Solder Joint Fatigue,
WHAT is UNDERFILL AND WHY is it USEFUL?
Underfill is thermoset epoxies traditionally used in flip chip applications to reduce thermal stresses solder bumps experience due to coefficient of thermal expansion mismatch between a die and the organic substrate. Today, underfills are available in a variety of formulations and are widely used for board level reliability of ball grid array components by reducing thermal and mechanical loads under harsh use environments. Careful consideration to the underfill material properties and intended use environments must be made to assess the relative reliability improvements underfills offer.
electronics test design,
Standards Based Testing
Here at DfR Solutions, we perform hundreds of design review projects a year. Sometimes companies come to us when they are considering a new electronic product and have only the initial designs. In other instances, companies approach us only after their product has already been configured, requesting a review of the final design before moving forward to the manufacturing stage. Ideally for the client, they are in the former group, partnering with us as early in design process as possible. It’s much more efficient (time- and cost-sensitive) to gather all available information and thoroughly check for potential failures of a design before nailing parts down, rather than to complete an assembly only to discover it doesn’t function properly in its use case scenarios.
In a previous DfR Solutions insight titled Best Practices in Test Plan Preparation, we discussed some of the most important techniques and philosophies when preparing to develop a testing plan for electronic products. What makes those techniques so powerful is that they are ubiquitous: with any design, reviewing the bill of materials, identifying use environments and assessing failure history are both applicable and crucial.
However, what that article did not discuss is that there are considerations that need to be applied in very specific ways. The following are strategies for test plan development that are dependent on specific use cases, parameters, goals, configurations and limitations. While they are just as powerful as our Best Practices, they require a thorough understanding of your product and a clear and agreed-upon set of goals throughout the supply chain.