A study of wafer level package board level reliability

Board level reliability studies have been performed on wafer level packages (WLP) with various solder ball alloys, underbump metallurgy compositions, and redistribution (RDL) metal thicknesses. All of the WLPs studied pass drop shock with the thicker RDL having the best performance. In contrast to drop shock, thicker RDL did not significantly improve thermal cycle on board reliability. A WLP with no underbump metallurgy (UBM) passed drop shock, but the temperature cycle performance was marginal. A WLP with Ni-doped alloy and NiCu UBM passed drop shock; however, this Ni-rich joint failed temperature cycle.