Impact of Reprocessing Technique on First Level Interconnects of Pb-Free to SnPb Reballed Area Array Flip Chip Devices

Abstract

The risk of damage caused by reballing SnPb eutectic solder balls onto a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) active flip chip with a ball grid array (BGA) of SAC305 was studied. The effects of reballing performed by five different reballers were examined and compared. The active flip chip device selected included manufacturer specified resistance between eight (8) differential port pairs. The path resistance between these pins following reballing, as compared to an unreballed device, was used to assess damage accumulation in the package. 2-dimensional x-ray microscopy, acoustic microscopy, and x-ray computer tomography were also used to characterize the effects of reballing. These studies indicated that no measureable damage was incurred by the reballing process, implying that reballed devices should function as well as non-reballed devices in the same application.