Whisker Root Cause and Respective Test Conditions

Dittes, M*.; Oberndorff, P**.; Crema, P.*** *Infineon Technologies, ** Philips CFT, *** STMicroelectronics marc.dittes@infineon.com pascal.oberndorff@philips.com paolo.crema@st.com

Abstract Electroplated Tin on leadframe components is the leadfree alternative to SnPb plating of widest use worldwide. However the well known risk of whisker formation and associated shortage is still lacking accepted test methods and criteria and hinders the conversion to lead-free components. PROTIN, an EU funded project consortium consisting of the three largest European semiconductor manufacturers, Infineon, Philips and STMicroelectronics, known as E3 has the target to evaluate and to establish standard test method, conditions and respective acceptance criterion to be used for the qualification of such electroplated tin finishes. Based on four years intensive individual and joint research on the subject, such test method and criteria are identified and will be introduced. The test addresses the main sources for whisker generation and distinguishes various base materials, such as Cu-based material or FeNi42. The mechanisms for Cu, which has been identified to be the irregular growth of intermetallics and that for FeNi42 leadframe, which is the cte mismatch between base material and finish, are different. Also the typical period of appearance prior to assembly for Cu-based and during service life for FeNi42 differs. Thus the respective test method and criteria must be different as well. For all materials an isothermal storage in moderate temperature and humidity is chosen. For low cte base material a temperature cycling test shall be applied. The test conditions selected are introduced, and the background of the respective
FeNi42 L/F

test methods based on the mechanisms and experimental results given. Additionally the method for inspection and the acceptance criteria are discussed. Introduction With the move to lead-free electronic products the solderable SnPb finish on leadrame semiconductor components has been or is going to be replaced by a lead-free alternative. The most common finish material is electroplated matt pure tin. [1]. The most important reason of nonacceptance of tin finish by board assemblers and original electronic manufacturers (OEMs) is the fear of shorts caused by tin whiskers. Associated with this fear is the lack of a standardised test method and standardised acceptance criteria of such tests. Recently such tests have been proposed by the NEMI tin whisker test group [2] and by a working group of Japanese JEITA [3]. However, according to our findings these proposals do not fulfil our criteria, stated below, for an adequate test. The authors of this paper regard a test based on the major mechanisms for whisker growth essential. The tests should be designed such that neither components have to be discarded due to false rejects because of too severe test conditions, nor components with critical propensity for whisker growth will pass the tests. Furthermore the inspection procedure should cost as little effort as possible and should be free of academic information on the whisker shape or type. Since all tin based alloys have some propensity to grow tin whiskers, the test
whisker

no whisker growth

Cu-based L/F

whisker
storage conditions

no whisker growth

service life conditions

tin plating

board assembly/ soldering

product end of life

= 2 years

= 15 years

Fig. 1

Simplified overview of various conditions and respective whisker growth. The different conditions for whisker growth have to be taken into account in order to identify the appropriate test conditions with respect to the metallurgical system.

should be applicable to all finishes and should not be restricted to pure tin finishes. Last but not least it is the authors opinion that a standard should cover most of the typical conditions and applications, but need not necessarily take all exemptions and exotic conditions into account. Therefore all the experience from more than four years of common and individual research of the authors was taken as a base to deduct the tests, inspection procedure and acceptance criteria below and judged on their relevance for the majority of electronic applications. Experimental Most of our results and experimental approach have been reported in previous papers [4, 5, 6, 7, 8]. Thus we will only report on the essentials used for the discussion and give the respective experimental information where necessary below. Discussion According to the major mechanism for whisker growth we distinguish four different cases. First we differentiate between Cu-based leadframe material and FeNi42 leadframe or other materials with a coefficient of thermal expansion (cte) significantly smaller than that of tin. Secondly we distinguish between storage time of the device after component assembly and prior to board assembly and the time of field application (Fig. 1). The storage conditions are marked by a time period of typically less than two years and only very moderate change of temperature. Thus isothermal storage is a reasonable test condition. For matt pure tin plated FeNi42 leadframe we never observed whisker growth in any isothermal conditions (Fig 2).
Uncontrolled ambient atmosphere
max. whisker length in m 10 8 6 4 2 0 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 time in days
Further test w/o whisker formation 55 C 85 C / 85 % r.h. 60 C / 93 % r.h 150 C 600 days 6 months 3 months 1000 h
longest whisker in m

100

longest whisker in m

80 ambient 2,6 m 60 30 C / 60 % r.h., 2.6 m

40

20

0 0 50 100 150 time in days 200 250 300

Fig. 3 Whisker growth on a 2.6 m thick matt tin electroplated on CuCrSiTi (C18070) in uncontrolled ambient conditions compared to 30 C / 60 % R.H. storage A storage at 50 C with low humidity as discussed by others [9] or a storage in 85 C with 85 % R.H. will result in smaller whiskers compared to uncontrolled ambient conditions. The also proposed test conditions of 60 C with 93 % R.H. [2,3] is regarded as too far away from typical field life conditions and might result in a mechanistic change, such as the flower like whiskers due to condensation of water during the experiment as reported by Agere [10 ].
250 1,9 m ambient 200 150 100 50 0 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 time in days 140 1,9 m 55 C / ambient 1,9 m 85 C / 85 % r.h.

3,7 m Sn 6,6 m Sn 9,5 m Sn 11,7 m Sn 14,7 m Sn

Fig. 2: No whisker growth was found in isothermal storage of tin plated FeNi42 However, since other plating types may be deposited with high levels of intrinsic stress, which may cause whisker formation, a test in isothermal conditions is recommended for all plating types on all leadframe materials. In contrast to FeNi42 leadframes high propensity for whisker growth can be found for matt tin electroplated on Cubased leadframes. As reported previously [8] only the application of moderate temperatures (30 C to 55 C) in combination with moderate to high relative humidity (60 % to 85 %) was successful in accelerating the whisker growth compared to uncontrolled ambient conditions. (see Fig 2)

Fig. 4 Both, a 55 C storage and a combination of high temperature and high humidity will result in smaller whiskers for the same material in test Recent studies have shown that the major mechanism for whisker growth on tin plated Cu-alloys is the irregular growth of intermetallics Cu6Sn5 [6]. Additionally humidity appears to contribute to whisker formation, but is regarded to be of second order. The field life time of most components is marked by a more or less excessive temperature variation over a time period of up to 15 years (or even longer). This can be caused by change of the surrounding temperature (e.g. day / night, summer/winter, engine on/off) or by power loss during operation and the combination of both. Also typically for this period is that the components have been assembled on a printed circuit board (PCB), the majority of components are soldered and the majority of the PCBs are

made of glass fibre epoxy with a typical coefficient of thermal expansion (cte) matching that of copper (~17 ppm/K). It is the global mismatch of cte between a semiconductor or passive component and the PCB that causes the solder joint degradation during temperature cycling. Whisker formation can be the result of thermal cycling and the local cte mismatch between the base material and the finish. Since the cte of copper and tin differs only by a factor of 1.3 (~23 ppm/K for Sn and 17 ppm/K for Cu) matt tin electroplated will grow no or only little whiskers during temperature cycling [5,7]. Thus temperature cycling is not the appropriate test condition for tin or tin alloy finishes electroplated on copper alloys.
120 whisker length in m 100 80 60 40 20 0 0 500 1000 cycles 1500 2000 SnPbAg soldered SnAgCu soldered

It can be shown that SnPb electroplated to FeNi42 leadframe components results in whisker length equal to that of matt tin electroplated to FeNi42 when subjected to the same test conditions (Fig. 6). SnPb platings have been applied for decades without concern and are accepted for all kind of electronic applications. Since the precise correlation between any kind of thermal cycling test and field life is not available and a precise prediction of the maximum whisker growth is not possible it appears to be a reasonable approach to accept the whisker formation, which is actually accepted for SnPb platings. Test proposal According to above findings and considerations we propose two different test, which shall be applied with respect to the material composition. The first test is an isothermal storage in air at 30 C and a relative humidity of 60 % for 8 weeks. It shall be applied to any tin based finish type and on any base material. In our 2003 ECTC presentation [4] we proposed to extrapolate the whisker growth according to some mathematical operations after the same time of inspection. At that time we proposed to apply the test to a component with the plating thickness at its lower end of specification. However, we had to realise that whisker growth can be too slow to really judge on the propensity for whisker growth in such a short time if the plating thickness is high enough (e.g > 7 m). In contrast thick layer with siginficatn whiserk growth propensity reveal whiskers of significant length already in such a short test period. Thus we propose to apply the above test to a plating thickness of 3 0.5 m for qualification purposes irrespective of the specified thickness. If the specified thickness is below 3 m the typical thickness may be applied. By this approach it can be assured that the test is discriminative enough to distinguish between platings with a serious propensity for whisker growth and platings with appropriate countermeasures against whisker growth. In order to make inspection easier and due to the fact that we could not clearly identify the influence of bending, where possible the test shall be applied to the leadframe in strip form prior to singulation or forming of the components. The number of components shall be such that a minimum of 40 leads will be inspected, whereas these leads shall not be free of choice, but shall be the outer leads of each package side, i.e. a four side leaded component provides 8 of such leads, whereas a dual line package or a single line packages provides only 4 and 2 leads, respectively. The second test is a thermal cycling test. It shall be applied to all components with a significant cte mismatch between the base material and the finish or a interlayer and the finish. I.e. all components based on a termination material or interlayer material with a cte of 15 ppm/K shall be subjected to this test, whereas others need not to be tested. We propose an air to air shock cycling in a two chamber system between - 40 C and + 85 C with a 20 min dwell time at both temperature limits for 500 cycles Since board assembly has a significant influence on the whisker formation and lead-free soldering has been identified as more ciritcal, the test shall be applied to the same number of components as for the isothermal storage test, with the

Fig. 5 Maximum whisker length for components with matt tin electroplated to FeNi42 leadframe soldered to PCB after up to 2000 thermal cycles -40 C / +85 C, 5 K/min, 30 min dwell. The last case in Fig 1 is tin alloy finish electroplated on FeNi42 during operation or field life. As stated before the components are soldered to board and will be subjected to various kind of thermal cycling.
120 whisker length in m 100 80 60 40 20 0 0 500 1000 cycles 1500 2000 SnPb10 plating Sn plating

Fig. 6 Comparison of whisker growth of components with SnPb10 and Sn electroplated to FeNi42, soldered to PCB with SnAgCu solder after up to 2000 thermal cycles -40 C / +85 C, 5 K/min, 30 min dwell. Due to the cte mismatch between FeNi42 (~4 ppm/K) and tin (~23 ppm/K), which differ with a factor of more than five, whisker will grow during operation, if the temperature of the component varies significantly.

same number of leads to be inspected, but the components shall be soldered to a PCB with a SnAgCu solder paste. In order to harmonise test conditions, we propose to use a ROL0 or ROL1 type solder paste according to J-STD 004 and apply a lead-free solder profile with a peak temperature of 245 C with the temperature measured at the termination. These conditions shall be applied to components dedicated for board assembly by soldering. Others shall be tested in their typical form of application, e.g. press fit connection. Inspection For whisker detection and measurement an optical microscope with appropriate illumination shall be used. All the leads specified above shall be inspected with a 50 to 100 times magnification perpendicular to the component body or leadframe in life bug position. For bended components it is necessary to adjust the focus appropriately during the inspection of every single termination. The microscope shall be equipped with a scale or tool making a measurement of the whisker length possible with an accuracy of at least 2 m. Acceptance criteria Whiskers can grow either straight, kinked or in any irregular shape. Thus it is diffucult to determine the precise length of a whisker. Therefore we propose to introduce the so called critical length. This is defined as a line parallel to the lead with constant distance. Every projection of a whisker to a plane perpendicular to the optical axis during inspection exceeding this line irrespective of the whiskers direction of growth or its shape is over critical length (see Fig 7).

material and the conditions, such as isothermal storage or temperature cycling. A whisker test shall consider both the respective major mechanism and the conditions, which may cause whiskers. During storage prior to board assembly and operation whiskers can grow due to irregular formation of intermetallics on tin plated Cu-Leadfame or due to intrinsic stress from the electroplating process. The propensity to form whiskers in this period shall be tested with anisothermal storage in 30 C / 60 % R.H. for all systems prior to singulation. During field life or operation thermal cycling in association with a cte mismatch of the finish and the base material is the major driver for whisker growth. Thus a thermal cycling test shall be applied to all tin alloy finishes plated on a material with a cte 15 ppm/K, only. The devices shall be tested in a state similar to their application, i.e. assembled to a PCB. Acknowledgments The authors like to thank the European Union, which funds parts of the existing and ongoing work within the IST program under the acronym PROTIN. References 1. Second European Lead-Free Soldering Technology Roadmap and framework for an International Roadmap. Feb 2003, www.soldertec.com 2. Tin Whisker growth test, Rev 4.5 9/16/03. www.nemi.org/projects/ese/lf_hottopics.html, Tin Whisker Accelerated Test 3. IEC work item proposal by JEITA:Environmental Testing Tests - Test TR - Whisker test methods for electronic and electric components terminals, Nov. 2003 4. Dittes, M.; Oberndorff, P.J.T.L; Petit, L. Tin Whisker Formation Results, Test Methods and Countermeasures Proc. 53rd. Electronic Components & Technology Conference 2003, pp. 822-826 5. Oberndorff, P.J.T.L; Dittes, M; Petit, L; Chen, C.C; Klerk, J; Kluizenaar, E.E. de.Tin Whiskers on Lead-Free Platings Proc. SEMI Technology Symposium, Advanced Packaging Techn. II, August 2003, Singapore, pp. 51-55 6. Oberndorff, P.J.T.L; Dittes, M; Petit, L; Intermetallic Formation in Relation to Tin Whiskers Proc. of the IPC/ Soldertec International Conference Towards Implementation of the RHS Directive June, 11-12 2003, Brussels, Belgium, pp. 170-178 7. Dittes, M; Oberndorff, P; Crema, P; Schroeder, V. Tin Whisker Formation in Thermal Cycling Conditions Proc. 5th Electronic Packaging Technology Conference Dec. 2003, Singapore, pp. 183-188 8. Oberndorff , P; Dittes, M. Crema, P; Whisker Formation on Sn Plating Proc IPC / JEDEC 5th Intern. Conference on Lead-Free Electronic Assemblies and Components, March 2004, San Jose, USA, LF-304, item 34 Oberndorff.pdf 9. Galyon, G; Annotated Tin Whisker Bibliography and Anthology, v. 1.2, updated Nov. 2003, www.nemi.org/projects/ese/lf_hottopics.html, Tin Whisker Accelerated Test 10. private communication with John Osenbach, Agere Systems, Feb. 2004

critical critical

Fig. 7 Definition of the critical length for whisker inspection Already in July 2001 the PROTIN member companies have specified a maximum of 50 m whisker length after a storage of two years as their internal acceptance criterion. Thisappears to find wide acceptance and shall not be changed. However, since the test duration is only 8 weeks for the isothermal storage and the test shall be discriminative for platings with high and low propensity for whisker growth, we propose an acceptable critical length of 20 m for the first (isothermal) test and the duration of 8 weeks for qualification purposes. For the thermal cycling test a critical length of 50 m after 500 cycles in above conditions is proposed. Summary and Conclusions Tin alloys electroplated as solderable finish to electronic device terminations can grow whiskers. However the mechanism for whisker growth differs with respect to the base