Investigation of wall-slip behaviour in lead-free solder pastes and isotropic conductive adhesives

Slippage due to wall depletion effect is well-known in rheological investigation. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the paste microstructure on slip formation for the paste materials (lead-free solder paste and isotropic conductive adhesives). The effect of different flowgeometries, gap heights and surface roughness on the paste viscosity was investigated. The utilisation of different measuring geometries has not clearly showed the presence of wall-slip in the paste samples. The existence of wall-slip was found to be pronounced when gap heights were varied using the parallel plate geometry. It was also found that altering the surface roughness of the parallel plate measuring geometry did not significantly eliminate wall-slip as expected. But results indicate that the use of a relatively rough surface helps to increase paste adhesion to the plates and to a certain extent inducing structural breakdown in the paste. Most importantly, the study also demonstrated on how the wall-slip formation in the paste material could be utilised for understanding of the paste microstructure and its flow behaviour.

The effect of wall-slip formation on the rheological behaviour of lead-free solder pastes

Wall-slip plays an important role in the flow behaviour of solder paste materials. The wall-slip arises due to the various attractive and repulsive forces acting between the solder particles and the walls of the measuring geometry. These interactions could lead to the presence of a thin liquid layer adjacent to the wall, which causes slippage. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of the solder paste formulation on wall-slip formation and its effect on the printability of these pastes material. A wall slip model is utilised to calculate the true viscosity and slip velocity for the lead-free solder pastes samples used in this study. The difference in the measured viscosity and the true viscosity could indicate wall-slip formation between the solder pastes and the parallel plate. Sample P1 showed a higher slip velocity compared to sample P2. The slip velocity calculated for the solder pastes could be used as a performance indicator to understand the paste release characteristics in the stencil printing process.

Thixotropic studies of lead-based solder, lead-free solder and conductive adhesive pastes

The stencil printing process is an important process in the assembly of Surface Mount Technology (SMT)devices. There is a wide agreement in the industry that the paste printing process accounts for the majority of assembly defects. Experience with this process has shown that typically over 60% of all soldering defects are due to problems associated with the flow properties of solder pastes. Therefore, the rheological measurements can be used as a tool to study the deformation or flow experienced by the pastes during the stencil printing process. This paper presents results on the thixotropic behaviour of three pastes; lead-based solder paste, lead-free solder paste and isotropic conductive adhesive (ICA). These materials are widely used as interconnect medium in the electronics industry. Solder paste are metal alloys suspended in a flux medium while the ICAs consist of silver flakes dispersed in an epoxy resin. The thixotropy behaviour was investigated through two rheological test; (i) hysteresis loop test and (ii) steady shear rate test. In the hysteresis loop test, the shear rate were increased from 0.001 to 100s-1 and then decreased from 100 to 0.001s-1. Meanwhile, in the steady shear rate test, the materials were subjected to a constant shear rate of 0.100, 100 and 0.001s-1 for a period of 240 seconds. All the pastes showed a high degree of shear thinning behaviour with time. This might be due to the agglomeration of particles in the flux or epoxy resin that prohibits pastes flow under low shear rate. The action of high shear rate would break the agglomerates into smaller pieces which facilitates the flow of pastes, thus viscosity is reduced at high shear rate. The solder pastes exhibited a higher degree of structural breakdown compared to the ICAs. The area between the up curve and down curve in the hysteresis curve is an indication of the thixotropic behavior of the pastes. Among the three pastes, lead-free solder paste showed the largest area between the down curve and up curve, which indicating a larger structural breakdown in the pastes, followed by lead-based solder paste and ICA. In a steady shear rate test, viscosity of ICA showed the best recovery with the steeper curve to its original viscosity after the removal of shear, which indicating that the dispersion quality in ICA is good because the high shear has little effect on the microstructure of ICA. In contrast, lead-based paste showed the poorest recovery which means this paste undergo larger structural breakdown and dispersion quality in this paste is poor because the microstructure of the paste is easily disrupted by high shear. The structural breakdown during the application of shear and the recovery after removal of shear is an important characteristic in the paste printing process. If the paste’s viscosity can drop low enough, it may contribute to the aperture filling and quick recovery may prevent slumping.

Rheological characterisation and printing performance of Sn/Ag/Cu solder pastes

Lead-free solder paste printing process accounts for majority of the assembly defects in the electronic manufacturing industry. The study investigates rheological behaviour and stencil printing performance of the lead-free solder pastes (Sn/Ag/Cu). Oscillatory stress sweep test was carried out to study the visco-elastic behaviour of the lead-free solder pastes. The visco-elastic behaviour of the paste encompasses solid and liquid characteristic of the paste, which could be used to study the flow behaviour experienced by the pastes during the stencil printing process. From this study, it was found that the solid characteristics (G0) is higher than the liquid characteristic (G0 0) for the pastes material. In addition, the results from the study showed that the solder paste with a large G0 = G0 0 has a higher cohesiveness resulting in poor withdrawal of the paste during the stencil printing process. The phase angles (d) was used to correlate the quality of the dense suspensions to the formulation of solder paste materials. This study has revealed the value of having a rheological measurement for explaining and characterising solder pastes for stencil printing. As the demand for lead free pastes increases rheological measurements can assist with the formulation or development of new pastes.

Rheological characterisation of solder pastes and isotropic conductive adhesives used for flip-chip assembly

Solder pastes and isotropic conductive adhesives (ICAs) are widely used as a principal bonding medium in the electronic industry. This study investigates the rheological behaviour of the pastes (solder paste and isotropic conductive adhesives) used for flip-chip assembly. Oscillatory stress sweep test are performed to evaluate solid characteristic and cohesiveness of the lead-free solder pastes and isotropic conductive adhesive paste materials. The results show that the G' (storage modulus) is higher than G '' (loss modulus) for the pastes material indicating a solid like behaviour. It result shows that the linear visco-elastic region for the pastes lies in a very small stress range, below 10 Pa. in addition, the stress at which the value of storage modulus is equal to that of loss modulus can be used as an indicator of the paste cohesiveness. The measured cross-over stress at G'=G '' shows that the solder paste has higher stress at G'=G '' compared to conductive adhesives. Creep-recovery test method is used to study the slump behaviour in the paste materials. The conductive adhesive paste shows a good recovery when compared to the solder pastes. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Wall-slip effects in SnAgCu solder pastes used in electronics assembly applications

Solder paste is the most important strategic bonding material used in the assembly of surface mount components in electronics manufacturing. As the trend towards miniaturisation of electronic products continues, there is an increasing demand for better understanding of the flow and deformation that is, the rheological behaviour of solder paste formulations. Wall slip plays an important role in characterising the flow behaviour of solder paste materials. The problem of wall slip arises due to the various attractive and repulsive forces acting between the solder particles and the walls of the measuring geometry. These interactions could lead to the presence of a thin solvent layer adjacent to the wall, which gives rise to slippage. In rheological measurements, slip effects can generally be avoided by using roughened surfaces for measuring geometries. In this paper, a novel technique is developed to study the effect of wall slip in the rheological measurements of lead-free solder paste. The viscosity and oscillatory data obtained for three different solder paste samples (from measuring geometries of different surface roughness) havebeen analysed and compared. In viscosity measurements, slip effects were dominant at low shear rates and the use of serrated surfaces was found to be quite effective in minimizing slip effects. Oscillatory measurements were also affected by roughening the surfaces of measuring geometries.

Modelling the time-dependent behaviour of solder pastes used in the electronics assembly applications

Solder paste is the most widely used bonding material in the assembly of surface mount devices in electronic industries. It generally has a flocculated structure (show aggregation of solder particles), and hence are known to exhibit a thixotropic behavior. This is recognized by the decrease in apparent viscosity of paste material with time when subjected to a constant shear rate. The proper characterisation of this timedependent rheological behaviour of solder pastes is crucial for establishing the relationships between the pastes’ structure and flow behaviour; and for correlating the physical parameters with paste printing performance. In this paper, we present a novel method which has been developed for characterising the timedependent and non-Newtonian rheological behaviour of solder pastes as a function of shear rates. The objective of the study reported in this paper is to investigate the thixotropic build-up behaviour of solder pastes. The stretched exponential model(SEM) has been used to model the structural changes during the build-up process and to correlate model parameters with the paste printing process.

Study of the rheological behaviour of Sn-Ag-Cu solder pastes and their correlation with printing performance

Solder paste plays an important role in the electronic assembly process by providing electrical, mechanical and thermal bonding between the components and the substrate. The rheological characterisation of pastes is an important step in the design and development of new paste formulations. With the ever increasing trend of miniaturisation of electronic products, the study of the rheological properties of solder pastes is becoming an integral part in the R&D of new paste formulations and in the quality monitoring and control during paste manufacture and electronic assembly process. This research work outlines some of the novel techniques which can be successfully used to investigate the rheology of leadfree solder pastes. The report also presents the results of the correlation of rheological properties with solder paste printing performance. Four different solder paste samples (namely paste P1, P2, P3 and P4) with different flux vehicle systems and particle size distributions were investigated in the study. As expected, all the paste samples showed shear thinning behaviour. Although the samples displayed similar flow behaviour at high shear rates, differences were observed at low shear rates. In the stencil printing trials, round deposits showed better results than rectangular deposits in terms of paste heights and aperture filling. Our results demonstrate a good correlation between higher paste viscosity and good printing performance. The results of the oscillatory and thixotropy tests were also successfully correlated to the printing behaviour of solder paste.

Effect of long-term aging on the rheological characteristics and printing performance of lead-free solder pastes used for flip-chip assembly

Stencil printing of solder pastes is a critical stage in the SMT assembly process as a high proportion of the solder-related defects can be attributed to this stage. As the trend towards product miniaturization continues, there is a greater need for better understanding of the rheological behaviour and printing performance of new paste formulations. This fundamental understanding is crucial for achieving the repeatable solder paste deposits from board-to-board and pad-to-pad required for more reliable solder interconnections. The paper concerns a study on the effect of ageing on the rheological characteristics and printing performance of new lead-free solder pastes formulations used for flip-chip assembly applications. The objective is to correlate the rheological characteristics of aged paste samples to their printing performance. The methodology developed can be used for bench-marking new lead-free paste formulations in terms of shelf life, the potential deterioration in rheological characteristics and their printing performance.

An investigation into the rheological properties of different lead-free solder pastes for surface mount applications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the rheological behaviour of three different lead-free solder pastes used for surface mount applications in the electronic industry.Design/methodology/approach – This study concerns the rheological measurements of solder paste samples and is made up of three parts. The first part deals with the measurement of rhelogical properties with three different measuring geometries, the second part looks into the effect of frequencies on oscillatory stress sweep measurements and the final part reports on the characterisation and comparison of three different types of Pb-free solder pastes. Findings – Among the three geometries, the serrated parallel plate was found effective in minimising the wall-slip effect. From the oscillatory stresssweep data with different frequencies; it was observed that the linear visco-elastic region is independent of frequency for all the solder paste samples. To understand the shear thinning behaviour of solder paste, the well known Cross and Carreau models were fitted to the viscosity data. Moreover,creep-recovery and dynamic frequency-sweep tests were also carried out without destroying the sample’s structure and have yielded useful information on the pastes behaviour.Research limitations/implications – More extensive research is needed to fully characterise the wall-slip behaviour during the rheological measurements of solder pastes. Practical implications – The rheological test results presented in this paper will be of important value for research and development, quality control and facilitation of the manufacturing of solder pastes and flux mediums. Originality/value – This paper shows how wall-slip effects can be effectively avoided during rheological measurements of solder pastes. The paper also outlines how different rheological test methods can be used to characterise solder paste behaviours

Modelling of the time-dependent flow behaviour of lead-free solder pastes used for flip-chip assembly applications

The market for solder paste materials in the electronic manufacturing and assembly sector is very large and consists of material and equipment suppliers and end users. These materials are used to bond electronic components (such as flip-chip, CSP and BGA) to printed circuit boards (PCB's) across a range of dimensions where the solder interconnects can be in the order of 0.05mm to 5mm in size. The non-Newtonian flow properties exhibited by solder pastes during its manufacture and printing/deposition phases have been of practical concern to surface mount engineers and researchers for many years. The printing of paste materials through very small-sized stencil apertures is known to lead to increased stencil clogging and incomplete transfer of paste to the substrate pads. At these very narrow aperture sizes the paste rheology and particle-wall interactions become crucial for consistent paste withdrawal. These non-Newtonian effects must be understood so that the new paste formulations can be optimised for consistent printing. The focus of the study reported in this paper is the characterisation of the rheological properties of solder pastes and flux mediums, and the evaluation of the effect of these properties on the pastes' printing performance at the flip-chip assembly application level. Solder pastes are known to exhibit a thixotropic behaviour, which is recognised by the decrease in apparent viscosity of paste material with time when subjected to a constant shear rate. The proper characterisation of this time-dependent theological behaviour of solder pastes is crucial for establishing the relationships between the pastes' structure and flow behaviour; and for correlating the physical parameters with paste printing performance. In this paper, we present a number of methods which have been developed for characterising the time-dependent and non-Newtonian rheological behaviour of solder pastes and flux mediums as a function of shear rates. We also present results of the study of the rheology of the solder pastes and flux mediums using the structural kinetic modelling approach, which postulates that the network structure of solder pastes breaks down irreversibly under shear, leading to time and shear dependent changes in the flow properties. Our results show that for the solder pastes used in the study, the rate and extent of thixotropy was generally found to increase with increasing shear rate. The technique demonstrated in this study has wide utility for R&D personnel involved in new paste formulation, for implementing quality control procedures used in solder paste manufacture and packaging; and for qualifying new flip-chip assembly lines

Development of an in-situ, non-destructive ultrasonic monitoring technique for solder pastes

This paper concerns the use of a non-destructive ultrasonic technique for characterising the rheological properties of solder paste and specifically, the use of through-mode microsecond ultrasonic pulses for evaluation of viscoelastic properties of paste materials at the molecular level. Ultrasonic techniques are a widely used and a reliable form of non-destructive testing of materials. This is because techniques such as ultrasounds while used for testing or monitoring material properties, has offered immense benefits in applications where access to the sample is restricted or when handling the sample for testing could interfere with the monitoring or analysis process. Very often, this would mean that the measurements taken are not a true representation of the behaviour of the material (due to externally incorporated changes into the material's physical state during the removal or testing process). Ultrasonic based techniques are being increasingly used for quality control and production monitoring functions which requires evaluation of the changes in material properties over wide range of industrial applications such as cement paste quality, plastic/polymer extrusion process, dough, and even sugar content in beverage drinks. In addition, ultrasound techniques are of great interest for their capacity to take rapid measurements in systems which are optically opaque. The viscometer and rheometer are two of the most widely used rheological instruments used in industry for monitoring the quality of solder pastes, during the production and packaging stage. One of the potential limitations of viscometer and rheometer based measurements is that the collection and preparation of the solder paste samples can irreversibly alter the structure and flow behaviour of the sample. Hence the measurement may not represent the actual quality of the whole production batch. Secondly, rheological measurements and the interpretation of rheological data is a very technical and time consuming process, which requires professionally trained R&D personnel. It is for these reasons that materials suppliers (who formulate and produce solder pastes) and solder paste consumers (especially, contract electronics manufacturers) are keen to see the development of simple, easy to use and accurate techniques for the theological characterisation of solder pastes. The results from the work show that the technique can be used by R&D personnel involved in paste formulation and manufacture to monitor the batch-to-batch quality and consistency.

In-situ non-destructive ultrasonic rheology technique for monitoring different lead-free solder pastes for surface mount applications

This paper investigates the application of a non-destructive ultrasonic technique for characterising the rheological properties of solder paste through the use of through-mode microsecond ultrasonic pulses for evaluation of viscoelastic properties of lead-free solder paste containing different types of flux. Ultrasonic techniques offer a robust and reliable form of non-destructive testing of materials where access to the sample is restricted or when sample handling can interfere with the monitoring or analysis process due to externally incorporated changes to the material’s physical state or accidental contamination during the removal or testing process. Ultrasonic based techniques are increasingly used for quality control and production monitoring functions which requires evaluation of changes in material properties for a wide range of industrial applications such as cement paste quality, plastic/polymer extrusion process, dough and even sugar content in beverage drinks. In addition, ultrasound techniques are of great interest for their capability to take rapid measurements in systems which are optically opaque. The conventional industry approach for characterising the rheological properties of suspensions during processing/packaging stage is mainly through the use of viscometer and some through the use of rheometer. One of the potential limitations of viscometer and rheometer based measurements is that the collection and preparation of the solder paste samples can irreversibly alter the structure and flow behaviour of the sample. Hence the measurement may not represent the actual quality of the whole production batch. Secondly, rheological measurements and the interpretation of rheological data is a very technical and time consuming process, which requires professionally trained R&D personnel. The ultrasound technique being proposed provides simple, yet accurate and easy to use solution for the in-situ rheological characterisation of solder pastes which will benefit the materials suppliers (who formulate and produce solder pastes) and solder paste consumers (especially, contract electronics manufacturers). The results from the work show that the technique can be used by R&D personnel involved in paste formulation and manufacture to monitor the batch-to-batch quality and consistency.

A non-Newtonian computational fluid dynamics study of the stencil printing process

This paper describes the application of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to simulate the macroscopic bulk motion of solder paste ahead of a moving squeegee blade in the stencil printing process during the manufacture of electronic components. The successful outcome of the stencil printing process is dependent on the interaction of numerous process parameters. A better understanding of these parameters is required to determine their relation to print quality and improve guidelines for process optimization. Various modelling techniques have arisen to analyse the flow behaviour of solder paste, including macroscopic studies of the whole mass of paste as well as microstructural analyses of the motion of individual solder particles suspended in the carrier fluid. This work builds on the knowledge gained to date from earlier analytical models and CFD investigations by considering the important non-Newtonian rheological properties of solder pastes which have been neglected in previous macroscopic studies. Pressure and velocity distributions are obtained from both Newtonian and non-Newtonian CFD simulations and evaluated against each other as well as existing established analytical models. Significant differences between the results are observed, which demonstrate the importance of modelling non-Newtonian properties for realistic representation of the flow behaviour of solder paste.

Correlation of solder paste rheology with computational simulations of the stencil printing process

Soldering technologies continue to evolve to meet the demands of the continuous miniaturisation of electronic products, particularly in the area of solder paste formulations used in the reflow soldering of surface mount devices. Stencil printing continues to be a leading process used for the deposition of solder paste onto printed circuit boards (PCBs) in the volume production of electronic assemblies, despite problems in achieving a consistent print quality at an ultra-fine pitch. In order to eliminate these defects a good understanding of the processes involved in printing is important. Computational simulations may complement experimental print trials and paste characterisation studies, and provide an extra dimension to the understanding of the process. The characteristics and flow properties of solder pastes depend primarily on their chemical and physical composition and good material property data is essential for meaningful results to be obtained by computational simulation.This paper describes paste characterisation and computational simulation studies that have been undertaken through the collaboration of the School of Aeronautical, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at Salford University and the Centre for Numerical Modelling and Process Analysis at the University of Greenwich. The rheological profile of two different paste formulations (lead and lead-free) for sub 100 micron flip-chip devices are tested and applied to computational simulations of their flow behaviour during the printing process.