Better Manufacturing, December 2006

by Phil Zarrow
Lead-Free Solder Joint Reliability
You give up something for everything you gain
So pay for your ticket and dont complain.
Bob Dylan Sylvio
There are a number of reasons why the RoHS directive and lead-free may be a
wrong direction. Some of these reasons appear to have a decent amount of
validity to them and others are quite questionable. The same can be said about
why RoHS may be beneficial. Of course at the heart of the debate is the
environmental question, the basis upon which RoHS was propagated. RoHS
supports the WEEE directive in keeping homogenous materials containing the
lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, and PBB and PBDE flame
retardants from being produced, let alone put into landfills. On the other hand,
the RoHS Resistance Movement is quick to cite the very often-cited University
of Stuttgart study that provides data that RoHS is more harmful to the
environment than it is beneficial. While there are some gaps in the Stuttgart
study and it would be great if some entity did a follow-on study in this direction, it
is, none-the-less data.
The other opinion of the RoHS Resistance is that lead-free solders, component
and surface finishes will produce solder joints that are less reliable than tin-lead
joints. The statement I just know that lead-free will be less reliable has been
whined numerous times. Well, this just begs the question, how do you know this?
Do you have data to support this or did you pull this assumption out of the air (or
out of your ass)?
Its been pointed out by the Resistance that expert opinion says that reliability
WILL be an issue and that the replacements for leaded solder are simply not as
reliable as their leaded predecessors
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So, who exactly are these experts and,
more important, where did they do their research and publish their data? As we
say at ITM, In God We Trust, All Others Bring Data.
Let me make it clear that I do not agree with RoHS and how it has been feisted
upon the populace. I wish John Burke, Joe Fjeldstat and the RoHS Resistance
Movement Godspeed. Thomas Jefferson said Dissent is the highest form of
patriotism and I agree. But ladies and gentlemen, we have to be scientific
about this. I should add that there are proponents of lead-free, including a few
consortia, that purport superior reliability of lead-free when compared to SnPb.
Again, lets see some real, non-commercial data.
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John Burke, http//www.rohsusa.com , April 2006
In my thirty plus years in this industry, Ive seen quite a few field failures of tin-
lead interconnections and so have you, but that doesnt mean that SnPb
technology should be branded unreliable. I have also seen lead-free in use prior
to RoHS. I remember an application Unisys was working with back in the late
eighties where CCGAs and other components were assembled to a mother-
board with a tin-bismuth alloy. Tin-silver alloys have also been used reliably in a
number of high-temperature applications for many years (e.g: automotive,
under-the-hood) pre-dating RoHS. What about all those Japanese consumer
electronics that have been manufactured lead-free for well over 5 years now.
Can any one report on massive lead-free solder joint failures and product
recalls? The Japanese are not exactly known for risking their reputation with
unreliable materials and design (with the recent possible exception of self-
destructing laptop batteries). .
As a consultant and as a columnist, I owe it to my constituency to be objective
and I have to take a pragmatic approach to the matter. Even in the very unlikely
event that the RoHS Resistance Movement succeeds in outlawing RoHS or
making everything electronic exempt, we still have to deal with the China RoHS,
the Korea RoHS and the California RoHS, all of which kick in next year. Other
states are also starting to draft RoHS-ish legislation. As the graffiti above the
toilet so aptly stated, Dont fight a fact, deal with it.
One engineer who has done his research and published his data is Dr. Jean-Paul
Clech of EPSI. Jean-Paul is one of my favorite solder joint reliability experts in
our industry. He takes an honest, objective, scientific and, yes, pragmatic
approach to the matter. He begins by stating what should be obvious: The
important question is not whether lead-free is better or worse than SnPb under
accelerated conditions, but whether product reliability requirements are met for
SAC assemblies.
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Design for Reliability what a concept! Isnt that what its
supposed to be all about?
Over the last few years, Dr. Clech has done extensive research. In addition to a
number of studies he was directly involved in, he researched countless other
studies done by various companies, research facilities, and consortiums all on
the SAC alloy. Needless to say, Jean-Paul probably sees Weibulls in his sleep.
Jean-Paul asserts that lead-free solder joint acceleration factor modeling, when
combined with actual test failure data, provides a fairly accurate and expedient
way of assessing solder joint reliability. From these values, test results can be
extrapolated relative to field conditions and provide an estimate of what can be
expected in terms of reliability at PCBA level. The alternative to these
engineering estimates is wait and see and take a chance, but the same
approach of not doing ones homework held true for SnPb assemblies.
2
J.P Clech, SnAgCu Assembly Reliability Trends and Acceleration Factors, SMTAI
Proceedings, September 2006.
Based upon test data and models, Dr. Clech has brought forth some very
interesting information. For example, with the industry trend towards SAC
compositions with lower Ag content, said lower Ag content leads to faster creep
rates and lower thermal cycling life. However, their improved ductility may help
under mechanical loading. He observes that there is a strong correlation between
SAC acceleration factors that have been obtained from compact strain energy or
FEA modeling and actual test results. (He does caution about being careful when
using algebraic models.) Hence, the importance of modeling and prediction of
reliability with regard to the reliability expectations and operating conditions of the
application are clearly demonstrated.
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The operative word here is application. Once again, as is almost always the
case in electronic assembly, things tend to be application specific. Interestingly,
from a comparative perspective, Jean-Paul found that the SAC to SnPb life ratio
decreases with 1) increases in cyclic strains (or temperature swing), 2) dwell
times and 3) mean temperature. The bottom line is that blanket statements
about lead-free solder joint reliability urgently need to be put in perspective. The
most important factor is whether or not product reliability requirements can be
met and, thus, whether the lead-free interconnection/product life is sufficient for
the application and its environment. With few, but well understood, SnPb field
failures - usually related to poor workmanship and a lack of design-for-reliability -,
many SnPb assemblies may have been over-designed, leaving room for more
optimized lead-free designs.
As was the case, once upon a time, with SnPb solder, as more data becomes
available for lead-free solder alloys, we will understand more and be able to
develop more comprehensive lifetime correlations. There already have been
applications that have benefited from conversion to lead-free (from SnPb) due to
the product environment. Sadly, at this juncture, the life of mixed assemblies
(Lead-free and SnPb) that many of us have to live with is very difficult to predict
because of the variable non-homogenous microstructure of the resulting solder
joints. There are also the issues of tin whiskers, Kirkendall voiding, tin pest and
other issues that need to be further understood and put into proper perspective
(dont panic). But we will inevitably continue to learn more as time goes by. In
the meantime, remember, were all in this together.
Special thanks to Dr. Jean-Paul Clech of EPSI International (Montclair, NJ) , on behalf of
myself and the industry, for his excellent work.
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Recommended reading: Applicability of Various Pb-Free Solder Joint Acceleration Factor
Models, Ron Zhang, Sun Microsystems and Jean-Paul Clech, EPSI, Inc; SMTAI 2006
Proceedings (available from the SMTA).
Phil Zarrow is President and Principal SMT Process Consultant for ITM
Consulting, Durham, New Hampshire. Tel: 603-868-1754.
www.ITMconsulting.org