07 (36)-AF:Modelo-AF 8/20/11 6:42 AM Page 127

Electrochemical Migration on Lead-Free

Soldering of PCBs
Luiz Tadeu Freire Mendes, Valtemar Fernandes Cardoso, Ana Neilde Rodrigues da Silva
Laboratory of Integrated System, LSI - Polytechnic School- University of Sao Paulo
Av. Prof. Luciano Gualberto, trav 3 n° 158, Cidade Universitária, Sao Paulo, Brazil
[email protected];[email protected];[email protected]

ABSTRACT

It is well known that in printed circuits boards assembled by SMT technology may occur
Electrochemical Migration (ECM). This phenomenon appears mainly because the new packaging
has the terminals very close. Also the Electrochemical Migration may become a potential reliability
problem in electronic soldering when lead free technology is used in soldering electronic devices.
Electrochemical Migration is an electrochemical process where metal on an insulating material, in a
humid environment and under an applied electric field, leaves its initial location in ionic form and
redeposit. In a PCB two adjacent terminals may behave as electrodes so the dendrites grow from
cathode to anode. It can show different morphologies with the different migration elements involved
depending on the solder paste composition or PCB surface finishing. A structure with a comb shape
printed on FR4 substrate was used in the experiments. The distance between the fingers in the
structure was 102 or 254 micron, in order to simulate a real distance between dispositive terminals.
The factors considered during the experiments were surface finishing (ENIG or HASL), solder paste
composition, distance between terminals (102 or 254 micron) and applied voltage (2 or 3 V). Al the
experiments were done two times. It was observed that the solder paste and the surface finishing
don’t influences the ECM process. Tin was the main metal that migrates. All the results obtained in
these study agrees with the literature.

INTRODUCTION In system assembled in lead-free technology

the elements that are mainly achieved after ECM phe-
In the last years the electronic components are nomenon are Sn, Ag and Cu [4,5,8]. In order to ana-
becoming more miniaturized and are integrated with a lyze the effect of solder paste alloy and the PCB fin-
higher density, so that electronic packages have small ishing on ECM, we used a test structure and the
pitches between the terminals and are more vulnerable water-drop test. Deionized water is dropped between
to insulation failure. This terminal, when submitted to metal terminals, and a constant DC voltage bias is
variations in the environmental conditions such humid- applied. The variation in the system resistance was
ity, temperature and applied voltages became electro- acquired in order to evaluate the ECM phenomena.
chemically unstable. Under these conditions the metals
from terminals and or solder paste are ionized and a Experimental Procedure
conducting filament forms between two adjacent termi-
nal that behave as an anode and cathode. This filaments The experiments were performed using a test
can cause an short-circuit failure on the electronic com- structure with a comb shape. The test structure was
ponent, which is known as electrochemical migration manufactured on a regular PCB print and etch tech-
(ECM) [1-3]. The mechanism mainly responsible for nology over FR4 type substrate. The substrate was 1.6
the ECM phenomena is the dendritic growth. Dendritic mm thick with a copper layer of 0,5 oz. Two different
growth occurs as a result of metal ions traveling through surface finishing were used on the structures, tin
a solution at the anode and depositing at the cathode, applied by hot air solder level (HASL) and electroless
growing in a tree like formations [4-7]. The formation nickel gold (ENIG). The fingers have 350 µm of
of dendrites is a significant failure mode in electrical and width and the distance between them is 102 or 254
electronic systems, particularly in microelectronic com- micron, in order to simulate a real distance between
ponents on PCBs and electronic packages. the device terminals.

Journal of Integrated Circuits and Systems 2011; v.6 / n.1:127-130 127

07 (36)-AF:Modelo-AF 8/20/11 6:42 AM Page 128

Electrochemical Migration on Lead-Free Soldering of PCBs

Mendes, Cardoso & Silva

Two different commercial solder pastes were In the graph shown in figure 2 can be observed
used in the experiments: solder paste A was obtained that electrical resistance diminishes with the time indi-
from Almit, SRC Solder Paste type: HEE-LFM cating the metallic ions migration and the dendrite for-
48W–TM–HP, Flux F12 (9) and the solder paste B mation. However there are variations in these graphs
was obtained from Heraeus type: F640. Both pastes A that can be attributed to the reaction between the metal-
and B are lead-free with the same alloy composition: lic ions and the OH- ions from water decomposition.
Sn 96,5/Ag 3,0/Cu 0,5 (10). Until the end of this In table I and II are organized the time to short
paper we refer to the solder paste as A and B. values obtained from the graph. Time to short is con-
The solder paste was printed in a professional sidered when the dendrite reaches the opposite elec-
printer from Panasonic model KXF-1D3C. As a mask trode.
was used an electroformed stencil 130 microns thick.
After printing the solder paste were sintered in a
professional oven model XPM2-1030 from Vitronics.
In order to eliminate the solder flux from the sur-

R (Ohms)
face between the pads the structures were ultrasonically
cleaned with acetone during 10 min followed by IPA
during 10 min and finally with DI water during 10 min.
Electrochemical migration (ECM) tests on solder
alloys were conducted by applying constant DC voltage
with a power supply, as show in figure 1. The applied DC
voltage values were 2 and 3 V. Above 3 V the water
decomposition were observed. The electrical current was Time (seg)
measured using an HP 34401A multimeter connected
to a microcomputer. The electrical current values were
transformed into electrical resistance. Before start the
measurements DI water was dropped over the structure.
The ECM tests were performed under an opti-
cal microscope with a digital camera (Leica) in order
to observe the dendrite formation. After ECS test the
structures were analyzed by scanning electron micro-
R (Ohms)

scope (Leica Stereoscan) in order to observe the den-

drite morphology and by EDS (Oxford) to obtain the
dendrite composition.

Figure 2. Electrical resistance versus time for structures with sur-

face finishing HASL and printed with solder paste a) A and b) B.

As expected the time to short is lower for lower

distances between pads and applied voltages.
In some samples it was not observed the dendrite
growth. The cleaning process may leave some residues
of solder flux that can cause this result. The presence of
Figure 1. Electrical arrangement of the structure used to perform excess of solder flux may interfere in the ECM process.
ECM analyzes
Table I. Time to short from structures with surface finish HASL
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION and solder paste A and B.
Solder Distance Applied Time to
While performing the first experiments we Voltage short (seg)
observed that the decomposition of water occurs A 2 248
254 3 68
when the applied potential is greater than 4 V. So, to 2 106
avoid the influence of water decomposition in the 102 3 10
results, we decided to conduct all experiments on 2 B 2 no
254 3 52
and 3 V. In applied voltages lower than 2 V the obser- 2 398, Spike
ved electrochemical migration is very slow. 102 3 16

128 Journal of Integrated Circuits and Systems 2011; v.6 / n.1:127-130

07 (36)-AF:Modelo-AF 8/20/11 6:42 AM Page 129

Electrochemical Migration on Lead-Free Soldering of PCBs

Mendes, Cardoso & Silva

Figure 3. Electrical resistance versus time for structures with sur-

face finishing ENIG and printed with solder paste a) A and b) B.

Figure 4. SEM images of dendrites growth on a) solder paste A;

b) solder paste B.

Table II. Time to short from structures with surface finish ENIG
and solder paste A and B.
Solder Distance Applied Voltage Time to
short (seg)
A 254 2 —
3 18
102 2 —
3 8
B 254 2 —
3 120
102 2 176
3 6

In the SEM images it is not observed signifi-

cant differences in the dendrite morphology. The EDS
analysis shown in figure 5 and 6 confirms that the
main ion in the dendrite composition is tin. There is
no significant peaks from the others expected ions like
Cu, Ni, Au and Ag.
However, in the EDS analyzes from the struc-
tures with ENIG finishing is observed a small peaks
belonging to Ni and Cu.
In some cases the solder don’t cover complete-
ly the pad leaving some metal from the substrate
uncovered. As a result these metals from pads also Figure 5. EDS results from structures printed with the solder
migrates through the space between the pads. paste B and a) finishing of HASL and b) finishing ENIG.

Journal of Integrated Circuits and Systems 2011; v.6 / n.1:127-130 129

07 (36)-AF:Modelo-AF 8/20/11 6:42 AM Page 130

Electrochemical Migration on Lead-Free Soldering of PCBs

Mendes, Cardoso & Silva

analysis. All the results obtained in these study agrees

with the literature.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors wish to tanks to (LCT) Laborató-

rio de Caracterização Tecnológica from Polytechnic
School for SEM and EDS analyzes.

REFERENCES

1. Dominant Migration Element in Electrochemical Migration of

Eutectic SnPb Solder Alloy; Shin-Bok Lee, Ja-Young Jung,
Young-Ran Yoo, Young-Bae Park, Young-Sik Kim and Young-
Chang Jooa; 2006 Electronic Components and Technology
Conference, p. 621-24.
2. Electrochemical Migration Tests of Solder Alloys In Pure
Water; T. Takemoto, R. M. Latanisioni, T. W. Eagart, A.
Matsunawa; Corrosion Science, Vol. 39, No. 8, pp. 1415-
1430, 1997
3. Electrochemical migration characteristics of eutectic Sn-Pb
solder alloy in printed circuit board; Shin-Bok Lee, Young-Ran
Yoo, Ja-Young Jung, Young-Bae Park, Young-Sik Kim, Young-
Figure 6. EDS results from structures printed with Chang Joo; Thin Solid Films 504 (2006) 294 – 297
the solder paste A and a) finishing of HASL and b) 4. Electrochemical migration of lead free solder joints; D. Q. Yu,
W. Jillek, E. Schmitt; J Mater Sci: Mater Electron (2006) 17:
finishing ENIG. 229–241.
5. Electrochemical migration of Sn-Pb and lead free solder
alloys under distilled water; D. Q. Yu, W. Jillek, E. Schmitt; J
Mater Sci: Mater Electron (2006) 17: 219–227
CONCLUSION 6. Electromigration of Pb-free solder under a low level of current
density; J.S. Zhang, Y.C. Chana, Y.P. Wu, H.J. Xi, F.S. Wu;
As a conclusion the studies suggests that the Journal of Alloys and Compounds 458 (2008) 492–499
7. Electrochemical Processes Resulting in Migrated Short
solder paste and the surface finishing don’t influences Failures in Microcircuits; Ghabor Harshnyi; IEEE Transactions
the ECM process. In this work was used two different On Components, Packaging, and Manufacturing Technology-
kind of solder paste from two different manufacturers. Part A, vol. 18, N. 3, 1995
8. Electromigration degradation mechanism for Pb-free flip-chip
The results of the analyses performed suggest that micro solder bumps; Toru Miyazaki, Tomoya Omata; Micro-
there are no significant differences between the pastes electronics Reliability 46 (2006) 1898–1903
besides they has different quantities of solder flux. Tin 9. http://www.almit.com/dloads/Specs/ leadfree/ spec_lfm48w
%20tmhp.pdf
was the main metal that migrates. The others ions 10. http://heraeus-contactmaterials.com/en/products/solderpas-
from solder paste Ag and Cu don’t appears on EDS te/bleifrei/productpage_lead_free.aspx

130 Journal of Integrated Circuits and Systems 2011; v.6 / n.1:127-130