Design of a container for the collection of solder balls produced by the Uniform Droplet Spray (UDS) process

Abstract

The electronics industry will endlessly seek higher performing electronic components that are smaller, lighter, and cheaper. Chip packaging is thought to be a solution. Ball Grid Array (BGA) packaging, a type of surface mount package, provides more 1/0 connections while increasing the reliability and decreasing the size of the electronics component. BGA packaging is an interconnection technology that uses an array of small uniform solder balls as the connection element between the chip and the circuit module or the circuit module and the card. The success of BGA packaging relies on the quality and the cost of the solder balls being used. Current solder ball production is of low yield and high cost, however, the Uniform Droplet Spray (UDS) process has proven itself to be an efficient method. Still, the electronics industry requires solder balls of higher sphericity. The present work investigates improvements made to the UDS process in order to increase the sphericity of the solder balls. The thesis begins by describing the motivation and importance of the current research. The theoretical analysis begins the process of designing two different col­lection containers. The containers are tested to determining their effectiveness. The first design exhibited balls with a 2% decrease in sphericity, while the second design exhibited balls with a 2% improvement in sphericity.