Publications Details

Capillary flow of solder on chemically roughened PWB surfaces

Hosking, F.M.; Stevenson, J.O.; Yost, F.G.

The Center for Solder Science and Technology at Sandia National Laboratories has developed a solderability test for evaluating fundamental solder flow over PWB (printed wiring boards) surface finishes. The work supports a cooperative research and development agreement between Sandia, the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS), and several industrial partners. An important facet of the effort involved the ``engineering`` of copper surfaces through mechanical and chemical roughening. The roughened topography enhances solder flow, especially over very fine features. In this paper, we describe how etching with different chemical solutions can affect solder flow on a specially designed ball grid array test vehicle (BGATV). The effects of circuit geometry, solution concentration, and etching time are discussed. Surface roughness and solder flow data are presented to support the roughening premise. Noticeable improvements in solder wettability were observed on uniformly etched surfaces having relatively steep peak-to-valley slopes.