Not Whiskers or Hillocks, But Tin Bumps on RF Shielding Cans

Author

Varkey, Bijumon ; Christian, Bev ; Liu, Julie ; Romanov, Alexandre ; Moorhead, Philip

Author_Institution

Eng. Quality Assurance Group, Res. In Motion Ltd., Waterloo, ON, Canada

Volume

10

Issue

3

fYear

2010

Firstpage

353

Lastpage

359

Abstract

Pure tin bumps can sometimes be formed on tin-plated steel RF cans during certain conditions of reflow. This is a rare phenomena not associated with tin whiskers. A Design of Experiments (DOE) strategy was used to confirm the oven variables that could be used to turn the formation on or off. Extensive lab work and investigation by the supplier revealed that the root cause of these bumps is organic contamination during the plating process.

Keywords

design of experiments; electromagnetic shielding; surface mount technology; tin; whiskers (crystal); RF shielding cans; design of experiments; hillocks; organic contamination; surface mount technology; tin bumps; whiskers; Circuits; Manufacturing; Ovens; Permission; RF signals; Radio frequency; Steel; Surface-mount technology; Tin; US Department of Energy; Design of Experiments (DOE) analysis; organic contaminates in plating bath; radio frequency (RF) shielding cans; reliability of metal plating process; surface mount technology (SMT); tin bumps;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Device and Materials Reliability, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1530-4388

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TDMR.2010.2050772

Filename

5471253