Effect of package design and layout on BGA solder joint reliability of an organic C4 package

Ball Grid Array (BGA) is currently the interconnect of choice for attaching microprocessors on a printed circuit board (PCB). The reliability of solder joints is one of the critical issues in BGA surface mount technology (SMT). During reliability testing, BGA fatigue failures were observed on test vehicles (TV). Finite element analysis and physical failure analysis were used to determine the risk to the product in the field. As part of this effort, parametric finite element analysis was carried out to determine the effect of design features like the package size, and BGA pattern on the propensity of fatigue failure. The results of the finite element analysis and physical failure analysis showed that the risk to fatigue failure was much greater on a peripheral/partial grid array package than in a full grid array package