Reliability study of the solder joints in CCGA package during thermal test

Ceramic column grid array (CCGA) modules are an extension of the ceramic ball grid array (CBGA) packages. CCGA packages are becoming increasingly popular as an alternative to Ceramic Ball Grid Array CBGA packages for applications requiring very high-density interconnections with higher board-level reliability. CCGA packages use high-temperature solder columns instead of high temperature balls. This creates a greater standoff, providing a flexible interconnection with improved thermal characteristic, significantly increasing the thermal fatigue life of the package solder joint. Understanding process, reliability, and quality assurance (QA) indicators for reliability are important for low risk insertion of these newly available packages in high reliability applications. In this study, results of thermal cycle test for a nonfunctional daisy-chained peripheral ceramic column grid array (CCGA) with 717 I/Os, were gathered and presented here. The test vehicle was built using daisy chain packages and was continuously monitored and manually checked for opens at intervals. The CCGA717 devices soldering with column were bond to the PCB board and experiment with thermal cycling test. The thermal cycle profiles is specified by IPC-9701A for tin-lead, namely -55 to 100°C. The teat data for over 1000 cycles between -55 and 100°C, with keep time of 15min in the limit temperature and temperature change rate of 10°C/min, have been analyzed with certain levels of confidence. And the board-level reliability of thermal cycling can reach over 1500 cycles.