2014 over No-Clean Flux p.52

April 2014 • SMT Magazine 1

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AN AUDITING COMPANY www.nextlevelpcb.com Closing out our three-part series, our expert contributors focus on what happens after the soldering process. How does cleaning affect reliability? How is conformal coating applied over no-clean flux? And how can forensic analysis uncover defects that might be missed by more traditional inspection methods? And don’t miss our coverage of IPC APEX EXPO!

12 Climatic Reliability of Electronic Devices and Components by Rajan Ambat

30 Forensics Uncovers Elusive 52 Conformal Coating over Defects and Saves PCB Design No-Clean Flux by Zulki Khan by Karl Seelig and Timothy O’Neill

4 SMT Magazine • April 2014

april 2014 Engineering volume 29 solutions number 4 for pcb www.smtmagazine.com manufacturing

Contents

Show review Video Interviews 38 2014 IPC 64 Ray Prasad Talks Training APEX EXPO with EPTAC

Columns 8 Sustainability—What and Why? by Joe Fjelstad

68 Protecting Your Supply Chain from 84 Plasma Etch and the War Counterfeits and Liability on De-smear by Todd Kramer

74 Screen Printing Solutions for Small Die and Precision Shorts by Rachel Miller-Short 11 Flawed Diamonds Pick Up Small 80 Expanding Your Magnetic Fields Comfort Zone by Michael Ford 91 Technology Extends Life Span 86 Tighter Scrutiny Needed for of Batteries PCB Cleaning Agents by Zulki Khan

News highlights 66 Market

72 Mil/Aero Extras 78 Supplier/New Product 94 Events Calendar

92 SMTonline 95 Advertiser Index & Masthead

6 SMT Magazine • April 2014 guest column smt connections Sustainability—What and Why?

by Joe Fjelstad Verdant Electronics

In 2013, Earth welcomed roughly 140 mil- maintain the delicate balancing act to assure lion new citizens, replacing approximately 60 that Spaceship Earth will allow us to survive fu- million who passed away, netting a growth in ture trips around our sun. the world’s population of 80 million people—a The resources of our planet are unquestion- number which happens to roughly match the ably limited and thus are diminishing as we population of Egypt. The Earth’s population continue to unleash and ramp up a seemingly now stands at more than 7.2 billion. (For those never-ending flow of products to both serve and interested, real-time statistical estimates for amuse us with output of the global electronics population and other subjects of significance industry likely to be nearing the top of the list including health and environmental matters of “offenders.” In that regard, we are becom- can be found at www.worldometers.info.) ing victims of our own success, to one degree The numbers are staggering and border on or another. For better or for worse, the engine the incomprehensible. They also present an on- of economics runs on the fuel that the con- going challenge to us all to find ways to make sumers’ wants must always exceed their needs. certain that those just joining the human race Moreover, product developers and promoters have a chance to realize their potential. With- are putting forth their best effort to make sure out question, it is a huge challenge we collec- that as many of their products as possible can tively face. Presently and throughout history, be perceived as needs rather than simple wants. there has existed a great divide between more Presently, their focus remains targeted on those advanced and exploitative cultures and nations of us who inhabit the top of the world’s eco- and the many still developing peoples and na- nomic pyramid and our numbers exceed 3.5 bil- tions of the world that coexist on this, our little lion people. A substantial market to be sure and ‘blue marble’ in space, or as futurist and vision- already there is evidence that we are, or soon ary Buckminster Fuller aptly called it, “Space- will be, stretching the limits of natural resourc- ship Earth.” He asserted, and rightly so, that we es. This leaves half of the world’s population on are all astronauts and as its crew, we needed to the outside looking in. It would seem that, if

8 SMT Magazine • April 2014 smt connections sustainability—what and why? continues we are going to satisfy the expectations of those The above checklist is succinct but it also of- billions of people not fortunate enough to be fers the user targets, which are reasonably clear born in the right place at the right time, we are and measurable. This is important for as every going to have to make some adjustments in our scientist and engineer knows, until you can ap- approach to the design and manufacture of fu- ply numbers to any effort you have no way of ture products. In short, we are going to have to knowing how well you’re doing. The one thing look very seriously at what we might need to do that appears to be missing from the list in the to create a truly sustainable electronics manu- view of this writer is a statement about the need facturing industry in the future. for greater reliability. If we can make products This begs the question: “What is a sustain- that will last indefinitely, we don’t have to make ably manufactured product?” Unfortunately them again. This may fly in the face of the sen- this is not a simple question, and without sur- sibilities of product marketers today who seek prise one finds that the answer is not simple ei- to have a new product on the shelf every 12–18 ther. That said, there are think tanks out there months, if not sooner. However, such product where people grapple with the problem. One marketers have little or no appreciation of the such is the Lowell Center for Sustainable Pro- situation of the peoples who inhabit much of duction. They have created a reasonably com- the developing world. If one is making as little prehensive checklist for those seeking to make as two dollars a day, the products they purchase an effort to create products and processes that must be durable, for they cannot afford to re- are sustainable. Following is a condensed sum- place them on a whim. mary of their “litmus test” checklist[1]. Fortunately, the CEOs of corporations large Sustainable products are: and small are beginning to appreciate the im- portance of sustainability even as they wrestle 1) Safe and ecologically sound throughout with the challenge of addressing it. This is evi- life cycle and: dent based on results of a recent and broadly cited Accenture study on sustainability wherein • designed to be durable, repairable, 1,000 CEOs in 27 different industries were ques- readily recycled, compostable, or tioned about the importance of sustainability easily biodegradable on the future success of their businesses. The • produced and packaged using the answers to the questions were promising. A to- minimal amount of material and tal of 93% of CEOs affirmed the importance of energy possible sustainability for the future of their company. And 80% felt the sustainability would offer 2) Processes that are designed and operated them competitive advantage, while 78% felt such that: that pursuing sustainability would enhance in- novation and growth within their companies. • wastes and ecologically incompatible Unfortunately, as pragmatists, only a third of byproducts are reduced, eliminated or them felt that the global economic situation recycled on-site was on track to meet targets or making the kind • substances or physical agents and of effort required to address the sustainability conditions that present hazards to challenge. Moreover, they seemed conflicted as human health or the environment less than half of them believed they can quan- are eliminated tify their efforts and perhaps more importantly, • energy and materials are conserved, they felt that sustainability efforts will likely al- and the forms of energy and materials ways take a backseat to profitability. used are most appropriate for the “Therein lies the rub” as the Bard of Avon desired ends so nicely phrased it. Given there is no clear-cut • work spaces are designed to minimize and well-defined path to sustainability, given or eliminate chemical, ergonomic the wide range of electronic products being de- and physical hazard veloped and sold as well as the myriad mate-

10 SMT Magazine • April 2014 smt connections

sustainability—what and why? continues rials and processes used in their manufacture, that it will not come from those about to retire it appears we are somewhat living the parable or hanging around to enjoy the perks. of the blind men describing an elephant. Here In closing, I am reminded of a senior engi- again for emphasis is repositioned the nag- neer who sat behind me during my tenure at ging concern that most of the attention of our Boeing more than 30 years ago. He tried to calm electronics industry is focused on serving the me when my much younger self expressed deep needs of just half of the world’s population— frustration at the pace of progress with the im- the top half. We have a long way still to go to plementation of some of our process improve- meet the needs of those on the bottom, but ments, by saying this: “Joe, you need to keep in as the philosopher Edmund Burke observed, mind the simple fact that everyone wants to go “The greatest mistake that one can make is to to Heaven but nobody wants to die.” It was and do nothing because one can only do a little.” still is the truth. So it goes... Making the effort to build truly sustainable Next time, an unflinching look at the dark products seems a reasonable objective; but do side of solder. SMT we have the will? The elimination of solder, which is the pri- Reference mary cause of defects and failures, seems to be a 1. Lowell Center for Sustainable Production likely target, but who in the developed nations will be the first to embrace such a radical con- Verdant Electronics Founder and cept? If coupled with the use of aluminum as President Joseph (Joe) Fjelstad a substrate, the impact provides immense ben- is a four-decade veteran of the efits to those whose birthplace did not do them electronics industry and an inter- a favor. Sadly, most corporate leaders today are national authority and innovator more akin to sheep and lemmings than to the in the field of electronic inter- bold thought leaders of earlier eras. They speak connection and packaging tech- of boldness, but their actions are anything but. nologies. Fjelstad has more than 250 U.S. and Given their self exclusion as agents of change, it international patents issued or pending and is will be left to the younger readers of this appeal the author of Flexible Circuit Technology. to deliver the promise because it seems certain

Flawed Diamonds Pick Up tors, providing a new tool to probe these ma- terials. Small Magnetic Fields “Diamond sensors will give us measurements that will be useful in understanding the physics of high temperature superconductors, which, Flawed but colorful diamonds are among despite the fact that their discoverers won a the most sensitive detectors of magnetic fields 1987 Nobel Prize, are still not understood,” says known today, allowing physicists Budker, a professor of physics to explore the minuscule mag- and faculty scientist at Lawrence netic fields in metals, exotic ma- Berkeley National Laboratory. terials, and even human tissue. “The new probe may shed University of California, Berke- light on high-temperature su- ley, physicist Dmitry Budker and perconductors and help theo- colleagues have now shown that reticians crack this open ques- these diamond sensors can mea- tion,” says coauthor Ron Folman sure the tiny magnetic fields in of Ben-Gurion University of the high-temperature superconduc- Negev.

April 2014 • SMT Magazine 11 Feature

Climatic Reliability of Electronic Devices and Components

by Rajan Ambat packing, with reduction in component size and Technical University of Denmark closer spacing thereby increasing the electric field, while thinner metallic parts need only nanogram levels of metal loss for causing corrosion failures.

SUMMARY: This article provides an overview of Introduction the climatic reliability issues of electronic devices During the past couple of decades, the use of and components with a focus on the metals/alloys electronic devices has increased in gigantic pro- usage on PCBA surface together with cleanliness portions. Mobile phones are obvious examples issues, humidity interaction on PCBA surface, and of how devices integrate more and more com- PCBA design and device design aspects. plex functions, such as camera, GPS and several The miniaturization of electronic systems wireless communication technologies. The inte- and the explosive increase in their usage has in- grated device is expected to be cheap, while the creased the climatic reliability issues of electronics applications necessitate it to be robust, durable, devices and components, especially when metal/ and reliable at all environmental conditions, in- alloy parts are exposed on the PCB assembly sur- cluding severe conditions. Industrial electronics face or embedded within the multilayer laminate. is another sector where the electronic controls Problems are compounded by the fact that these and other devices are used irrespective of the systems are built by multi-material combinations type of industries and environmental condi- and additional accelerating factors such as corro- tions. The vast majority of these electronic sys- sion causing process related residues, bias voltage, tems are not produced with serious consider- and unpredictable user environment. Demand for ation of the climatic reliability aspects. Climatic miniaturised devices has resulted in higher-density reliability issues that led to corrosion can intro-

12 SMT Magazine • April 2014 PROBLEM

FAILED SOLDER JOINT

SOLVED Feature climatic reliability of electronic devices and components continues duce intermittent malfunctions and permanent surface including cleanliness, roughness, and failures, which cause severe economic loss. the relative temperature to the atmosphere. Miniaturization and high-density packing This article provides an overview of cli- are other reasons for increased corrosion reli- matic reliability issues of electronic devices and ability problems for the electronic devices. In components. Various aspects such as the PCBA order to provide additional functionalities and materials and components, cleanliness issues, increase the number of components per unit design aspects, and the environmental factors area on a PCBA, PCBs today are made with mul- such as the humidity and temperature effects tilayers, commonly 8–12 layers. The line width, are discussed in relation to the corrosion and distances, and sizes of the components on the reliability problems. As a summary some sug- PCBAs are then reduced considerably. Over the gestions for the corrosion mitigation are also last 10 years, the size of electronics has been discussed. reduced by over 70%. For flip-chip ICs, minia- turization amounts to –90%. Even material loss Overview and Key Factors of on the order of nanograms can cause reliability Electronic Corrosion problems. Corrosion issues on a PCBA surface under The average size of dew droplet formation humid conditions can be summarized as shown on a surface at different temperatures varies in Figure 1. Three factors inherent on a PCBA from 20–50 mm at about 50% RH[1]. Hence, the surface, which are essential ingredients to cause smaller size of a PCB makes it easy for a local corrosion, are: (i) the presence of metals/alloys, electrochemical cell to form, due to the forma- (ii) the potential bias/electric field, and (iii) the tion of a water layer connecting two electrical humidity levels determining the thickness of points, the thickness of which is determined by the water layer. These three factors together can the humidity levels, conditions on the PCBA cause formation of conventional electrochemi-

Figure 1: Schematic showing various factors on a PCBA surface causing leak current followed by corrosion such as ECM.

14 SMT Magazine • April 2014 Feature

climatic reliability of electronic devices and components continues cal cells, which are either electrolytic or galvan- electrodes connected by a water layer, resulting ic in nature (Figure 2)[2]. A typical example of in an electric short. Electric shorts caused by an electrolytic type corrosion cell formation on these dendrites can be intermittent or perma- PCBA surface is closely spaced conduction lines nent. Other forms of corrosion can also occur, with opposite bias which is connected by a wa- depending on the materials and other param- ter layer, while galvanic type cells are formed eters involved. However, ECM is a common fail- for example by the coupling between the gold ure mode on a PCBA surface if metals such as and underlying electroless nickel and the cop- Sn, Pb, Ag, Cu, and Au are involved. The pres- per layer on a ENIG contact. Numerous other ence of ionic residues on the PCBA surface also examples of both types can also be found on a influences the formation of a water layer; all PCBA. ionic residues are hygroscopic in nature, there- However, a pure water layer on a clean PCBA fore absorbing water at relatively low levels of surface has only limited conductivity to intro- humidity on a clean surface, while thickness of duce any significant leak current or corrosion the water layer also changes with the amount effects. But the PCBA surface is seldom clean of contamination. The following sections will due to the process related residues[3-5] (Figure 1), provide a more detailed discussion on various which dissolves into the water layer. Water lay- aspects of electronic corrosion. ers with dissolved ionic residues are more con- ducting, which cause first-level corrosion effect Corrosion Failure Mechanisms such as the increased levels of leak current caus- Corrosion failure mechanisms of electronics ing functionality problems. The leak current is can be divided into two major categories: (i) the generated by faradic reactions involving disso- electrochemical corrosion in aqueous environ- lution (from the positive electrode) and build- ment and (ii) the gaseous corrosion caused by ing up of metal ions in the solution layer, which the corrosive gases. Other factors such as wear over a long period of time—depending on the and vibration can superimpose on corrosion, level of potential bias, thickness of water layer, causing varieties of tribo-corrosion such as fret- and materials involved—will results in electro- ting. Gaseous corrosion at room temperature chemical migration (ECM). or slightly elevated temperatures can also be Electrochemical migration results in the for- assisted by aqueous conditions, and therefore mation of metal dendrites between two adjacent it is difficult to differentiate between the elec-

Figure 2: Two types of electrochemical cell formation possible on a PCBA surface. Left: Galvanic cell due to coupling between two different metals through water layer. Right: Electrolytic cell formation between similar metal/alloy parts due to opposite potential bias.

April 2014 • SMT Magazine 15 Feature climatic reliability of electronic devices and components continues trochemical corrosion mechanisms and gaseous trochemical migration is caused by the pres- corrosion. Some important failure mechanisms ence of a potential gradient between two closely on outer surfaces of the PCBA are discussed lat- spaced conductors on a PCBA (terminals of a ca- er, while the conductive anodic filament (CAF) pacitor, resistor, or legs of an IC, for example), failure mode usually found inside the laminate connected by a thin layer of water due to hu- is not discussed. midity. Under such conditions, metal ions dis- solve into the solution layer from the positive Gas phase corrosion electrode (anode) which, due to the effect of Various gases such as sulphur, ozone, ammo- high electric fields, migrate towards the oppo- nia, etc., can cause corrosion of parts on a PCBA, sitely charged negative electrode (cathode), de- depending on the material content. A detailed positing there in the form of a dendrite depend- discussion is beyond the scope of this article; ing on the local chemistry of the solution. only a generalized discussion of corrosion of sil- Therefore, whether a specific metal ion de- ver due to sulphuric gases is described. posits on the cathode or not depends on the The presence of low levels of sulphur gases stability of the ion in the aqueous solution and can create severe corrosion problems on Ag and local chemistries generated between the elec- Cu parts. Moisture from the humidity can assist trodes at high potential levels. As a result, only gaseous corrosion due to the dissolution of gases a few metals such as Sn, Pb, Cu, Ag, Au, etc., are into the water layer generating various acid spe- susceptible to electrochemical migration, while cies. Therefore, at ambient temperatures, it is other metals just precipitate as hydroxides or difficult to distinguish between chemical corro- other compounds as corrosion products. A sion due to sulphur gases and the electrochemi- typical example of a non-migrating metal used cal corrosion. Figure 3 shows corrosion of silver in electronics is aluminium. In humid envi- parts on a PCBA due to sulphur-containing gases ronments with chlorides, aluminium dissolves from a pig farm environment. Formation of sil- and forms hydroxide (or hydroxy chlorides) ver sulphide dendrites can be seen all over the instead of migrating to the cathode regions. surface[6]. Usually sulphur corrosion on PCBAs is On the other hand, metals like Cu, Ag, Sn, Pb, found with sulphur gas levels below 50ppb. etc., migrate upon dissolution and deposit at the cathode at least over a range of potentials Anodic corrosion and and pH under which a particular ion is stable Electrochemical migration as predicted by the Pourbaix diagram[7]. A de- Electrochemical migration is a typical form tailed discussion on the mechanism of ECM of corrosion found on electronic systems. Elec- is beyond the scope of this article, but can be

Figure 3: Sulphur corrosion on silver parts on a PCBA (a) and formation of silver dendrites (b).

16 SMT Magazine • April 2014

Feature climatic reliability of electronic devices and components continues

c

Figure 4: Dendrite formation due to ECM: (a) Copper comb pattern at 2.5 V, (b) Copper comb pattern at 10 V, (c) SEM picture of dendrite between copper lines, and (d) ECM on chip capacitor at 10 V.

found elsewhere[8]. Figure 4 depicts ECM caused cathode surface shifts the pH to alkaline values, by dendrite formation between two copper which causes the metals like aluminium to dis- conduction lines at 2.5 V and 10 V potential solve. difference and on a chip capacitor at 10 V. For- Therefore, although in principle the met- mation of dendrites can cause electric shorts, als should be cathodically protected, due to compromising the functionality of the device the change in pH a new dynamic equilibrium intermittently or permanently. is created at the cathode surface at which cer- tain metals could dissolve. Among the metallic Cathodic corrosion materials used for electronic applications, alu- Some metals used for electronic systems are minium metallization lines on IC chips are sus- soluble in acidic and alkaline environments ceptible to this type of corrosion. A schematic over a wide range of potentials and pH. For ex- of the anodic and cathode corrosion process is ample, the Pourbaix diagram[7] for Al and Zn shown in Figure 5. shows solubility in acidic and alkaline environ- ments above the equilibrium dissolution po- Galvanic corrosion tential, which itself is a function of pH in the This type of corrosion is attributed to the alkaline range. In a microgalvanic cell, oxygen use of metals/alloys with widely varied electro- reduction takes place at the cathode, which pro- chemical properties. On PCBAs, galvanic corro- duces OH- ions. Production of OH- ions at the sion manifest in many ways and are considered

18 SMT Magazine • April 2014

Feature climatic reliability of electronic devices and components continues

Figure 5: Schematic of the anodic and cathodic corrosion process. as dreadful for connectors and switches. For The bonding process for ICs uses different connectors and switches, the corrosion prod- metals, which can generate galvanic corrosion ucts formed by the galvanic corrosion induce problems if moisture ingress occurs due to any high resistance in the circuit. Usually the con- damage in the encapsulation material. Often a nectors are made of multilayer metallic coatings gold/aluminium bonding is used for IC chips as described earlier. The metallic layers have dis- and the combination is seldom safe from cor- tinctly different electrochemical properties. A rosion because of the large difference in elec- typical example is the ENIG parts on the PCB. trochemical potentials. The lead frame is also Figure 6 depicts a mobile phone keypad coated with solderable coatings, which are gen- made by the ENIG process, with corrosion due erally nobler than the base material. Therefore, to galvanic coupling between layers. As shown any mechanical defects in the coating can cause in Figure 6d, the immersion gold (IM Au) layer corrosion problems. is porous, exposing part of the EL Ni layer. The large difference in electrochemical potential be- Fretting corrosion tween EL Ni and IM Au causes corrosion of EL The most reliable material for electronic Ni (Figure 6c), while the Au layer acts as power- switches is gold. However, gold is expensive, ful cathode. As the corrosion proceeds, pitting so from time to time the electronic indus- of EL Ni layer exposes Cu at deep pit areas. Even try has been trying to use tin-coated copper in the absence of porosity on the top coating, switches. The tin-coated copper surface is sol- the gap between metallic component and resist derable as well. The most important problem edge can be a point where all the metallic lay- with electronic switches and contacts is the ers get exposed to the solution. Palladium has relative motion between the contacting parts been introduced as a substitute for gold, but Pd due to small amplitude vibrations. The vibra- has faster cathodic reaction kinetics than gold. tory motion can be relatively low (10–200 mi- Therefore, use of Pd can enhance the galvanic cron) and caused by the floor vibration, the corrosion problems. Metals in the various PCB thermal stresses, etc. The relative movement of finishes (Cu, Sn, Ag, Ni, Au, and Pb) have large contacting parts due to the vibration destroys difference in the electrochemical potential for the oxide film on the contacting surface. The galvanic corrosion (Figure 6e). new surface generated reacts with the environ-

20 SMT Magazine • April 2014 Feature

climatic reliability of electronic devices and components continues

Figure 6: Galvanic corrosion of mobile phone key pad due to galvanic coupling: (a) Mobile phone key pad, (b) Schematic of the multi-layer coating, (c) corrosion of Ni and Cu under layer due to porosity in the gold layer, (d) SEM BE image showing porosity in the gold layer, and (e) a list of standard electrode potential of various metals. ment to form a new film, which will be de- als and alloys. A number of metals and alloys— stroyed during the subsequent movements. In from the noble gold to metals such as silver, tin, this way, a large number of oxide debris will be lead, aluminium, copper, nickel, iron, etc.—and produced, which will affect the electrical prop- combinations of these are used in the form of erties by increasing the contact resistance. alloys (e.g., solder alloys or components termi- This results in current spikes and damage to nals) or multi-layer coatings (e.g., PCB surface the electronic device. finishes such as ENIG). Due to fretting corrosion, the switches in an Polymers and plastics used in electronic de- oscillating movement (10 cycles/min) have ex- vices are also susceptible to degradation in vari- perienced an increase in the connection resis- ous climatic conditions, but to a lesser degree, tivity from 1 milliohm to 1 ohm within 20 min. and not life-threatening like corrosion prob- It is obvious that the use of gold, which does lems related to metallic parts. However, poly- not produce an oxide layer, as the connection mers and plastic parts on the device can act as a material could solve this problem except for the medium for the adsorption of humidity, gases, cost. Another way of solving the problem is to and ions, thus accelerating corrosion inside or use a good design for switches and contacts to outside of the assembly. A typical example is ensure mechanical stability. the transport of water molecules through the interface between the glass fibers and matrix in Corrosion Susceptible Materials glass epoxy laminate and the resulting CAF for- and Components mation between embedded copper conduction The materials used today in electronic de- lines. vices include all classes of materials such as Similarly, the surface morphology of the polymers, plastic, and elastomers, ceramics, polymer or ceramic parts can also have an im- and metals and alloys. Among them the most pact on the water layer formation due to the important for the corrosion reliability are met- presence of porosity and roughness acting as

April 2014 • SMT Magazine 21 Feature climatic reliability of electronic devices and components continues capillaries for the absortion of humidity. An- thermal vibrations. A PCB consists of conduc- other aspect is the content of the polymers tive pathways embedded in a glass epoxy poly- and plastics, and the possibility of the release mer or other types of laminates. The conduc- of chemical species during processing or service tion lines on a PCB are made of copper, while that could have influence on reliability. A typi- the non-conducting substrate, for example, is cal example is the use of various types of fire re- made from glass epoxy polymer. However, the tardants, which can release fractionalized com- surface of the PCB on which the components to pounds causing corrosion reliability issues (see be mounted will have an surface finish added section on fire retardant and degassing in Part 2 to the base copper lines, where the type of sur- of this article). face finish depends on the type of application Metallic materials on the PCBA are of prime or product. A PCB can be single-sided, double- interest for corrosion reliability, as electrochem- sided, or multilayered. ical corrosion can occur on these parts lead- Functional electrical circuits and PCBAs are ing to material loss or several other formed by interconnecting pack- problems, which leads to the aged integrated circuits with failure of the device in a short other devices using printed span of time. Basically metals/ From the aqueous circuit boards. As such, these alloys used on the PCBA vary corrosion“ point of view, boards can be viewed as the in their reactivity towards the second-level packaging. In- environment, determined by many of the tiny dividual devices are attached its nobility. Metals like gold are components or conduction to the PCB using mainly two noble (find in metallic form in lines are made of active types of soldering techniques the earth crust), while metals namely wave soldering and like Cu, Ni, Sn, Pb, Ag, etc., are metals/alloys, which reflow soldering process. less noble than gold and has also can have opposite Wave soldering is used for a tendency to go back to its potential bias when the through-hole components native state as stable com- with legs, while reflow is used pounds once they come in con- device is functional. for surface mount compo- tact with an environment. Even nents. Manual hand soldering gold can corrode under some is used only for special compo- conditions on the PCBA surface in- nents that cannot be soldered using volving high potential bias and contaminations either of the above process. Tin-lead alloys were such as chlorides. From the aqueous corrosion” the predominant choice for soldering until re- point of view, many of the tiny components cently, but due to the ban on lead, lead free sol- or conduction lines are made of active metals/ dering technology is in place today. alloys, which also can have opposite potential bias when the device is functional. Together Printed circuit board surface finish and me- with humidity it can cause corrosion as shown tallic combinations: Most commonly employed in Figures 1 and 2. Some of the important com- PCB surface finishes are: electroless nickel-gold ponents on a PCBA, which are susceptible to (ENIG), immersion tin, hot levelled solder fin- various types of corrosion, are briefly described ish (either Sn-Pb solder or lead-free solder al- below with a discussion on the materials’ make- loy), immersion silver, and copper finish. In the up and possible climatic reliability issues. case of gold surface finish PCB (ENIG), gold is not directly plated onto copper, as this can eas- Bare printed circuit board and ily form diffusion couples that produce various manufacturing process types of intermetallics at the interface. In order The PCB is, in general, the substrate for to avoid this problem, gold surface finish PCBs mounting and connecting electronic compo- are the ENIG type: copper and the gold layer nents, while it mechanically supports the com- are separated by 5–6 micrometers of electroless ponents and other devices from mechanical and nickel. A nickel layer provides both a diffusion

22 SMT Magazine • April 2014

Feature climatic reliability of electronic devices and components continues barrier and the necessary hardness, especially rial using an air knife. The thickness of the layer for contact applications. A thin layer of gold is in this case is of the order of 1 micrometer. plated onto the nickel layer using an electroless Irrespective of the overall surface finish, process called immersion gold plating. In this low-voltage, low-force connectors and contacts case the gold layer is plated on to the surface by are usually present on a PCB for connecting the ion exchange process with palladium activated device with other parts of the device[9,10]. A va- nickel. With immersion Au finish, thickness riety of different configurations exist, but the of the gold layer is extremely low to the level most used substrates are copper, brass, bronze, of 50–100 nanometers. But gold layer on the or copper-beryllium. The use of copper alloys electronic contacts are usually much thicker of ensures some susceptibility to environmental the order of 500 nm—1 µm. In this case higher degradation. To reduce interfacial resistance and thickness is achieved by electroplating process. corrosion, the substrate is plated with a nickel For a tin finish, immersion tin is mainly diffusion barrier and then with a precious metal used, produced by plating a thin layer of tin (e.g., gold, palladium)[9,11]. onto the copper conducting lines. The tin lay- er in this case is usually not more than 1 µm. Printed circuit board and electronic corro- The immersion tin plating process is similar to sion: Important effects of a bare PCB on the cor- immersion gold plating process, which is car- rosion reliability are the following: (i) source of ried out by electroless process using an ion ex- contamination, (ii) water permeation through change mechanism. Hot-levelled PCB surface laminate and related corrosion issues, and (iii) finish PCBs are made by coating the solder ma- corrosion issues related to multimetallic layers terial (with lead or lead-free) on to the copper on the surface. Due to miniaturization, features lines by dipping the whole PCB into a molten on the PCBs are tiny and the smallest distances solder bath followed by removal of excess mate- between the conducting lines on the external

Figure 7: Trapped contamination in via holes and ion chromatographic analysis: (a) overview of vias, (b) localized contamination in a vias, and (c) levels of different ionic residues.

24 SMT Magazine • April 2014

Feature climatic reliability of electronic devices and components continues surface and interior of the PCB is approximately ated chemicals mainly from the fire retardant 100 µm. Thickness of the conduction lines are chemistries. Typical examples are the release of also of similar magnitude. bromine resulting from the use of fire retardant tetrabromobisphenol (TBBA) (See section on Sources of contamination: Although at fire retardants and degassing). tiny levels, leftover chemical species from the PCB manufacturing process can influence the Permeation of water through laminate: Wa- corrosion process by increasing the conductiv- ter permeability of polymer laminate is an im- ity of the water layer formed on the PCB dur- portant aspect in determining the corrosion of ing service. Overall cleanliness of the PCB after buried conduction lines in the case of multilay- manufacture is ensured by the ROSE test (sol- ered PCBs. For FR-4 types of laminate, easy path- vent extract test, IPC-TM-650 2.3.25 ROSE test way for water is along the glass fibre interface, standard) which defines an overall allowed con- which will be contaminated with various species tamination level of 1.56 µg/cm2 NaCl equiva- along its way through the polymer. In this case, lent. However, contamination at localized sites the fiber-epoxy interface is also the preferential can be significantly higher if there is local con- solution connecting path for two conduction densation especially at sites where hygroscopic lines situated inside the PCB to form corrosion residues are present. Important trapping sites cell. Water permeated to the polymer can act as for process chemicals on a PCB surfaces are via a conductive media causing corrosion between holes (plated through holes), edges of conduct- the conducting lines especially when the PCB ing lines or any other features where entry of is working, which introduce potential bias be- the cleaning solution is difficult. Figures 7a tween the lines. A typical corrosion issue related and 7b show examples of trapped chemicals to water entry into the polymer is the corrosion in vias mainly constituting ionic residues such of copper conduction lines due to conductive an- as chloride, sulphates, hypophosphite etc. Vias odic filament formation as described earlier. Ma- can also act as water trapping sites due to the jor PCB factors controlling this corrosion are the capillary effect during service, while also main- amount of water, fibre matrix interface acting as taining water for longer times compared to the a connecting path, and the presence of ionic resi- flat regions during thermal cycling. Therefore, dues. Typically, CAF is found between two oppo- the chances of forming a thicker layer of water sitely charged vias due to the possibility of a gap at high humidity surrounding a set of vias are between vias and epoxy to collect water and the higher than typically seen in flat regions. possibility of several fibre-matrix interfaces act- The aspect ratio of the vias is an important ing as a pathway for the solution layer between factor in achieving cleanliness. High aspect-ra- the vias overall length of the hole. tio vias have higher chances of trapping con- tamination than low aspect-ratio vias due to Corrosion of multimetallic surface finish: the difficulty of entry for the cleaning solutions. Depending on the surface finish of the PCB, Similarly, it is quite common to find defective there is a possibility of two or more different plating inside the vias (example wicking) for metals/alloys comes in contact, which can to- higher aspect ratio vias. This can expose the un- gether interact with the environment leading derlayers and glass fibers of the polymer to the to galvanic corrosion (See section on galvanic opening of the vias acting as a site for easy water corrosion in Part 2). Galvanic coupling be- transport. This can cause formation of conduc- tween the various metallic layers is a clear pos- tive anodic filament (CAF) between buried con- sibility especially for the features that are open duction lines. on the PCB surface namely electronic contacts The release of chemicals from the PCB lami- such as the pin contacts or edge contacts. Oth- nate is another issue, especially during reflow or er features usually get buried below the solder wave soldering due to the increase in tempera- joints after the component mounting, there- ture as high as 250–270oC. Most important in fore expected to have comparably less effect on this case is the possibility of release of fraction- corrosion.

26 SMT Magazine • April 2014 Feature

climatic reliability of electronic devices and components continues

the most commonly used type today namely surface mount chip capacitor (SM capacitor). These are flat components which can be di- rectly surface mounted on to the PCB by the reflow soldering process. Due to its bipolar na- ture, the chip capacitors are found to cause cor- rosion problems on a PCBA, especially the fail- ure mode electrochemical migration. Also, the open circuit nature of a capacitor makes it very sensitive to leakage currents (e.g., if a condensed layer of water bridges the two electrodes). As the stored electrical energy can be released from the capacitor even after the potential bias has been switched off, a capacitor can cause corro- sion failures after the electronic device has been Figure 8: A view of the wave solder flux residue switched off. on a PCBA. For example, an SEM picture of the cross- section of a SM capacitor is seen in Figure 5[2]. The ceramic part of the SM capacitor is com- Component assembling and soldering: The monly based on titanium dioxide or barium ti- next level of packaging is the introduction of tanate (Ba2TiO3), with small additions of other components by the soldering process to pro- elements to increase the dielectric constant. duce final assembly for the device. Additional The electrodes of the comb pattern are made materials and process related parameters are in- from nickel or silver-palladium[12]. The connec- troduced at this stage, namely: (i) solder alloy to ting electrodes has copper layer, which is cover- join the component on to the board, (ii) compo- ed with a layer of nickel followed by a top layer nents with various shapes and material content, of tin as shown in Figure 9. Both copper and and (iii) chemicals (solder flux) used during the nickel layers are made by thick film technique, soldering process. Soldering carried out by wave, reflow soldering, or in some cases by selective soldering/hand soldering depending on the na- ture of the components. Apart from the solder alloy and components, an important factor to contribute from this stage to the corrosion reli- ability is the solder flux residues from the sol- dering process. The type, quantify, composition, and morphology of the flux residue introduced from the wave, reflow, and hand soldering pro- cess are different, and therefore interact differ- ently to the humid environments (See section cleanliness issue, leak current, and corrosion in Part 2). Figure 8 shows the wave solder flux residue on a PCBA resulting from the use of no- clean weak organic acid (WOA) based flux.

Electronic components and corrosion reliability Chip capacitor: Practically capacitors for Figure 9: Cross-section of a SM chip capacitor electronic applications are available in variety showing comb electrode pattern and end elec- of forms, but the discussion here is limited to trodes.

April 2014 • SMT Magazine 27 Feature climatic reliability of electronic devices and components continues where as the tin layer is made either by solder 13. R.P. Prasad, “Surface mount technology: dip process or barrel plating. principles and practice,” Springer, 1997. The outer layer of tin has very rough surface 14. Z.H. Levine and B. Ravel, “Identification morphology due to the barrel plating process. of materials in integrated circuit interconnects For more details on the manufacturing of mul- using x-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy,” tilayer ceramic chip capacitors the reader is re- Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 85, pp. 558, 1999. ferred to Kahn, et al.[12]. SMT 558. 15. G.K. Rao, Multilevel interconnect tech- This article will be continued in the May nology, McGraw-Hill, 1993. issue of SMT Magazine. 16. R. Ambat and Møller, P., “Corrosion and environmental effects on electronics,” Proceed- References ings of Korrosion-Mekanismer, Havarier, Beskyt- 1. S. Matsumoto, “The measurement of tiny telse, 2005. dew droplets at the initial deposition stage and 17. T. Matsumoto, M. Noguchi, and K. Aso, dew point using a phase-shift interference mi- Lead frame material, Google Patents, 2000. croscope.” Meas. Sci. Technol. Vol. 14, pp. 2075- 18. O.V. Elisseeva, A. Bruhn, A. Heyer, A. Ma- 2080, 2003. vinkurve, R.T.H. Rongen, G.M. O’Halloran, R. 2. D. Minzari, PhD Thesis, Technical Univer- Ambat, J.M.C. Mol, H. Terryn, J.H.W. de Wit, sity of Denmark, 2010. “Al-Au covered silicon chips studied by the local 3. M. Yunovich, Appendix Z – Electronics, pp. electrochemical techniques,” Proc. of Eurocorr Z1-Z7, www.corrosioncost.com/pdf/electronics.pdf. 2011, Stockholm, Sweden, 4-8 September 2011. 4. H. Risto et al., “Corrosion and climatic ef- 19. R.B. Comizzoli, R.P. Frankenthal, P.C. Mil- fects in electronics”, Published by VTT Automa- ner, and J.D. Sinclair, “Corrosion of Electronic tion, Finland, 2000. Materials and Devices,” Science, vol. 234, pp. 5. G. Di Giacomo, “Reliability of electronic 340-345, 1986. packages and semiconductor devices”, McGraw- 20. C.J. Tautscher, Contamination effects on Hill, USA, 1996. electronic products: a basic discussion of com- 6. D. Minzari, M.S. Jellesen, R. Ambat, “Mor- mon contaminants, their origin, effects, remov- phological study of corrosion of silver in sulphur al, and control, and product protection against environments,” Engineering failure analysis, contaminants from the use environment, CRC, Vol. 18, 2126, 2011. 1991. 7. M. Pourbaix, “Atlas of electrochemical 21. J.A. Jachim, G.B. Freeman, and L.J. Turbi- equilibrium in aqueous solutions,” M. Pourbaix, ni, “Use of surface insulation resistance and con- Published by NACE, 1974. tact angle measurements to characterize the in- 8. D. Minzari, M.S. Jellesen, P. Møller, R. Am- teractions of three water soluble fluxes with FR-4 bat, ”On the mechanism of electrochemical mi- substrates,” Components, Packaging, and Manu- gration of tin,”Corrosion Science, Vol. 53, pp. facturing Technology, Part B: Advanced Pack- 3336, 2011. aging, IEEE Transactions, Vol. 20, pp. 443–451, 9. P.G. Slade, “Electrical contacts: principles 1997. and applications,” CRC Press, 1999. 22. Information on www.residues.com, 2012. 10. R. Holm and E. Holm, “Electric contacts: 23. T. Munson, “The downside of selective sol- theory and application,” 1967. dering, Articles from www.residues.com, 2012. 11. F.G. Chen and A.J. Osteraas, “Electro- chemical dendrite formation during corrosion of connector leads,” Electronic Packaging and Cor- Rajan Ambat is a professor of rosion in Microelectronics, pp. 175-184, 1987. Materials and Surface Engineering, 12. M. Kahn et al., “Ceramic Capacitor Tech- Department of Mechanical nology,” Electronic Ceramics, Edited by L.M. Engineering, Technical University of Levinson, New York, USA: Marcel Dekker, pp. Denmark. To contact him, click here. 191–275, 1988.

28 SMT Magazine • April 2014 gallery online to view Visit the photo over 100 images ONLINE AUCTION Former Assets of Blackberry: Unprecedented Multi-Million Dollar Offering of Late Model SMT Equipment, Including: (2) Complete Fuji NXT Lines Sale: Wednesday, April 16, 8:00am EDT

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Forensics Uncovers Elusive Defects and Saves PCB Designs

by Zulki Khan tems. Most of those used to be larger, desktop NexLogic models a few years ago. However, with recent advances in electronics technologies, various markets are demanding smaller products and Summary: Products and their supporting PCBs systems with the same or greater functionality and packages have shrunk so much that it is con- than their larger ancestors. siderably challenging to detect extremely small problems. But a forensic approach can help uncover defects that traditional methods may miss.

Can something as tiny as a micro-CSP-pack- aged device, as shown in Figure 1, be the cause of a PCB design defect or its complete failure? As you can see, this tiny package is as small, or even a bit smaller than the letter “L” in the word “Liberty” that is printed on the dime. That’s only part of the story. The other part is you and your CM or EMS provider have no clue that’s where the defect lies, and worse, even if you guessed that the micro-CSP-packaged de- vice posed the problem, you couldn’t find it because it is so elusive and so extraordinarily small. Today, OEMs are increasingly moving to- Figure 1: MicroCSP compared to SOT 23 package ward smaller, more portable products and sys- on a U.S. dime.

30 SMT Magazine • April 2014

Feature forensics uncovers elusive defects and saves pcb designs continues

As a result, semiconductor and electronics • Head-on-pillow defect in assembly suppliers are constantly shrinking their prod- (Figure 5) ucts and adding more functionality to comply • Contaminated plating with air gaps on with market demands. For CMs and EMS pro- an ENIG PCB surface (Figure 6) viders, it means moving toward smaller form- factor boards populated with such advanced, Detecting Elusive Flaws and Defects but smaller component and device packaging as An OEM might be completely unaware of micro-BGAs, micro-CSPs, package-on-package a small defect or flaw that crept in during as- (PoP), 01005s, and others. sembly or was inadvertently included during design/layout. In a number of cases, OEMs basi- Finding the Defect and Saving the Design cally throw up their hands and give up because Conventional inspection methodologies they simply cannot find the problem; they start on the assembly floor include using advanced all over again, thus sacrificing thousands of dol- X-ray and automatic optical inspection or AOI lars. and continue to be at the forefront for most But if there’s an assembly error or even a PCB designs. miscue after the design is sent to manufactur- Yet, because these advanced inspection and ing, forensics is standing by to uncover those analysis systems aren’t able to deliver, a new- potentially unsolvable issues that convention- er form of inspection is making its presence al inspection failed to catch and unwittingly known in our industry. We call the new form passed. Some of these defects could be hard to forensic analysis. find and some are intermittent, which makes it Here are just a few examples of the extremely difficult to catch or duplicate them for doing small flaws and defects that forensics can locate. the root cause analysis. Take a PoP-populated PCB, for example. • Micro hairline crack in a BGA ball You determine that the pass rate and yields are (Figure 2) extremely low; the product is not performing • Voids due to air gaps created inside the or is failing. A cross-section view of the PoP is solder due to poor plating (Figure 3) taken to provide physical evidence and a root • Trapped air bubbles between via walls cause of the failure mode. Plus, the cross-sec- (Figure 4) tion shows the failure site location, and then isolates it from suspected versus non-suspected devices. As shown in Figure 5, two BGA balls

Figure 2. Figure 3.

32 SMT Magazine • April 2014

Feature forensics uncovers elusive defects and saves pcb designs continues

Figure 4.

Figure 5. Figure 6. are shown with a head-on-pillow defect, which to start their detective work. Cross-sectioning causes an intermittent connection. An inter- is a key part of this failure analysis. It provides mittent connection refers to a faulty connec- the physical evidence of failure mode and site tion existing between and among a BGA’s balls. location along with empirical measurement, as This is among the top and most prevalent issues well as isolates suspected versus non-suspected associated with BGAs and micro-BGAs, which is devices. preventable if OEMs select their EMS providers Forensic analysis uncovers an innumerable properly with due diligence. number of defects or failures that conventional Forensics is also known as “destructive in- inspection cannot. At the board level, it inves- spection.” In this case, an assembled board is tigates thickness of Cu plating on the through- cut apart along with its components so that in- holes and vias; if it’s a gold immersion surface spectors can look inside it via SEM or scanning board, it verifies out the thickness of the gold electron microscope and/or cross-section image plating to determine whether or not the ade-

34 SMT Magazine • April 2014

Feature forensics uncovers elusive defects and saves pcb designs continues quate amount of gold has been deposited, as per or failures could be due to organic, metallic or fabrication specs. any other kind, like solder joint detachment On an electroless-nickel immersion gold and even tin whisker growth, which at times (ENIG) surface board, forensic analysis provides AOI and X-ray don’t recognize, because it is de- the assurances the nickel—which is the base veloped over time and may not be present at plating before the gold is deposited— the time of initial assembly. is performing according to the Also, in some cases, the sol- spec sheet. Also, it pinpoints in- der bridging of flip chip devic- finitesimally minute fractures Solder thermal fatigue es have leakage failures. Due within solder joints as well as occurs in “the field when to solder or flux, especially cracks within a via hole barrel. when the device uses under- These details are not visible at the product is used in fill, a flip chip device leaks the 300–400x magnification excessive heat, especially current after thermal cycling. level, but with SEM, those de- containing BGAs or flip Therefore, current doesn’t get tails are magnified upwards to to the proper ball of the BGA the 2,000x level. Plus, in some chip devices. Those fatigue and a non-acceptable noise instances, black pads or the cracks begin slowly and creeps into the design at cer- acute corrosion of a board’s over time grow to get tain levels. Destructive anal- nickel-plating layer can be detached from the surface ysis or forensics via SEM can viewed very clearly. reveal the voids due to the As mentioned above, in- of the board due to the fact that air gaps are created termittent connections rep- excessive heat. inside the solder due to poor resent a major issue associated plating, as shown in Figure 3. with BGAs, micro-BGAs and PoP, After thermal cycling, a which are widely used in today’s high-powered optical microscope PCBs. Forensic analysis locates these inter-me- can be used to verify other issues, such as de- tallic failures. It can determine the distance be”- lamination or bulk solder extrusion. As a result tween gold plating and the solder ball in the of thermal cycling, a solder can leak out to such event BGA balls are detached after assembly. areas as vias, thereby reducing the amount of These are the occasions where BGA is not work- solder needed to optimize a BGA’s solder joint. ing properly unless you press hard on the de- vice and then it starts working again. Summary Forensics also gets a good view of solder OEMs are assured their next-generation thermal fatigue when testing for solder joint designs can receive the utmost advanced in- failure. Solder thermal fatigue occurs in the field spection now that conventional technologies when the product is used in excessive heat, es- partner with forensics analysis to perform the pecially containing BGAs or flip chip devices. most comprehensive inspection possible. Even Those fatigue cracks begin slowly and over time as the industry moves to smaller form factors grow to get detached from the surface of the and three to four packages are mounted on top board due to the excessive heat. This is espe- of each other, OEM concern over maintaining cially true if the BGA isn’t designed properly or high reliability for their systems and sub-sys- if it’s an analog circuit and heat dissipation isn’t tems is considerably alleviated thanks to both incorporated at the board design level. In some conventional and forensics inspections. SMT cases, there can exist a coefficient of thermal ex- pansion (CTE) mismatch between packages that Zulki Khan is the founder and contributes to this failure. president of NexLogic Technolo- Sometimes pinpointing defects like this us- gies, Inc. To read past columns, or ing conventional AOI and X-ray may or may to contact the author, click here. not identify all solder fatigue failures associated with a given package. For instance, the failure

36 SMT Magazine • April 2014

IPC APEX EXPO 2014: The Opening Keynote Session by Peter Starkey Mitchell began by I-Connect007 Technical Editor taking a few minutes to commend the success of Images contributed by Michael Weinhold the new IPC Validation Services initiative, and to present a certificate to IEC Electronics as the first company to be admitted to the Qualified Manu- Steve Pudles facturers Listing. After ac- knowledging the winners of the Best Technical Papers awards, Mitchell handed off to IPC Chairman Steve Pudles, who took the stage to introduce the keynote present- er, Dr. Peter Diamandis, co-founder and chair- man of the X-Prize Foundation and co-founder of Singularity University. Dr. Diamandis’ provocative and inspira- We will rock you! A grand Las Vegas opening tional presentation, “Creating a World of Abun- to the 2014 IPC APEX EXPO included a spectac- dance: Exponential Technologies Causing Dis- ular show by dance troupe Speed of Life, com- ruptive Innovations,” contained some some- plete with silver paint, angel wings, rollerblades times frightening observations on the poten- and stilts. The approximately five-minute per- tial for future technology and other emerging formance heralded the appearance of IPC Presi- market forces to dramatically influence living dent John Mitchell, who welcomed a packed standards. Compared with human society’s his- house in the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, torical “local and linear” process of communi- and declared the event’s theme: New Ideas for cation and development, where progress hap- New Horizons. pened one step at a time, and the transfer of knowledge was limited by the distance a man could walk in a day, we are now in a world where progress is happening exponentially, and knowledge can be transferred anywhere in the world in a split second. He demonstrated how, in a company, these changes were accelerating disruptive stress—or disruptive opportunity de- pending on management’s attitude to innova- tion. Agility is critically important. Companies commonly have experts who effectively block innovation by finding lots of ways an objec- tive could not be achieved, and Dr. Diamandis despaired of organisations that start off with a John Mitchell

38 SMT Magazine • April 2014 mission and then back off because they decide biology to the extent that printed DNA mole- it is too risky. cules have been produced. Nominating Kodak as the definitive example It was clear that the rate of innovation is of a company worth billions that failed to rec- exploding, and innovation is coming from ev- ognise the disruptive opportunity presented by erywhere. True breakthroughs generally come the digital camera in 1996—actually invented from unexpected directions. Dr. Diamandis by one of its own people—and found itself over- made it plain that any company relying only taken by new technology and bankrupt in 2012, on innovation from within was probably going Dr. Diamandis noted that in contrast, in 2012, nowhere and that to limit risk was to accept a Facebook made a multi-billion-dollar takeover future of, at best, incremental improvement. of Instagram, a young company of 13 employ- Diamandis is a great believer in crowd- ees. The life-span of a typical company is now sourcing. Lindberg flew the Atlantic to claim a of the order of 15 years, and he predicted that $25,000 prize. Diamandis had a longstanding 40% of existing Fortune 500 companies would ambition to get into space. How? By throwing be out of business within the next 10 years. out the challenge to the world and offering a Returning to the theme of local-and-linear $10 million X-Prize as the incentive, which re- thinking, Dr. Diamandis explained the phi- sulted in 26 teams spending a total of $100 mil- losophy of Singularity University in the study lion. “Set a target and challenge the world to of exponential technology—with the example solve the problem. Winner takes all—no second that thirty linear steps would gain a distance prizes!” He believes the world’s biggest prob- of thirty metres, whereas thirty exponential lems present the world’s biggest business op- steps would circle the world twenty-six times. portunities. And Moore’s Law exemplified the exponential A question from the floor related to school- growth in computing power, to almost inesti- children having little interest in taking up ca- mable levels in the future. reers in science and engineering: How to inspire Near-infinite computing power could open them? Dr. Diamandis suggested the answer was up new dimensions in artificial intelligence— to make the scientists and engineers the rock the ability to look beyond plain logic, even rec- stars, and to encourage the young people to per- ognise the subtleties of irony, cynicism and hu- ceive them as role models. The question he posed mour, and understand what answer is relevant. was, “How about a competition for the youngest Couple this with robotics, where a paradigm person ever to travel to the space station?” change is well underway, and truly intelligent What is the next X-Prize challenge? Health- machines are already a reality, as demonstrat- care—to develop a hand-held universal medical ed in Dr. Diamandis’ video of the view from diagnostic device. And after that, to achieve glob- the passenger seat as al literacy, even in the most Google’s autonomous impoverished areas. car negotiated a sla- Dr. Diamandis’ closed lom course at high by declaring, “The only speed. 3D printing is constant is change, and another area of ex- the rate of change is in- ponential develop- creasing. The next twenty ment, with amazing years are going to be trans- engineering capabili- formational. There’s lots ties. Breakthroughs in of change ahead, and the genome sequencing rate of change is increas- have enabled devel- ing beyond our ability to opments in synthetic project it!” Dr. Peter Diamandis

April 2014 • SMT Magazine 39 IPC APEX EXPO 2014: Publisher’s Report by Ray Rasmussen The Printed Circuit Handbook, 7th Edition is in I-Connect007 the works. Editor Clyde Coombs came out of retirement to tackle the latest update of the PCB industry bible. First published in 1967, Coombs A sold-out show, record conference atten- says this edition will likely contain up to 20% dance and solid floor visitors made for a good new content with all chapters getting signifi- show and conference at this year’s IPC APEX cant updates, as needed, from some of the in- EXPO in Las Vegas. dustry’s leading experts. It’s a labor of love for Here are some of my highlights. Coombs, who spent much of his career at HP Mentor introduced a major new software in their PCB facilities. He says the book effort suite designed to remove the information bar- helps him stay connected with the industry. riers created by disparate systems. The software Printed electronics, in its first-ever all-day streamlines the design-to-fab-to-assembly in- session at an IPC event, offered a series of pre- formation flow. Not being a user of software sentations from materials suppliers as well as PE for design, fab or assembly, I can’t speak to the makers, demonstrating the interest this tech- software’s effectiveness but, conceptually, it’s a nology is generating. In addition to the confer- great idea and one that’s been talked about for ence, an entire day was dedicated to standards years. In fact, IPC hosted a meeting over a de- development efforts. Marc Carter stated that cade ago, which was well attended, and dealt IPC is working with organizations around the with the communications issues in the supply globe to develop the standards needed for this chain. Think of how far along we’d be if that rapidly evolving industry. Currently, all of the effort had gained traction. It’s definitely a move standards IPC is working on are co-authored in the right direction. with JPCA. At this point in time, IPC is a leader in the development of PE standards for PE ma- terials. Walt Custer gave quite an upbeat assessment in his state-of-the-market report. All indications point to a year of good industry growth for most regions. The U.S. should see solid growth while Europe may see some growth, but will likely re- main flat. Of course, one area of concern is the situation in the Ukraine. Although not big elec- tronics industry players (Ukraine and Russia), the crisis could rattle markets around the world. The sold-out show itself was very good; ex- hibitors were pretty happy. Their feelings were likely a direct result of the conference atten- dance, which translated into solid show-floor attendance. It will interesting to see how it goes next year when we’re back in San Diego.

40 SMT Magazine • April 2014

Editor’s Notes IPC APEX EXPO by Lisa Lucke data file formats, the future of flex, and more. If Managing Editor, The PCB Magazine you haven’t seen it yet, check out our Real Time Co-Managing Editor, SMT Magazine with... video index by clicking here. Most of the video interviews and panels are viewable now, and in the coming days, weeks and months, If you attended IPC APEX EXPO 2014 in these videos will be featured in our newsletters Las Vegas last week, you’ll know that it was a and monthly magazines, and of course on our packed house for the most part, and offered website. To subscribe to any of our publications, something for everyone, from equipment on click here. the show floor (many with “SOLD” signs) to See you in San Diego in 2015! technical conferences, standards meetings and of course, our Real Time with… video program. Our I-Connect007 team churned out more than 130 interviews with industry leaders, reps, fab- ricators, and designers, along with a handful of panel discussions that featured a moderated format aimed at generating lively discussion on key issues facing the industry, like onshoring,

42 SMT Magazine • April 2014

Designers Step up at Design Forum by Andy Shaughnessy doing a video interview. Yaslak was one of the Managing Editor, The PCB design Magazine younger designers at the Design Forum, but he’s Co-Managing Editor, SMT Magazine a heavy hitter; he took home first place honors at the 2012 Mentor Technology Awards for a 26-lay- er HDI board. He’s definitely someone to watch After two years in San Diego, the Design Fo- and we look forward to seeing him next year if rum was back on familiar turf this year as IPC he’s able to make the long journey again. APEX EXPO returned to Mandalay Bay Hotel and When the forum was over, most speakers and Convention Center in Las Vegas. attendees trooped over to Rainer Thuringer’s Pro- Forum speakers included Greg Munie of IPC, fessional Development class on optimizing high- Karen McConnell of Northrop Grumman, Gary speed design. Thuringer is chairman of the FED, Carter of Fujitsu, Dieter Bergman of IPC, Mark a German organization that represents electron- Laing of Mentor Graphics, Humair Mandavia of ics designers and manufacturers. With a Ph.D. Zuken USA, and Ben Jordan of Altium. in physics, Thuringer has a unique viewpoint. Although busy doing our Real Time with… He stresses the critical demand for finding “new video interviews much of the time, I managed to blood,” as well as the EMS community’s need to catch some of the sessions. Carter’s discussion of focus upstream, on the challenges facing PCB de- the IPC-2581 data transfer standard was well re- signers and design engineers. ceived, and, of course, it led to some good back- Altium’s Ben Jordan also moderated our pan- and-forth during the Q&A period. el discussion on data transfer standards, which While sitting in on the Design Forum, Guest is always a contentious topic. As Ucamco’s Karel Editor Kelly Dack met first-time attendee Halil Tavernier joked beforehand, “No daggers?” Tav- Yaslak, a PCB designer with Aselsan, a defense ernier’s company owns the Gerber standard, and company in Ankara, Turkey. We talked him into he joined Mentor’s Dave Wiens, who represented

44 SMT Magazine • April 2014

Designers Step up at Design Forum Continues

ODB++, and Hemant Shah of Cadence Design packed all week, with interviews set for every 15 Systems, who is active in developing the IPC- minutes. And we saw solid traffic in the aisles the 2581 standard. first two days, and OK traffic on the last day. Next These panelists kept the marketing to a mini- year, the show moves back to (hopefully) sunny mum and addressed the facts surrounding this San Diego. See you in the Gaslamp Quarter! hot-button issue. We shot a variety of these pan- els, but the data standard panel drew the biggest crowd; each format attracted its own entourage. But no panelists were injured during the filming of this panel. In other news, Rick Hartley announced that he is really, truly retiring from L-3 Avionics this year. But he’ll continue to teach design classes and stay active in the PCB community. He just won’t have to get up to an alarm clock anymore, which sounds like a plan. Overall, the Design Forum and IPC APEX EXPO went off without a hitch. Our booth was Ben Jordan and Andy Shaughnessy

46 SMT Magazine • April 2014

48 SMT Magazine • April 2014 April 2014 • SMT Magazine 49 50 SMT Magazine • April 2014 April 2014 • SMT Magazine 51 Feature Conformal Coating over No-Clean Flux

by Karl Seelig and Timothy O’Neill These concerns, along with the need to im- AIM plement a tin whisker mitigation strategy and/ or increase environmental tolerance, have led to the conundrum of applying conformal coat- SUMMARY: As the proliferation of modern-day elec- ing over no-clean residues. tronics continues to drive miniaturization and func- The AIM R&D team has united with OEM tionality, electronic designers and assemblers face electronics and conformal coating manufac- the issue of environmental exposure and uncom- turers in an attempt to characterize the differ- mon applications never previously contemplated. ent coating technologies currently available. In this study, various coating materials were tested This reality, coupled with the goal of reduc- with different chemistries of no-clean fluxes. ing the environmental and health implications Results demonstrate possible combinations of the production and disposal of these devices, meeting the mission profile of the assembly has forced manufacturers to reconsider the ma- with consideration for the assemblers’ capabili- terials used in production. ties and cost objectives. Furthermore, the need to increase package Conformal coating of PCBs has garnered se- density and reduce costs has led to the rapid de- rious attention in all phases of PCB design and ployment of leadless packages such as the QFN, manufacturing. Manufacturers and engineers POP, LGA, and micro-BGA. In many cases, the industry-wide are exploring the capabilities, manufacturers of these devices will recommend costs, and limitations of this technique. The the use of no-clean fluxes due to concerns over driving factor is the deployment of electronics the ability to consistently remove flux residues into more diverse and harsh environments as from under and around these devices. demand for functionality and interoperability

52 SMT Magazine • April 2014

Feature conformal coating over no-clean flux continues grows. These systems are being introduced to ers are coating over no-clean flux residues for conditions that would have been considered a variety of reasons. The most common being: unsuitable for electronics a short time ago, in- cluding condensing environments and dust • Cost of cleaning environments. Some of the known benefits of • Throughput requirements coating include: • Incomplete removal of ionic contamination under and around • Reducing entrapped surface low-standoff devices contamination to contact power or • Tin whisker mitigation ground areas • Tin whisker mitigation Analyzing final working environment is cru- cial to a successful outcome and should be the Having engaged multiple conformal coat- first consideration in determining the appro- ing manufacturers, there is a common recom- priate assembly process. One should determine mendation for the application of conformal if applying coating will: a) achieve the desired coating; that is that the substrate be cleaned outcome b) be practical given the nature of the prior to application, regardless of the type of assembly and the assembler’s capabilities. As- coating to be applied. These same manufactur- suming coating is appropriate the materials to ers will also admit that many of their custom- be used need to be vetted.

Charts 1-5.

54 SMT Magazine • April 2014

Feature conformal coating over no-clean flux continues

In this study, we will address the find- All of the samples tested passed IPC SIR test- ings of an in-depth analysis of various types ing without issue. An example of the data gen- of conformal coatings and how they perform erated found below: in combination with a variety of no-clean flux residues. Pass-Fail Criteria IPC J-STD-004B §3.4.1.4.1 The following industry test standards were • All measurements on all test patterns applied: shall be exceed the 100 MΩ • No evidence electrochemical migration • IPC J-Std-004 SIR testing that reduces conductor spacing by more • IPC CC-830 - Qualification and than 20%. No corrosion of the conductors Performance of Electrical Insulating Compound for Printed Wiring Assemblies Test Results • ASTM – D3359 - Standard Test Methods 1. Test data, chart attached, pass for Measuring Adhesion by Tape Test 2. Presence of dendrites: No 3. Maximum percent reduction of The three standards applied to this study will spacing: 0%. determine the SIR values and adhesion prop- 4. Presence of discoloration between erties of each material in combination. These conductors: No figures were compared with supplier-provided 5. Presence of water spots: No data on the individual materials to determine 6. Presence of subsurface metal migration: No if characteristics were measurably enhanced or degraded when combined. The classes of con- Original test data available upon request. formal coating materials tested are outlined in Charts 1-5. Results are shown in Charts 6–8:

Chart 6: “L” UV Cure Coated, “Paste 54” (Sn-Pb), “Control”.

56 SMT Magazine • April 2014 Feature

conformal coating over no-clean flux continues

Chart 7: “H” UV Cure Coated, “Paste 54” (SAC305), Control.

Chart 8: “H” UV Cure Coated, “Paste 54” (Sn-Pb), Control.

April 2014 • SMT Magazine 57 Feature conformal coating over no-clean flux continues

Adhesion testing/thermal shock testing was coating is directly correlated to cold tempera- originally conducted on Practical Component ture failure. The CTE mismatch of the residue SABER test assemblies; however, after multiple and a high modulus coating were enough to tests it was determined that the required data fracture the cold hardened flux residue. Flux could be collected using standard B-24 test cou- medium used in solder paste is typically a resin- pons. In addition to a considerable cost sav- based material and after reflow, the residue is ings, it eliminated variables that could have hard. The colder the environment is, the harder clouded the results including the presence of the residue. To test this theory, we varied the ionics, mold release agents and coating thick- residue and the coatings using harder and softer ness variability. materials. UV curable silicone having the low- The findings of the adhesion testing yielded est modulus of the materials tested and UV cure both favorable and unexpected results. The bal- urethane the highest. We also tested a paste that ance of this work focuses on solder paste. We is not resin based with residue that is waxy did not test wire solder residues and all liquid rather than hard. As depicted below, reducing fluxes where the conformal coating wet and ad- the modulus of either the coating or the resi- hered to the substrate at the time of coating/ due eliminated the delamination failure. curing passed all subsequent tests. We also noted that solvent-based acrylic Initial testing of thermal shock at -60°C coatings outperformed UV cured urethane ma- +125°C showed gross delamination. Initially, it terials although it was product specific. It is was thought the failure was due to movement believed that the solvent would facilitate a more of the flux residue having softened at 125°C. intimate bond between the residue and the coat- Further examination revealed that there was a ing lessening the adverse effect of the CTE. cohesive failure of the flux residue, wherein the We went a step further to determine what the flux remained firmly adhered to the PCB sub- lowest temperature a resin-based no-clean paste strate and to the coating, but failed internally and acrylic or acrylate/urethane coating can (Figure 10). This phenomenon was present on withstand before suffering delamination. The all coatings in varying degrees (other than sili- results of these tests were scattered, but none of cone). In general, UV materials performed the the material sets were capable of withstanding worst, with solvent-based acrylics better and more than -35°C for more than 10 cycles. silicones the best, with no delamination. A With this information, it would seem the failure was considered any evidence of delami- simple solution to this problem would be to in- nation. It was not determined if delaminated corporate a softer residue solder paste to remedy coating that remained contiguous was still ef- the delamination issue. Unfortunately, there is fective in protecting the underlying substrate. a significant impact to the SIR characteristics as Ultimately, we found the modulus of the detailed below in Figure 1.

UV Curable Urethane paste paste paste Hybrids TG A B C Comment A 40 1 1 1 complete delamination, combination with paste C was the worst B 25 3 1 4 Delamination but not global C 3 4 3 4 Wetting issues, slight delamination D -60 5 5 5 perfect, no delamination Figure 1: Moisture absorption after conformal coat. Figure 2: Results: 1 to 5 (worst to best).

58 SMT Magazine • April 2014

Feature conformal coating over no-clean flux continues

However, if the solder paste is a low/no resi- due nitrogen reflow solder paste delamination does not occur. The photographs in Figures 8–13 identify the hard flux issue with delamination of a hard- er urethane coating. Conformal coatings are not hermetic with all the materials tested having varying degrees of moisture vapor transmission. In this case, whereas moisture enters the coating, the softer residue solder paste absorbs the moisture and Figure 3: Profile. creates a “pressure cooker” of corrosion and electrical failures (Figure 15). The results indicated that the silicon did Pictured in Figure 14 are SIR test results not delaminate. Delamination is easy to see showing the beginnings of dendrites. These in the test as shown in the following images. were run in 85°C/85Rh. SIR testing was also run The following profile was used. at 40°C and 90 Rh. This test showed less failures

Figure 4: Pre-shock. Figure 5: Paste 55 Post-T shock delamination.

Figure 6: Paste 16 (low/no residue) pre-T shock. Figure 7: Paste 16 post-T shock/no defects.

60 SMT Magazine • April 2014

Feature conformal coating over no-clean flux continues

Figure 8: Delaminated after thermal shock testing. Figure 9: Delamination lifting off board.

Figure 10: The crystal flux residue left on the board. Figure 11: Crystal flux residue stuck to the coating.

Figure 12: Close up of delamination. Figure 13: Close up of delamination.

62 SMT Magazine • April 2014 Feature

conformal coating over no-clean flux continues

Figure 14: IPC 2.6.3.7 SIR test (paste material coated with conformal coating).

Figure 15: Comb pattern with dendrites. Figure 16: Black light/good adhesion.

compared to the 85°C/ 85Rh. Figure 15 shows of residues and available coatings would be too a comb pattern that was run at 85°C/85Rh. large to contemplate. The data has been edited The dendrites are starting to grow. Adhesion to to present key findings of collected informa- board and flux residues can also be determined tion and provide practical guidance for engi- by using a crosshatch cut and applying tape to neers considering deploying this technique for check adhesion as shown in Figures 16 and 17. their assemblies. Based on our findings, we have concluded Conclusion that conformal coatings can safely be used over This article is a consolidation of hundreds no-clean flux chemistry for many types of as- of tests and material combinations. The matrix semblies. It is imperative that compatibility

April 2014 • SMT Magazine 63 Feature conformal coating over no-clean flux continues

assessment of water soluble versus no clean in these applications consistently favors no clean. The cost savings in decommissioning the wash process and equipment is another major reason for migrating to no-clean chemistries. Finally, as conformal coating continues to be the only accepted practice for tin whisker mitigation, along with the looming expiration of the RoHS exemption, we predict no-clean chemistries and the subsequent coating of the resulting residues will become increasingly prevalent over time. SMT

Figure 17: White light/good adhesion. Karl Seelig is vice president of tech- nology at AIM Solder. He can be reached at [email protected]. testing be performed to ensure the coating provides the intended protection and meets the mission profile of the assembly. Tim O’Neill is regional manager The incorporation of low-standoff devices at AIM. He can be reached at and the ability to completely remove water [email protected]. soluble organic residues is driving more assem- blers to consider a no-clean process. The risk

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64 SMT Magazine • April 2014

SMTonline Market News Highlights

U.S. Circuit Board & Component 3D Printing Market Experiencing Manufacturing Report Rapid Growth Despite revenue declines in almost every year of The 3D printing market has seen rapid growth the last five years, robust growth in 2010, due to in recent years due to its increasing applications a rebound in demand, led to an expected average across different sectors Such as consumer products annual growth of 1.6%; however, revenue is still and electronics, automotive, medical, industrial, expected to decline 2.7% in 2014, hitting $43.9 and aerospace. Decreasing cost of 3D printers and billion. its increasing adoption across the government and education sectors is further expected to spur the February Conference Board Employment demand in the coming years. Trends Index Up “February’s job report and the ongoing improve- IDC: PC Shipments See Continued ment in the Employment Trends Index should pro- Decline Through 2018 vide some relief for those concerned about weak- Worldwide PC shipments fell by -9.8% in 2013, ness in the U.S. economy and labor market,” said slightly better than a projected decline of -10.1%, Gad Levanon, director of Macroeconomic Research but still the most severe contraction on record, at The Conference Board. “ according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker. Fourth quar- Healthcare Cloud Computing Market: ter results were slightly better than expected, but $6.5B by 2018 the outlook for emerging markets has deteriorated This report studies the North American healthcare as competition from other devices and economic cloud computing market over the forecast period of pressures mount. 2013–2018. This market was valued at $1.75 mil- lion in 2013 and is poised to grow at a CAGR of Wearable Devices Market to Reach 29.8% from 2013–2018, to reach $6.45 million by $30.2B in 2018 2018. BCC Research reveals in its new report, “Wearable Computing: Technologies, Applications, and Global Global 3D Printing Market: Markets,” the global market for wearable comput- CAGR of 16.8% by 2019 ing devices is expected to grow to $30.2 billion by According to a new market report published by 2018, with a five-year compound annual growth Transparency Market Research Global 3D printing rate (CAGR) of 43.4%. (Polyjet, FDM, SLS, SLA) Market—Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 2013– Growth of 65% for Digital Power 2019, the global 3D printing market was worth U.S. Supplies & Power ICs $2.2 million in 2012 and is expected to reach U.S. The global market for digital power is undergoing $7.24 million in 2019, growing at a CAGR of 16.8% explosive growth, with revenues for digital power from 2013–2019. supplies and digital power integrated circuits (ICs) each projected to jump almost 65% in 2014, ac- Mobile DRAM Revenue Down cording to a new report from IHS Technology. Slightly in 4Q13 The mobile memory industry’s worldwide rev- Global Lithium-Ion Battery Market enue reached $3.039 billion in the fourth quar- Soars to $24.2B ter of 2013, bringing the yearly total to $11.826 Lithium-ion battery is used in a variety of markets, billion, representing 34.3% of DRAM industry such as consumer electronics, automotive, and value. Looking ahead to the first quarter of 2014, industrial. Trends are favorable for growth across a 7.4% QoQ decrease in smartphone shipments the industry; however, significant differences in is forecast, while tablet sales are expected to be growth potential among the application markets weak as well. and regions exist.

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Legendary manufacturing, service and engineering. www.dragoncircuits.com | [email protected] | 972.790.7610 column kramer on components Protecting Your Supply Chain from Counterfeits and Liability

by Todd Kramer Secure Components llc

For a few years now, it has been clear that many contractors are not adding new suppli- ers to their approved vendors’ lists the way they once did. In adopting this policy, they fail to recognize the value of trustworthy, indepen- dent distributors. By neglecting the advantages that independent distributors can offer to the supply chain, these firms potentially do them- selves a grave disservice. Despite contemporary Figure 1: SAE International—the ultimate rhetoric, trustworthy independent distributors knowledge source for mobility engineering. are an essential part of the landscape of modern procurement. In the procurement departments of modern of two options when doing so: They can pur- firms, it is common knowledge that line-down chase through “trusted suppliers” or through situations do occur. While, in a perfect world, suppliers that have not been audited by either this would not be the case, it is an unfortunate their organization or any accredited third-party business reality. When OEMs, OCMs, and au- assessments. For the purposes of this column, thorized distributors cannot provide parts, pro- the latter category of distributors will be termed curement personnel are faced with a few choic- “un-vetted suppliers,” as they have not been es. They can go without procuring components, vetted by a government organization, nor have leading to slowing or even halting production. they been certified to an internationally accred- Alternatively, they can attempt to locate and ited counterfeit avoidance standard. The use purchase the needed parts on the open market of these un-vetted suppliers could potentially from independent distributors, choosing one come with serious consequences. Recognizing

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CANDOR INDUSTRIES, INC. ADVANCED PCB SOLUTIONS www.candorind.com | [email protected] | (416) 736-6306 kramer on components protecting your supply chain from counterfeits and liability continues the impact of utilizing such suppliers, in De- Recommended Practice documents. Addition- cember of 2011, the National Defense Authori- ally, the Defense Logistics Agency’s Qualified zation Act (NDAA), Section 818 was signed into Testing Suppliers List (QTSL) contains suppliers law. This law requires defense contractors and who have been audited and approved by the subcontractors to: DLA to sell microcircuits directly to them, in “Establish qualification requirements…pur- which components are only available from an suant to which the Department may identify “other than authorized” source of supply. trusted suppliers that have appropriate policies There is no doubt the term trusted supplier and procedures in place to detect and avoid needs to be better defined—an industry-wide counterfeit electronic parts and suspect coun- standard definition would be the ideal. Howev- terfeit electronic parts[1].” er, as such a definition has not yet been provid- Additionally, in situations where OEMs, ed by any regulatory organization. Procurement OCMs, and authorized distributors are unable professionals must use the available resources to to supply needed parts, NDAA Section 818 au- develop an understanding of who is a trusted thorizes, “department contractors and subcon- supplier. This is very important, as failure to use tractors to identify and use additional trusted a trusted supplier can result in serious liability. suppliers, provided that— Both the AS5553-A and AS6081 Counterfeit Avoidance Standards have been promulgated (i) The standards and processes for on an international level and adopted by the identifying such trusted suppliers DoD. AS5553-A pertains specifically to manu- comply with established industry facturers who engage independent distributors standards; to procure components that are not available (ii) The contractor or subcontractor from the original manufacturer or their autho- assumes responsibility for the rized distributor. AS6081 pertains to the man- authenticity of parts provided by ner and process by which independent distribu- such suppliers as provided in tors go about procuring parts from other than paragraph (2); and authorized sources. (iii) The selection of such trusted suppliers A manufacturer who is certified to AS5553- is subject to review and audit by A has developed and demonstrated a counter- appropriate Department officials[2].” feit avoidance plan which has been subject to rigorous review by an independent certifying After Section 818 was signed into law in body. An independent distributor who is certi- December of 2011, many contractors and sub- fied to AS6081 has similarly demonstrated an contractors questioned whether independent adoption of and adherence to the robust coun- distributors still had a place in the aerospace in- terfeit avoidance standard. AS6081 includes dustry. With the passing of this new law which a standardized table, detailing the sample size required the use of trusted suppliers, could inde- and degree of authenticity testing required for pendent distributors still be used? If they were, components procured from other than autho- how would a firm be able to contend that the rized sources. independent distributor could safely be consid- Since AS5553-A and AS6081 have been ered a trusted supplier? adopted by the DoD, it stands to reason that While this law is a step in the right direction manufacturers who rely on contractors who are with regard to counterfeit mitigation, it contains certified to AS5553-A and distributors who are a serious ambiguity: the term “trusted supplier” certified to AS6081 have met the trusted suppli- is left undefined. This failure to define it cre- ers threshold. ated confusion, which is one of the last things Importantly, Section B.1.3.2 of AS5553- that the industry needs at the moment. In order A states that “using the results of audits per- to better interpret the term, one can consult a formed by other private sector or Government number of industry resources, such as the SAE organizations is an acceptable alternative to sec- International AS6081, AS5553-A and ARP6178 ond- or third-party auditing provided the audit-

70 SMT Magazine • April 2014 kramer on components

protecting your supply chain from counterfeits and liability continues ing process, attributes, and auditor The risk assessment tool “was de- qualifications are evaluated and veloped from best practices identi- deemed adequate to assure com- fied by procuring organizations pliance with this document and was developed with the and/or other invoked require- intent of supplementing the ments.” The ability to rely on information and requirements audits performed by third par- of AS5553-A and AS6081 aero- ties accomplishes two impor- space standards[3].” ARP6178 tant things. First, it gives the encourages on-site audits of manufacturer confidence that potential suppliers and includes the independent distributor they a Pre-Visit Assessment Survey, have engaged and trusted to find which can be used as an initial components has been vetted and gauge to determine whether a certified by a third party. Second, Figure 2: potential supplier warrants a site it relieves the manufacturer of the The DoD has adopted visit. In sum, ARP6178 is a tool cost and burden of sending their SAE AS6081 & AS5553-A. which can be used to help deter- audit team to each and every sup- mine whether a potential sup- plier they use. plier merits consideration as a trusted supplier. Another place industry can look to in their Finally, industry should supplement their search to work exclusively with trusted suppli- use of objective tools and standards like those ers is the aforementioned QTSL program, which mentioned above with some common sense. works in a fashion similar to AS6081 and also Highly trustworthy independent distributors requires that components be authenticated via tend to act in a transparent fashion, keep- testing. DLA Land & Maritime has conducted ing their customers informed throughout the on-site audits of independent distributors to purchasing process. When looking for a trust- determine which sources of supply have the worthy independent distributor, transparen- quality management system, counterfeit avoid- cy and the willingness to act as a partner to ance plan and infrastructure in place to keep your purchasing and sourcing teams, rather counterfeit components out of its supply chain. than a simple broker, are important qualities As of this writing, 14 independent dis- to consider. SMT tributors have been qualified by DLA for QTSL. Manufacturers seeking to comply with NDAA References: Section 818 could turn to this list to satisfy 1. NDAA Section 818 C.3.C. the trusted supplier requirement of the law by 2. NDAA Section 818 C.3.D. working with QTSL-approved suppliers. Recall 3. SAE ARP6178, Foreword. that AS5553-A allows manufacturers to use the results of audits performed by private sector or government organizations. Therefore, the Todd Kramer is CEO of Secure prime contractor or manufacturer could utilize Components LLC, an AS6081 & the audit performed by DLA—thereby saving AS9120 certified independent time and money. distributor of electronic and One final tool contractors and manufactur- mechanical components to the ers may use to help determine whether a supplier aerospace, defense, and high- rises to the level of a trusted supplier is the SAE reliability industries. Kramer is an active mem- ARP6178 Fraudulent/Counterfeit Electronic Parts; ber of organizations such as SAE G-19C, the Tool for Risk Assessment of Distributors. This tool current chairman of U.S. National Committee provides a framework for evaluating whether a (USNC/IECQ) and the International Working potential supplier has the requisite quality man- Group 06 (Counterfeit Avoidance). To contact agement system and counterfeit avoidance plan Kramer or to read past columns, click here. in place to protect your supply chain.

April 2014 • SMT Magazine 71 Mil/Aero007 News Highlights

Ducommun Gains TOW Missiles Landscape and Forecasts to 2019” research report Contract from Raytheon to its store. It says the MINT defense industry is ex- Ducommun Incorporated has received a follow-on pected to become one of the most attractive defense award from Raytheon Company to continue provid- markets in review period. The Mexico, Indonesia, ing complex wiring harnesses and printed circuit Nigeria, and Turkey (MINT) region is expected to in- card assemblies for the tube-launched, optically- crease its defense spending from US $40.6 billion to tracked, wireless-guided (TOW) weapon system. The US $61.1 billion over the forecast period, according contract extends the Company’s support of the pro- the new report. gram through 2014. Orbit Reports Sales Drop Nortech’s 17% Sales Rise Driven in Q4, FY 2013 by New Programs Mitchell Binder, president and CEO, stated, “2013 Nortech Systems Incorporated, a leading provider was a difficult year for our company resulting from of full-service EMS, has reported net sales of $29.3 challenging business conditions in the defense indus- million for the fourth quarter ended December 31, try. Like most companies in our industry, including 2013, a 17% increase compared with net sales of large defense prime contractors, as well as short sales $25 million for the fourth quarter of 2012. cycle defense contractors like Orbit, our revenues de- clined from the prior year as reorders on many of our MC Assembly Achieves AS 9100 legacy products were delayed...” Rev C Certification This certification, which provides a common set of Military Communications Market to quality requirements across the global aerospace Reach $30B by 2022 community, accredits MC Assembly’s Quality Man- “Managing bandwidth in increasingly congested agement System compliance to the aerospace re- spectrum will be a key challenge in meeting future quirements to manufacture and service PCB assem- demands for data-centric military communications,” blies, sub-assemblies, and final assemblies. observed Asif Anwar, director of the ADS service. “This is leading to the use of higher frequencies, par- Sypris’ Electronics Group Posts ticularly evident in the military satellite communica- 20% Revenue Drop tions segment with adoption of Ka-band.” Revenue for the Electronics Group was $10 million in the fourth quarter of 2013 compared to $12 mil- DoD Releases 2015 Budget Proposal lion in the prior year period, reflecting lower product of $495.6 Billion sales to overseas customers and budgetary and fund- President Obama has sent Congress a proposed de- ing uncertainties within the U.S. DoD. fense budget of $495.6 billion in discretionary bud- get authority to fund base defense programs in fis- Advantage Eyes Special Nuclear cal year 2015. The request is $0.4 billion less than Materials Project the enacted FY 2014 appropriation and is consistent In a recent statement, President and CEO Jody Single- with the current budget caps. ton declared, “Advantage will be honored if awarded a contract and we will be proud to bring our unique India Becomes Largest Defense capabilities in gamma spectroscopy threat detection Market for U.S. as well as the benefits of the small size, light weight “We are seeing trade patterns fundamentally change and exceptional power management features we for the dominant players,” said Ben Moores, the typically employ in instrumentation development. study’s author. “The most notable change is the spectacular level of imports from India. China, In- MINT Region to Increase Defense donesia, Egypt, and Taiwan all saw imports increase Spending by $20B by one billion. When we look at India, those figures ReportsnReports.com adds “Future of the MINT De- were $5.9 billion. By 2015, our forecasts show that fense Industry—Market Attractiveness, Competitive number jumping to $8.16 billion.”

72 SMT Magazine • April 2014 here at Hunter Technology, we make it happen! For over forty-five years now, we have been "making it happen" for our customers. By having an unsurpassed committment to quality. By providing the EMS services that you need. And mostly by being there for you, every step of the way. Here’s what our customers are saying:

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+1 (408) 957-1300 www.hunter-technology.com column a short scoop Screen Printing Solutions for Small Die and Precision

by Rachel Miller-Short Photo Stencil LLC

The Short Scoop this month discusses one stencil and a squeegee to transfer the solder of our more demanding customer applications. onto the fillet. However, getting a successful As discussed in previous articles, when selecting plot was extremely difficult. stencils, the trick is choosing the right tool for Previously, the customer had been process- the right job; but sometimes the need for tailor- ing the parts by hand-soldering them onto the ing a stencil for a specific application can take assembly. At this point in their manufacturing a bit more engineering time and several itera- process, they decided to use machine place- tions to get the desired results. ment for a more accurate and repeatable result As a case study, consider this: Recently, a and to speed throughput to accommodate in- customer was trying to print solder fillets on creasing volumes. gold Kovar tabs. The Kovar tab measured just The stencils they had been working with 0.063 +/- 0.002 x 0.125 +/- 0.002 inches. The had six apertures distributed over the large pad tab was finish plated with 150 µin (minimum) for the Kovar tab (slug). Using the initial design of nickel and then over-plated with 100 µin configuration of apertures to print the solder (minimum) of gold. When the component was paste did not allow sufficient solder paste sol- attached, the solder fillet needed to align pre- vent to escape during reflow. This lack of ad- cisely with the tab and the solder reflow had equate solvent escape was causing voids under to be perfect. For this demanding application, the Kovar tab as well as poor solder fillets on there could be no gas pockets or voids any- the edge of the Kovar tab during reflow. Both of where on the fillet, which meant that ensuring these defects were unacceptable conditions for sufficient venting for flux residue from under the exacting assembly standards required for the part was a priority. The plan was to use a the end product.

74 SMT Magazine • April 2014 a short scoop screen printing solutions for small die and precision continues

In the customer’s own words, “We had set extremely high standards because the fillet of the solder on this part needed to be perfect. We had tried many stencils and made many plots, but they all resulted in fail- ures.” The solution included two impor- tant elements: (1) an aperture design that employs a honeycomb type structure, and (2) ground plane aperture designs for quad flatpack no-lead (QFN) stencil printing, which solves a similar problem with small part attachment with a large ground attachment. First, a hybrid electroformed stencil was chosen with a squeegee printing surface that is perfectly flat compared to woven wire knuckles used on woven screen mesh products. This flat, electroformed structure is stable and does not stretch during usage like woven wire mesh and, being an elec- Figure 1: Board with honeycomb pattern magnified. troformed stencil, it can be tailored to precise thicknesses and is able to release paste from the screen more reliably than a laser cut tool. A va- riety of mesh patterns can be designed to cover the QFN float problem. However, the aper- large application areas. Shapes such as rectan- ture reduction must be done judiciously since gles, squares, circles, ovals, and hexagon mesh at some point, starving the part of solder be- shapes are used and eliminate the angular vari- comes an issue. A window pane aperture is rec- ations that are seen in competing woven mesh ommended for most cases of QFN attachment products. In this case, the engineered mesh de- which allows the solder paste volatiles to easily sign was central to the success of the Kovar tab escape during reflow without moving the QFN attach for the customer. device. The next challenge was printing solder paste The result was an adaptation of an Accu- for QFN devices, which present several assem- Screen stencil with which could be created a bly problems. QFNs have a metal pad on the uniquely designed stencil with a honey-comb underside of the part for grounding and heat aperture pattern that would evenly dispense the conduction. The packages are very small and solder paste and allow for out-gassing during re- light. The QFN leads and ground plane conduc- flow, providing a uniform solder fillet around tor are flat and in the same plane on the bot- the Kovar tab. The apertures would be 6-sided tom of the package. Printing solder paste 1–1 and arranged in an array. SMT with the ground plane can cause the QFN to float during reflow due to the surface tension Rachel Short is vice president of the liquid solder which can cause miss-reg- of sales and marketing at istration of the leads on the QFN and the pads Photo Stencil LLC. To read on the PCB. past columns, click here. QFN float can be controlled by reducing the amount of solder paste printed on the ground plane. Typically a 50–60% reduction will solve

76 SMT Magazine • April 2014

SMTonline Supplier/New Product News Highlights

Optimum Design Acquires Viscom Indium Adds Teo to Sales & Marketing Team X-ray Inspection System Indium Corporation announces that Tony Teo has Zero Defects International, regional sales repre- been hired as associate director for sales and mar- sentative for Viscom Americas, announces the sale keting for the Asia-Pacific region, including China. and installation of a Viscom Model 8011 X-ray at His primary responsibility is to continue the suc- Optimum Design. Based in Pleasanton, California, cessful and profitable growth of Indium Corpora- Optimum Design conducted a rigorous and com- tion’s business in Asia by investing in staff training, prehensive review of all available systems prior to supporting new product development, enhancing selecting Viscom. branding efforts, and training staff.

Microtek Welcomes Obitz as Ellsworth Nets Distributor of the Year Laboratory Director Award from Lord The company announces the hiring and appoint- “We are honored to receive the Lord Product Assem- ment of Debora (Debby) Obitz as laboratory di- bly Adhesives Distributor of the Year Award again rector of its new Microtek Laboratories—East fa- this year,” said Roger Lee, VP and GM of Ellsworth cility located in Linthicum Heights, Maryland. She Adhesives North America. “We highly value our brings with her over 30 years of experience at a longstanding relationship with LORD and their com- senior laboratory management level and is very mitment to product and market development and active in numerous IPC technical committees and their related focus on their distribution channel.” task groups. Computrol Installs Third Essemtec Dymax Honored by Connecticut Tucano Stencil Printer for Outstanding Service “Computrol purchased another Essemtec Tucano Dymax Corporation was recently recognized by stencil printer due to its large print area, easy setup the Connecticut Economic Resource Center (CERC) and consistent results,” said James Spencer, Com- for the company’s outstanding service and com- putrol’s engineering manager. “The two printers mitment to the state. The company, along with 19 that we currently have in service have performed other Connecticut companies, projects, programs, exceptionally well and the service from Essemtec and leaders, was singled out for its contribution to has been great.” Connecticut’s economy. XJTAG Hosts Free Workshops in MC Assembly Achieves AS 9100 South Africa Rev C Certification The hands-on introductory workshop provides a This certification, which provides a common set of comprehensive overview to JTAG boundary scan quality requirements across the global aerospace and the IEEE 1149.x standard. The one-day ses- community, accredits MC Assembly’s Quality Man- sions will take place May 19 and 21 in Midrand, agement System compliance to the aerospace and are of particular interest to engineers in de- requirements to manufacture and service printed sign, development, test, and production. circuit board assemblies, sub-assemblies, and final assemblies. Electrolube Develops New VOC-free Conformal Coating Super Dry Unveils Nitrogen-free As an ISO 14001 specialist chemicals manufactur- Baking & Storage er committed to innovation, safety, and environ- Moisture specialist Super Dry will feature its broad mental responsibility, Electrolube has developed range of desiccant cabinets at this year’s IPC APEX a new acrylic conformal coating, USTFA, for the EXPO in Las Vegas, Nevada. Visitors to booth #425 American market to enable users to reduce their will learn the processing and financial benefits of site’s VOC emissions. Over the past few years, U.S. replacing costly nitrogen and eliminating high federal and state agencies have been establishing temperature baking for the protection of moisture limitations and regulations of VOC content found sensitive components and PCBs. in thousands of chemical products.

78 SMT Magazine • April 2014 column the essential pioneer’s survival guide Expanding Your Comfort Zone

by Michael Ford Mentor Graphics, Valor Division

In the engineering world, there is increasing ance and management, and in effect, promot- pressure to be a specialist, especially in techni- ing the specialisation itself. The issue, then, is cal roles. Does this intense focus on specialisa- how to effectively connect these specialist roles tion work against us, however, when we con- into a team or collaborative flow. Can we afford sider the wider requirements of the business? to distract people from their core strengths by How can we bring added value to specialist asking them to acquire some level of expertise roles, such as PCB layout designer or SMT ma- in areas that are related to their tasks, but out- chine programmer, which are key elements of side of their direct role? How can we optimise the wider production introduction team, with- teamwork as part of a flow without losing our out getting distracted from specific objectives? focus on individual key goals? Software tools help us focus excellence in a Let’s take, for example, the PCB layout de- specific role, but software must now add more signer, a specialist on the design team who benefit from team environments, even when uses software to create PCB layouts. This role derived from a widely spread collaborative flow, involves the use of specialised skills and expe- and bring a step change improvement in perfor- rience, taking physical and electrical require- mance without the cost of distraction from our ments from the schematic diagrams and laying specialist operations. out circuits on a PCB. Several cycles of PCB pro- As technology continues to evolve, there is totypes may be needed during the design phase always more to learn, whether it is how to bet- to correct issues from the electrical design, the ter design a PCB or how to bet- physical form and fit of a PCB into ter prepare programs for SMT a product, and mistakes in the machines. These are not new layout itself. Specialist design tasks, but people perform- tools provide support in these ing them are continuously areas, enabling the skills of the pushed to layout designer to achieve great- be maximised. er efficiencies Product de- and perfor- sign is the first mance. What step in the flow often happens for new prod- is that we end uct introduc- up with certain tion (NPI). Once roles that are complete, the very special- design is passed ized in focus, to the fabrica- experience, tion stage and and outlook. then on to as- Software tools sembly. In each have grown up of these manu- around these facturing disci- kinds of roles, plines, there are providing add- also experts in ed value, guid- their fields, engi-

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www.ipc.org/iti-ipc-seminar the essential pioneer’s survival guide expanding your comfort zone continues

Figure 1: The traditional NPI flow from design to manufacturing for new PCBs. neers who understand their processes and spe- to confirm that the product is fit for their opera- cialist technologies. They are also likely to have tion and to get the processes set up. Industry one or more software tools, to assist them with standard formats such as ODB++ create a com- the interpretation of the data they receive from plete and detailed product model such that the design, which they need to check, and in many need for data reconstruction is avoided. cases to reconstruct so that their process will The assembly process does not usually have work efficiently with the required yield. the luxury of being able to negotiate design It is most often the case that issues from the respins. The physical PCBs are already made in design that could cause serious problems during quantity. Again, however, tools are used to as- the manufacturing setup will be picked up. In sess the data from design, and again, assump- the best case for PCB fabrication, there is usu- tions and adjustments are made to make sure ally the scope to request that the PCB design that the product fits to the assembly platforms is changed to accommodate issues or limita- to be used. Each assembler will again have simi- tions of the manufacturing process. This can lar issues and is likely to resolve them in differ- trigger whole repeated cycles of layout design ent ways. refinement, testing, output generation and re- These manufacturing engineers have a lot of engineering for manufacturing, but it solves responsibility on their shoulders. They are on the problem. More risky, however, is when it is the front line, preparing complex manufactur- agreed that the fabricators can change the PCB ing processes that will produce quality prod- design locally by themselves to avoid this cy- ucts. The manufacturing process, however, is cle. The problem is again solved, although with often significantly separated from the PCB lay- many issues going through this process, the out process, even though this is their key source designer has lost a great deal of control of the of data through the NPI flow. There has been a consistency of his product. This is compounded lot of frustration historically among manufac- when multiple fabricators are used, together turing engineers about why the designers make with inevitable differences in ways that each the same mistakes time after time. Issues occur apply their solutions with fabrication, assembly, test access, fiducials, Obviously, the greater the level of detail and pads, tracks, component spacing, and many completeness of the product model coming out more. All of these issues happen over and over of design, the easier it is for process engineering again, which could simply be avoided. In OEMs,

82 SMT Magazine • April 2014 the essential pioneer’s survival guide

expanding your comfort zone continues direct emails and phone calls get little response. and action. Concurrent design for manufactur- Design is on another continent, speaking a dif- ing (DFM) tools that can model manufacturing ferent language, in another time zone, and, by requirements and present them natively within the way, the design team have long moved on the design tool provide a way for the designer, to other projects. In an EMS scenario it is worse, with virtually no cost, to accommodate com- because there is a commercial contract between plex manufacturing requirements without hav- the designer and manufacturer, with clear defi- ing to understand the technology behind them. nitions of responsibilities of costs should any- The value comes from the rule-set built into the thing go wrong. DFM software, the process of extraction of the The individual teams of people, who are know-how from the engineering processes, and supposedly working together in a flow, to intro- the fact that it is right inside the designer’s na- duce a new product into manufacturing, can- tive environment. not actually spare the time to learn from each The PCB layout designer is happy, with a other. The PCB designer sometimes doesn’t un- huge reduction of distractions from emails, derstand the technologies and requirements phone calls, and demands for respins. Very around fabrication or assembly. After all, dif- little additional effort has resulted in a huge ferent issues come from different engineering gain. The PCB layout is now qualified against people, sites, and companies all the time, and manufacturing requirements. The fabrication there is no apparent consistency to someone and assembly people are also happy. The prod- who is not an expert in the field. It is not for uct model they now receive from design feeds the designer to be the mediator. The designer straight into their process preparation tools, lives and works within his design tool, which enabling them to simply get on and plan their justifiably governs his world view. The break- processes and execution. There is, of course, a through here is to bring qualified information little piece of extra work for them to do, that and know-how from the manufacturing process is, to contribute information for the setting of preparation teams directly into the designers’ the DFM rules, which is the feedback to design world, to expose opportunities for improve- with the model of their requirements. These ments in a way that the designer can understand configurations should evolve continuously,

Figure 2: The lean NPI flow.

April 2014 • SMT Magazine 83 the essential pioneer’s survival guide expanding your comfort zone continues enhancing rules for better performance and ing expert. The business impact of this flow is quality, as well as following any changes to the very significant, bringing products to market processes. This ongoing work is asynchronous in a fraction of the time and cost previously to the product models being introduced, repre- needed, mainly through the reduction of res- senting a very worthwhile investment of their pins and elimination of needless data recon- time and expertise versus a significant reduc- struction. Justification for the introduction of tion of their day-to-day repetitive work-load for the complete set of lean NPI tools is not hard each product. to find. We now have a lean NPI flow (Figure 2). Lean, This is a great example of how software is because the waste of time and effort for every- evolving, not only providing the specialist sup- one involved in the flow is virtually eliminated. port of key functions, but also bringing mem- Compatible tools supporting the lean NPI flow, bers of a team together who until now have work together at design, fabrication, and assem- been unable to communicate and help each bly, working through, for example, ODB++. other effectively. SMT The premise of this flow is that we expand the scope of specialists to work outside of their comfort zones by establishing a process flow Michael Ford is senior marketing with feedback loop that enables each special- development manager with Val- ist area to help the other, without straying or Division of Mentor Graphics outside of their area of expertise and excel- Corporation. To read past col- lence. With Lean NPI, the designer can per- umns, or to contact the author, form a more comprehensive task, including click here. DFM, but without having to be a manufactur-

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84 SMT Magazine • April 2014 osium p o ym n S

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TM Organized by SMTA Surface Mount Technology Association calce www.smta.org www.calce.umd.edu column zulki’s pcb nuggets Tighter Scrutiny Needed for PCB Cleaning Agents

by Zulki Khan NexLogic Technologies Inc.

PCB cleanliness on the assembly floor is If a small amount of flux remains trapped now getting more attention, due to tiny resi- under the board’s surface, it can change the dues and contaminants being left on assemblies characteristics of impedance, resistivity. This after new, advanced assembly processes. Clean- could also change what could have been a per- ing methodologies, testing, analysis, and spe- fect eye diagram, and in general, change the cial chemistries are being taken to a new level to optimal level of operation. Ultra cleanliness assure customers of ultraclean boards to avoid is even more critical if underfill or conformal costly latent issues. coating is applied to a device. Board cleanliness is especially critical for mil/ It’s difficult to clean such a device after the aero and medical applications. The right types board has been processed. Therefore, assembly (and amounts) of cleaning agents must remove personnel have to be absolutely sure they’ve flux residues to assure the integrity of processes taken every possible measure to assure devices such as bonding and conformal coating. Dur- and boards are ultraclean. If residues are left in ing the coating process, if residues result in poor the conformal coating or underfill, then these wetting or delamination, they can cause assem- contaminants are trapped inside the capsule bly failures and ultimately lead to field failures. and hinder device performance. In today’s assemblies, there are growing Plus, a vast array of other residues and con- numbers of advanced packages like land grid taminants can be left on a PCB, as shown in Fig- arrays (LGAs), fine pitch BGAs, micro BGAs, ure 1. The contaminants may be either ionic or micro CSPs, and the list goes on. Packages such non-ionic contaminants. Ionic contaminants as LGAs are flush to the board, and they have contain molecules that are conductive when bumps, not balls or spheres, like BGAs. the cleaning solution is applied. Ionic residues

86 SMT Magazine • April 2014 ® IPC 2014 Events Mark your calendars now for IPC events in 2014! While many of the programs are being finalized, you can sign up today to receive updates on select event news and special promotions as they become available.

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April 18 | Woking, England September 28–October 2 April 21 | Riesa, Germany IPC Fall Standards Development April 23 | Stuttgart, Germany Committee Meetings IPC & EIPC Failure Analysis and co-located with SMTA International Reliability Testing Roadshow Rosemont, IL, USA

May 6 | Andover, MA October 14–15 May 8 | Santa Clara, CA IPC Europe High Reliability Forum May 13 | Chandler, AZ Düsseldorf, Germany May 15 | Schaumburg, IL Critical and Emerging Product Environmental Requirements Seminar

May 7–9 October 28–30 ECWC 2014 IPC TechSummitTM Nuremberg, Germany Raleigh, NC

May 19–22 November 18–20 IPC APEX India™ High-Reliability Cleaning and Bangalore, India Conformal Coating Conference sponsored by IPC and SMTA Schaumburg, IL, USA

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Questions? Contact IPC registration staff at +1 847-597-2861 or [email protected]. zulki’s pcb nuggets tighter scrutiny needed for pcb cleaning agents continues

cases, cleaning agents need to be changed. This involves changing the concentration of the cleaning agent, the wash cycle temperature, and the speed of the rinse cycle to achieve better re- sults. There are different permutations that can be made to make DI water purer and cleaner. In some cases, there are restrictions where DI water cannot be used for cleaning, because cer- tain components don’t react to water very well. Special washing techniques sometimes prescribed by the OEM customer can be used to clean resi- dues, flux remnants, and unneeded paste. But in some cases when those washing techniques are not specified, the assembly house has to use spe- cial chemistries, as shown in Figure 2. Figure 1: Array of residues and contaminants left Rosin mildly activated (RMA) flux, a hybrid on a PCB. RMA, vapor de-greasing, foaming agent, and rosin flux are among the more prevalent special chemistries. RMA flux is mildly activated and can completely dissociate into negative or posi- not very aggressive. It contains fewer activators tive particles. This changes the overall conduc- compared to water-soluble fluxes. This is an ef- tivity of the solution. If water is applied, it be- fective flux if a PCB is mildly contaminated. If comes ionized and the change becomes either too much flux and residues are left after assem- positive or negative. bly is finished, RMA flux is good. However, due Ionic residue examples include surfactants, to its multiple types of rosins, it requires a sa- flux activators, perspiration, and plating chem- ponifier heated to 100–150°F, meaning it works istry, among others. Once one of these residues in a hot environment when it comes to clean- takes either a positive or negative ion charge, ing. RMA provides the option of a final rinse it then changes the cleaning solution’s conduc- with DI water. tivity. Thus, the cleaning process becomes dif- ferent from what it should be and special care must be given to the type of cleaning technolo- gies used for certain PCB applications. In terms of non-ionic residues, these aren’t conductive, mostly insolvent in nature, and aren’t prone to cause problems. They’re usu- ally organic species having a role in fabrication and assembly and include mostly resins, oils, greases, or hand lotions. They don’t necessarily change the solution conductivity, but they are just resins that need to be cleaned after a board is assembled. Most assemblies are cleaned using de-ion- ized or DI water. DI water is generally heated to a temperature in the range of 100–120°F. It usually contains 3–5% chemistry, and the rest is water. Most contaminants are cleaned using de-ionized water. When it comes to special agents that cannot Figure 2: Batch cleaning, used when the assembly be cleaned at a specific temperature, in some provider uses special chemistries.

88 SMT Magazine • April 2014 FIRST-CLASS MAIL U.S. POSTAGE InternatIonal ConferenCe on SolderIng and relIabIlIty PAID TWIN CITIES, MN TECHNiCAl COMMiTTEE PERMIT NO. 28788 1. REGISTRATION INFORMATION 5200 Willson Road, Suite 215 laura Turbini, Ph.D., International Reliability Consultant, Program Chair Edina, Minnesota 55424-1316 Dr. Mr. Ms. SMTA Member #______Martin Anselm, Ph.D, Universal Instruments Bev Christian, Ph.D., BlackBerry Name ______Job Title ______Matthew Kelly, P. Eng, MBA, IBM Corporation Company ______MS/PO Box ______Tim luke, Alpha Polina Snugovsky, Ph.D., Celestica, Inc. Address ______City ______State/Province______Zip/Country Code ______Country ______Phone ______Fax ______E-Mail ______InternatIonal ConferenCe REGISTER BEFORE APRIL 11 AND SAVE! on SolderIng and relIabIlIty 2. REGISTRATION FEE (USD) 4. REGISTRATION workshops Pre-Registration is strongly recommended. May 13–15, 2014 There will be no guarantee of space or materials Tuesday, May 13 Before 4/11 After 4/11 Workshops: May 13 • Conference: May 14–15 for on-site registrants. SMTA Member $225 $275 Toronto Expo & Tech Forum: May 15 Non-Member $275 $325 FOUR REGiSTRATiONS FOR THE PRiCE OF THREE Four Points by Sheraton Toronto Airport • Toronto • Ontario, Canada Check Workshop Selection If four employees from the SAME company each WS1 WS2 WS3 WS4 register for the technical conference OR a tutorial, the fourth registration (of equal or lesser value) is Keynote addreSS May 14, 2014 | 8:50am Technical Conference (Courses NOT included) ConferenCe overvIew free! Registrations must be submitted together. Wednesday, May 14 – Thursday, May 15 Electronic products, particularly consumer A View of the Electronics Industry Before 4/11 After 4/11 CanCellatIon products have become more complex with Process, Reliability, and Materials SMTA Member $450 $550 Registration fees will be refunded (less a $75 greater circuit density, finer lines and Research Landscape spacings and more functionality. Reliability Non-Member $550 $650 processing fee), if written notice is postmarked two Martin Anselm, Ph.D., Manager AREA Consortium, weeks prior to program date. issues continue to be a major concern for Universal Instruments Corporation Speaker $250 $250 industrial, bio-medical, aerospace and Technical Conference Single Day* NO SHOWS automotive applications and require materials, Today, the electronic industry’s OEMs and CMs are forced to comply Wednesday, May 14 – Thursday, May 15 Registration fee will not be refunded in order to cover manufacturing, test and quality engineers and with market trends in technologies — due to part availability or cost, expenses incurred. scientists to be creative in planning for the and reliability testing for validation. The term “reliability” is often Before 4/11 After 4/11 future. Challenges such as the use of finer misused, since these tests are evaluation or qualification tests — SMTA Member $300 $350 All attendees who are not currently members of SMTA powders in solder paste, the greater need for based upon internal or customer driven standard practices, or on Non-Member $350 $400 will receive a one-year individual Membership with their InternatIonal ConferenCe heat dissipation, the use of novel components industry accepted standards which do not always provide pass/fail technical conference registration. Single day registrations and technologies are included. Due to cost criterion. These tests are employed as best guesses for the reliability Check Day Selection Wednesday, May 14 and workshops only will NOT receive a membership. on SolderIng and relIabIlIty considerations, new low silver or silver free of products in the field. This condition is primarily a consequence of Thursday, May 15 Current individual members will receive a one-year May 13–15, 2014 alloys are being studied. The use of tailored limited materials understanding. renewed membership (one renewal per year). alloy systems, the variety of alloy choices, We cannot ignore the current state of the economy and the evolution 3. PAYMENT OPTIONS Workshops: May 13 • Conference: May 14–15 and smaller passive components are among HOTEl iNFORMATiON of business practices over the past two decades, paired with Total Amount Due $______Toronto Expo & Tech Forum: May 15 the concerns being addressed. Now, a new significant legislative changes, which contributes to the rate at which Four Points by Sheraton Toronto Airport Four Points by Sheraton Toronto Airport • Toronto • Ontario, Canada group of engineers and scientists involved in Check enclosed (USD) leaps in our understanding are being achieved. As a result OEMs and 6257 Airport Road | Mississauga, ON, L4V 1E4 | Canada the design and manufacture of (a) medical Purchase Order # ______CMs have little time to perform fundamental research and often spend devices, and (b) monitoring and control MC vISa AMEx Room block expires on April 21, 2014. iN CONJUNCTiON WiTH SMTA TORONTO ExPO & TECH FORUM more time in support of individual product needs. As new materials instruments must be ready for the requirements Rate: $110CND/night + taxes and components become mainstream, manufacturing and “reliability” Credit Card # ______of RoHS recast, also known as RoHS 2. This EU Make reservations online or call 1-800-368-7764 to testing becomes less and less effective in producing predictable Expiration Date (MM/YYYY) ______/______regISter directive officially required that it be made into make reservations. results in yield and reliability. The more fundamental research to onlIne national laws by January 2, 2013 and these Cardholder’s Name ______Mention group name “Surface Mount Technology understand the fundamentals of mechanics of failures, reliability at two new categories of electronics must become (if different from registration) Association” and material properties falls on academia and consortia. Martin will Billing Address compliant by July 22, 2014. Soldering and www.smta.org/icsr discuss the current mainstream North American research landscape, Address ______reliability professionals need to come together Getting There: Free transportation shuttle from Airport. reviewing some of the research groups in the industry and how each City ______State/Province ______to share their knowledge and their vision for Parking: There is a $6.00/day fee for parking at fits into the electronics market. Specific research topics will be used Zip/Country Code ______Country ______addressing these challenges. the hotel. as examples to illustrate value for each program. zulki’s pcb nuggets tighter scrutiny needed for pcb cleaning agents continues

The hybrid RMA can also be used for low residues; however, it cannot be washed with DI water. Closed-loop processes are used to keep the discharge to a minimum. This same chem- istry can be used repeatedly. But hybrid RMA may not be able to remove all residues and contaminants from components with hard-to- reach areas such as the underside of LGAs or very-fine-pitch BGAs. Hybrid RMA sometimes requires processed chemicals or treated water. It cannot just be directly rinsed; there must be a closed-loop system, and in some cases, a special service may be required to take the water out of the PCB assembly facility to clean it and sepa- rate the chemicals. As for vapor de-greasing, the rinse tank is boiled, creating a vapor atmosphere. The vapor encompasses the board and removes the resi- Figure 3: Ionic contamination testing required for dues. The advantage is the solvent is recycled. different contaminants and different applied tests. There is low waste, and less floor space is re- quired compared to in-line cleaning. It’s a small cleaning unit and less expensive. The solvent could be costly and throughput is not as fast be- Dendrites are similar to tin whiskers that are cause sometimes only one, two or a few boards created by chemical reactions and cause similar can be processed at a time. issues. Dendrite growth is particularly damag- Other special chemistries include foaming ing when components are small and close to agents, rosin flux and several others used for each other. For example, fine-pitch micro BGAs, extremely contaminated boards. However, the micro CSPs, and other tight geometry packages customer should keep several important points are highly sensitive to dendrite growths. in mind. Those include understanding the dif- ferent types of fluxes available and how suitable Testing they are for their PCB applications, the types of EMS providers must contend with a long chemistries involved, the percentage of cleanli- list of contaminants, and different tests are re- ness their PCBs require, and how well their EMS quired.. The most common is an ion chroma- provider or CM can quantitatively verify their tography meter. This system performs a high percentage of cleanliness. level of ionic contamination testing, as shown in Figure 3. It can qualify and identify ionic Reasons for Cleaning species to a remarkably precise level present on There are a number of reasons to provide a PCB’s surface. customers with ultra cleanliness, and they all Other prevalent tests include the resistiv- relate to maintaining high reliability. This is es- ity of solvent extract (ROSE) test, also known pecially true for mil/aero and medical electron- as the solvent extract conductivity (SEC) test, ics applications. For example, intermittent fail- IPC Standard TM650, and surface insulation ures can often stem from ionic contamination resistance (SIR). The ROSE concept deals with since it changes solution conductivity. In this resistivity. When ionic contamination levels in- case, dendrite growth resulting from ionic con- crease, the resistivity of the circuit increases, as tamination can surface and cause shorts and well. opens. Dendrite growth is comprised of metal ROSE can measure that resistivity to deter- filaments that extend across small parts of a mine the amount of it on the circuitry, and then board. it instructs the operator on the steps to take to

90 SMT Magazine • April 2014 zulki’s pcb nuggets

tighter scrutiny needed for pcb cleaning agents continues bring that resistivity to a normal and accept- phosphates, sulfate, and organic acid. Multiple able level. By changing the chemicals used for factors can be measured. cleaning, the resistivity is broken down. Thus, Meanwhile, SIR measures the effective- a clean surface is created which is acceptable to ness of contaminants remaining on a board. the customer. An electrical test runs currents from point-to- Certain automated devices perform ROSE point. Those contaminants are measured at cer- testing, including Omega, Ionograph, and Zero tain temperature and humidity levels. When Ion meters.. Once boards are cleaned, these me- the characteristics are read, the test character- ters provide results in part per area (PPA) clean- izes residues or fluxes and other contaminants liness to comply with IPC standards. left on a board. ROSE testing has certain limitations. It only Monitoring and qualifying the degree of performs ionic contamination test; not non- cleanliness is absolutely important to make sure ionic. It measures average contamination for an final assemblies are acceptable per IPC Class 3. assembly, but doesn’t define the source. Certain There is some ambiguity in Class 3. However, board parts are more contaminated due to extra there are a number of techniques deployed in touch up or rework. Therefore, there’s more flux terms of cleaning the PCBs, many are common- in those areas compared to other parts not get- ly used in electronics manufacturing in con- ting as much rework. This means the amount ventional ways. of contamination is different at different board Other cleaning techniques are in R&D, al- sections. However, ROSE test deals with average though newer cleaning products are coming assembly contamination and provides average on the market. But the point is cleanliness test- results of the overall surface of the board. ing is critical. Ionograph testing and the other IPC Standard TM650 is the most common methods discussed above can best perform that test. The board is dipped into a water-based sol- testing. SMT vent with a great percentage of alcohol at cer- tain temperatures and time periods. Different Zulki Khan is the founder parameters can be changed in this testing stan- and president of NexLogic dard. Temperature, as well as alcohol and water Technologies Inc. To read past concentrations can be changed. Different levels columns, or to contact the can be checked also. Those measurements in- author, click here. clude the fluoride, chlorine, bromide, nitrate,

future generations of some of these boutique Technology Extends Life cell phones,” said Hayner, the chief technol- ogy officer of SiNode Systems. “These wouldn’t Span of Batteries be the huge general-consumer type of devices right now.” Technology expert Cary Hayner says his com- Hayner joined a four-expert panel to discuss pany has developed battery materials that can the future of energy storage efficiency which store about 10 times the amount included representatives from of energy that a lithium-ion bat- Argonne National Labs, SiNode tery does, potentially changing Systems, Navitas Systems, and the future of energy storage in Intelligent Generation. From products such as cell phones and cell phones to electric cars to electric cars. military missile technology, “This year, 2014, we are fo- batteries play a crucial role in cusing on developing our first today’s society, according to prototypes that would go into the experts.

April 2014 • SMT Magazine 91 Top Ten News Highlights from SMTonline this Month

IPC Strengthening LACROIX Electronics Forms a Educational Efforts c Joint Venture with AUSY

Legislative proposals and regulations are having AUSY and LACROIX Electronics seal their partner- a greater impact on the electronics industry. This ship and disclose an unprecedented global indus- has prompted IPC to enhance its outreach efforts trial solution for the market of electronic equipment to educate policy makers on the industry’s eco- conception: An “end-to-end” solution starting with nomic contributions and priorities to ensure con- design in R&D centers up to series production, in- tinued growth and open markets. tended for the major industrial world-wide groups.

Nortech Systems’ Board of EPTAC Expands IPC Training b Directors Welcomes Klein d Centers Across U.S., Canada

Nortech Systems, Inc. announced today that EPTAC Corporation has acquired multiple IPC Cer- William A. Klein has joined its Board of Directors. tification Center licenses for a number of locations Klein is currently the CEO of Solarrus Corpora- across the United States and Canada. This marks a tion in Huntington Beach, California, a provider first for an IPC Training Center to expand its deliv- of solar energy operation and maintenance ser- ery and support of electronics training programs vices. to several locations including California, Florida, Minnesota, Missouri, and Connecticut, along with Canada and the Toronto, Ontario market.

92 SMT Magazine • April 2014 Congressman Schneider Visits EMS Quality Benchmark e Fuji North America Facility h Survey Launched by IPC

“My sincerest thanks to Fuji and IPC for hosting Developed with input from quality managers and today’s meeting,” said Rep. Schneider. “I greatly executives across the global EMS industry, the appreciate the hard work and attention to detail study covers the industry’s most widely used and that goes into manufacturing electronics, which important quality measurements, including pro- make our lives more connected and our world duction data, assembly attributes, yields, defect safer. That’s why it’s so important that we focus rates (DPMO), customer returns, supplier perfor- energies on equipping our workforce with the mance, and many other metrics. necessary skills to thrive in the twenty-first century economy.” IMI Benefits from Expansion; i revenue Up 12.6% in 2013 Bob Schneider Joins f Kimball’s Board of Directors The company has announced revenues grew 12.6% to US $745 million in 2013 from US $662 Kimball International, Inc. has announced the million in 2012. Arthur Tan, president and CEO, appointment of Robert F. “Bob” Schneider to says, “Our diversification strategy has afforded the company’s Board of Directors. Schneider us extensive global footprint, amplified technical currently serves as executive vice president capabilities, and wide-ranging customers, so that and chief financial officer of Kimball Interna- despite several challenges we realized higher rev- tional. His appointment was effective with his enues with corresponding profitability.” election at today’s regularly scheduled board meeting. New Legislation Drives j SigmaTron’s Earnings Increase Foxconn Diversifying Away g from China; Eyes Indonesia “While SigmaTron posted a positive diluted earn- ings per share for the third fiscal quarter, we were Foxconn, the world’s leading manufacturer of disappointed with our overall results. The positive computer components and systems, plans to build earnings were entirely attributable to changes in high-tech factories in the United States and low- deferred tax items as a result of new legislation cost plants in Indonesia as the appeal of “made in enacted in Mexico,” Gary R. Fairhead, president, China” fades into a burden. CEO, and chairman of the board.

smtonline.com for the latest SMT news— anywhere, anytime.

April 2014 • SMT Magazine 93 Calendar

Smart Fabrics & Wearable Technology 2014 Events April 23–25, 2014 San Francisco, California, USA

For the IPC’s Calendar of Events, click here. NEPCON China 2014 April 23–25, 2014 Shanghai, China For the SMTA Calendar of Events, click here.

Nordic SI Week 2014 For the iNEMI Calendar, click here. May 5–9, 2014 Stockholm, Sweden For a complete listing, check out SMT Magazine’s full events calendar here. Atlanta 18th Annual Expo May 7, 2014 Duluth, Georgia, USA

Printed Electronics Europe 2014 International Conference on April 1–4, 2014 Soldering and Reliability Berlin, Germany May 13–15, 2014 Toronto, Ontario, Canada South East Asia Technical Conference on Electronics Assembly Toronto SMTA Expo & Tech Forum April 8–10, 2014 May 15, 2014 Penang, Malaysia Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Intermountain (Boise) Expo & 12th Annual MEPTEC MEMS Tech Forum Technology Symposium April 17, 2014 May 22, 2014 Boise, Idaho San Jose, California, USA

94 SMT Magazine • April 2014 PUBLISHER: Barry Matties EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD: Bill Coleman, Ph.D., Photo Stencil Happy Holden, Gentex Corporation PUBLISHER: RAY RASMUSSEN Craig Hunter, Vishay (916) 294-7147; Dr. Jennie S. Hwang, H-Technology Group Michael Konrad, Aqueous Technologies SALES MANAGER: BARB HOCKADAY Graham Naisbitt, Gen3 Systems & SMART Group (916) 608-0660; Ray Prasad, Ray Prasad Consultancy Group MARKETING SERVICES: TOBEY MARSICOVETERE Steve Pudles, IPC (916) 266-9160; [email protected] S. Manian Ramkumar, Ph.D., Rochester Institute of Technology Robert Rowland, RadiSys Corporation Dongkai Shangguan, Ph.D., National Center for Advanced Packaging, China EDITORIAL: Vern Solberg, Independent Technical Consultant GROUP EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: RAY RASMUSSEN Gary Tanel, Electronics Alliance (916) 294-7147; Michael McCutchen, ZESTRON America MANAGING EDITORS: LISA LUCKE (209) 304-4011; [email protected], MAGAZINE PRODUCTION CREW: and Andy Shaughnessy PRODUCTION MANAGER: SHELLY STEIN (770) 315-9901; MAGAZINE LAYOUT: RON MEOGROSSI AD DESIGN: SHELLY STEIN, Mike Radogna TECHNICAL EDITOR: PETE STARKEY INnovative TECHNOLOGY: BRYSON MATTIES +44 (0) 1455 293333; COVER ART: SHELLY STEIN

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April 2014, Volume 29, Number 4 • SMT© (Surface Mount Technology©) is published monthly, by BR Publishing, Inc.

Advertiser Index Coming Soon to SMT Magazine: Adv. in Thermal Mgmt...... 65 IPC...... 81, 87

Alpha...... 47 Manncorp...... 5 May: Blackfox...... 45 Mentor...... 41 Test and Inspection of Branford Group...... 29 NextLevel PCB...... 3 Electronic Assemblies Candor Industries...... 69 Nordson Asymtek...... 37 Dragon Circuits...... 67 P Kay Metal...... 23, 75 June: Thermal Management Dymax...... 31 Prototron Circuits...... 9

Eagle Electronics...... 59 SMTA...... 85, 89 July: EasyBraid...... 17 Sunstone...... 1 Tin Whiskers EE Technologies...... 61 Technica...... 43 Electrolube...... 79 TEKmart International...... 35 H&T Global...... 19 The PCB List...... 2, 77 Hunter Technology...... 73 Transition Automation...... 33 I-Connect007...... 53 US Circuit...... 25 Imagineering...... 7 Xline Assets...... 55 Indium...... 13

April 2014 • SMT Magazine 95