ASSESSMENT OF PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD SOLDERABILITY

PROBLEM / OBJECTIVE

The object of the Surface Spectroscopy Solderability Assessment is to detect marginally solderable circuit
boards that have been coated with organic solderability preservative (OSP) before they are committed to
the production line.

The advancing trend to smaller design features and area array packaging of electronic components place
stringent requirements on the planarity of the printed circuit boards. Planarity is improved by using OSP
coatings instead of a hot air solder leveled (HASL) surface finish to protect board solderability. However,
OSP coatings are transparent and have a limited shelf life. Therefore a reliable and rapid, nondestructive
assessment method is required both to assure that OSP-coated boards were properly coated and that the
coating remains effective.

For maximum utility, the solderability assessment should be immediate, allowing it to be incorporated into
a work station preceding mounting of components on the boards as an automatic go/no-go determination
without requiring technical skill or data interpretation.

Accordingly, the objectives of this program were to investigate the ability of various reflectance
technologies to:

• Measure and correlate changes in the surface reflectance of copper with solderability.
• Develop a rapid, nondestructive predictive test for PCB solderability.
• Demonstrate a commercially viable solderability assay using the most appropriate reflectance
technology.

APPROACH / BUSINESS STRATEGY

Various surface spectroscopic analytical methods were applied to OSP-coated boards to determine the
preferred technology. The methods included ellipsometry, infrared (FTIR), near infrared and Raman as
well as UV-Visible (specular, grazing angle, diffuse, and attenuated total reflectance) spectroscopy.

The most promising technology was chosen for extensive study, correlation with alternative methods of
solderability assessment and ultimate development of a system that could be used in the production
environment.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS /PAYOFF
Process Improvement:

Specular Differential UV-Visible Reflectance Spectroscopy was selected as a highly effective method for the
solderability assessment of OSP-coated wiring boards. Based on this finding, a portable, reliable and cost
effective instrument was assembled using COTS components. For its application, a chemometric method
was developed to correlate surface spectroscopy with OSP-coated board solderability, and to unequivocally
identify the presence or absence of OSP. The method is nondestructive and immediate. The development
of analytical and presentation software based on this system facilitates its use as a production line work
station preceding component placement. As a result, the project has provided a powerful tool to eliminate
solderability failures in production due to degradation or variability of board solderability

The Surface Spectroscopy results closely parallel the solderability values measured by the wetting balance
technique and by sequential electrochemical reduction analysis (SERA), as shown by the chart. The chart
plots increasing concentration of copper oxides, which are direct indicators of increasing solderability.
However, whereas the wetting balance and SERA are destructive tests that must be performed off-line,
the surface spectroscopy technique overcomes these requirements.

Payoff:

The cost avoidance associated with real-time evaluation of solderability is estimated at 10 percent for
every DoD board, based on an increase in manufacturing yields and decreased scrap and rework. Based
on a 10% cost savings per board in the PLGR program at Rockwell, the use of OSP coatings equates to a
$100K savings in board costs annually. Extrapolating to other Rockwell programs and contributing
partners (TI) raises this number to $600K per year.

The calculated project ROI over 5 years:

(Cost Savings) ÷ (ManTech $) = $3MM/$0.5M = 6:1

Implementation:

The unique technology that has been developed is being protected by patent application. Manuals and
demonstration plaques have been prepared to support beta trials that confirm real-time utility in the
production environment. The field experiences support the utility of the system, and have opened
additional areas of interest and value for future extension of the system, including:
 a. Use of the system as an incoming quality measure to determine that boards had been adequately
OSP-coated.
b. Assessment of chromate passivating agents applied to aluminum and copper surfaces.
c. Measurement of the thickness of conversion coatings on PCBs.
d. Determination of changes within the OSP layer on aging, in order to modify the OSP composition to
increase the shelf life of coated PCBs.

Technology Transfer:

• The technology was presented and discussed at the IPC Third Annual National Conference: A
Summit on Surface Finishes and PWB Solderability, September 1999.
• The presentation was updated and repeated at 26th International Symposium for Testing and
Failure Analysis (ISTFA), November 2000.
• Beta Unit #1 is in use at Rockwell Collins, where the evaluation of PCB solderability has been
placed on temporary hold in order to use the instrument to pursue their more immediate problem
in the measurement of chromate passivating agents on aluminum.
• Beta Unit #2 has been used in an independent study of PCB solderability by the State University of
New York (SUNY) at Binghamton. Using alternative methods to measure solderability and different
aging conditions, this study again has confirmed the good correlation between uv reflectance
spectroscopy and solderability. This work is expected to result in a joint publication in the near
future.
• Beta Unit #3 was demonstrated to Enthone-OMI/Cookson, and will be used as a tool to evaluate
OSP degradation, the thickness of applied OSP coatings, and PCB solderability.

TIMELINE / MILESTONES

Start Date: September 1996.

End Date: September 1999.

FUNDING

This project has been accomplished with a Navy Investment of $500K over a period of two years, with an
In-kind investment of $553K on the part of the industry participants.

PARTICIPANTS

• EMPF
• Rockwell Collins
• Army Research Laboratories
• Applied Research Laboratories, Pennsylvania State University
• SUNY Binghamton
• Enthone-OMI/Cookson
• Raytheon
• Texas Instruments

POINTS OF CONTACT

Navy ManTech

Office of Naval Research

Mr. Steve Linder (Code361)
(703) 696-8482
linderst@onr.navy.mil

Performing Activity
Electronics Manufacturing Productivity Facility
Mr. Michael Frederickson
610-362-1200
mfrederickson@aci-corp.org