The Reflow Attachment and Reliability Testing of Ceramic Chip Carriers

The results of an extensive program for the solder reflow attachment and reliability testiny of ceramic chip carriers for use in space satellites, implantable biomedical electronics, and underwater instrumentation are discussed in detail. The program was divided in three major parts; 1) the packaging of integrated circuit chips in ceramic carriers; 2) the selection and qualification of solders, reflow methods and cleaning processes; and 3) the validation of the chip carrier-substrate system for high reliability applications. Military Standard environmental testing of ceramic chip carriers alone and carriers attached to thin film and thick film (multilayer) ceramic substrates, glass, sapphire, and various printed wire circuit boards has been conducted. Test results are presented for various carrier-substrate-solder combinations along with discussions of associated failure modes and fabrication problem areas.