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CHAPTER 6

Exponential and Logarithmic Functions

P r o j e c t

a t

M o t o r o l a

Thermal Fatigue of Solder Interconnects

E X P E R I M E N TA L F AT I G U E D ATA

What happens to an electronic package when it is subjected to repeated temperature changes? This question is important if you want your electronic product
to be reliable. Every time you use your cell phone,
pager, computer, or start your car, the electronics inside begin to warm up.When materials warm up, they
expand. However, different materials expand at different rates. For example, the glassepoxy laminate,
called a printed circuit board, has a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of 12 to 15*106/C, while
the silicon IC located inside an electronic package
has a CTE equal to 2.5*106/C. These differences
will induce inelastic deformation to the solder interconnect. The solder interconnect makes the electrical connection from the PCB to the electronic
package and is usually made of a low-melting-point
(183C) alloy comprised of tin and lead. After using
your portable product or computer or turning the car
engine off, the electronics will cool off. These temperature cycles result in repeated expansion and contraction of the material used to make the electronic
assemblies. The greater the temperature change or
the greater the difference in CTE between materials,
the greater will be the inelastic strain imparted to the
solder joint. A decrease in strain will increase fatigue
life. Lets look at a typical situation.
Example of an electronic package (top
view) soldered to a
PCB used to evaluate fatigue life.

Polymer overmold

Solder Joint Strain, p

Fatigue Cycles, Nf

0.01

10,000

0.035

1000

0.1

100

0.4

10

1.5

Using the experimental fatigue life data given in

the table, answer the following:
1. Draw a scatter diagram of the data with solder
joint strain as the independent variable.
2. Let X=ln(ep). Draw a scatter diagram of the
transformed data with X as the independent variable and fatigue cycles as the dependent variable.
What happens to the shape of the scatter diagram?
3. Let Y=ln(Nf). Draw a scatter diagram of the
transformed data with X as the independent variable and Y as the dependent variable. What type
of relation would best describe the data?
4. Find the line of best fit to the transformed data
using a graphing utility. Graph the line of best fit
on the scatter diagram drawn in problem 3.
5. Write the equation from problem 4 in the form
Nf=eb(ep)m.
[Hint:The line of best fit is ln(Nf)=m ln(ep)+b.
Think of a property of logarithms that will eliminate
the natural logarithm.]
6. If the solder joint strain is 0.02, what is the expected fatigue life? What is the inelastic solder
joint strain if the fatigue life is 3000 cycles?
7. Rewrite the function from problem 5 so that the
inelastic solder joint strain is a function of the fatigue life. Compute the solder joint strain when
the fatigue life equals 3000 cycles
Silicon IC
Polymer.glass substrate

Printed Circuit Board:

Glass-epoxy/copper composite

Solder joint interconnect