Hot nitrogen deballing of Ball Grid Arrays

Ball Grid Array (BGA) packages are increasingly adopted in high reliability electronics equipment. The main reliability concern is that lead-free (Pb-free) packaged BGAs bring the risks of failures due to tin whiskers growth phenomena associated with tin or tin-rich alloys. Replacing Pb-free solder balls of BGA components with tin-lead solder alloy materials is the most effective risk mitigation strategy. Post-manufacturing processes that can be used to remove (deballing) and then deposit back (reballing) BGA solder balls have been recently developed and increasingly put in practice. This paper reports on the assessment of the thermal responses of BGAs subjected to hot nitrogen (N₂) deballing and details the respective conclusions about the risk of thermally induced damage.