Reliability of printed circuit boards containing lead-free solder in aggressive environments

Moshrefi-Torbati, M. and Swingler, J. (2011) Reliability of printed circuit boards containing lead-free solder in aggressive environments. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, 22 (4), 400-411. (doi:10.1007/s10854-010-0150-7).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Lead-free solders were never an industry choice until government legislation, their wide spread use is still in its infancy due to long term reliability issues. Nonetheless, one specific family of materials emerged as the favourite to offer technical advantages as well as meeting those legislative requirements. This paper investigates accelerated life behaviour of lead-free solder joints and printed circuit boards using thermal and stress cycling. The aim is to understand better the degradation of these materials in the real operating environment. Whilst corrosion and debris deposits have been found, no significant evidence has been obtained for tin whiskering. EDX analysis has shown high concentrations of elements thought to arise from the packaging material. The thermal cycling test has presented an aggressive environment to the samples supported by microscopic and macroscopic observations of debris and corrosion. However, the electrical behaviour, i.e., the joint resistance, has not significantly degraded.

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