INTRODUCTION

Demanding space and weight requirements of personal computing and portable

electronic equipment has led to many innovations in IC packaging. Combining
the right interface and logic products with new package technology can have a
significant impact on the capabilities and form- factor of the end product.
Leaded surface mount devices are constantly pushing the manufacturing
capabilities of leading board manufacturers to finer and finer lead pitch
geometry’s to increase I/O density and reduce board space.
This requirement has lead to significant interest in the JEDEC (Joint Electron
Device Engineering Council) registered Fine-Pitch Ball Grid Array (FBGA)
package.
These packages are ideally suited to low cost, high volume applications, where
package size and performance is of major
Importance.

Typical BGA applications include:

1. Notebook computers
2. Personal Digital Assistants (PDA’s)
3. Mobile telephone handsets
4. High density disk drives
5. Camcorders
6. Digital cameras
BGA comparison to Fine pitch leaded components
1. BGAs are usually smaller.
2. BGAs have no fragile leads.
3. Board assembly yields are significantly improved.
4. Board inspection can be reduced.
5. BGAs have better thermal and electrical properties.
6. In many applications, the use of BGA results in signifi-
cant system level cost savings.

BALL GRID ARRAY (BGA)

Current wire-bonding technology limits today’s smaller package sizes to pin
counts of 256 or Less. The introduction of ball-grid array (BGA) package
technology allows a device to have up to 1000 interconnects on a 33 mil
package with a ball pitch of 1.5 mils. BGA package material falls
The plastic ball grid array (PBGA) has become one of the most popular
packaging alternatives for high I/O devices in the industry. Its advantages over
other high leadcount (greater than ~208 leads) packages are many. Having no
leads to bend, the PBGA has greatly reduced problems and minimized
handling issues. During reflow the solder balls are self-centering (up to 50% off
the pad), thus reducing placement problems during surface mount.
The PBGA has an improved design-to-production cycle time and can also be
used in few-chip-package (FCPs) and multi-chip modules (MCMs)
configurations. BGAs are available in a variety of types, ranging from plastic
overmolded BGAs
called PBGAs, to flex tape BGAs (TBGAs), high thermal metal top BGAs with
low profiles (HL-PBGAs), and high thermal BGAs (H-PBGAs).

The H-PBGA family includes Intel’s latest packaging technology - the Flip
Chip (FC)-style, H-PB-GA. The FC-style, H-PBGA component uses a
Controlled Collapse Chip Connect die packaged in an Organic Land Grid Array
(OLGA) substrate. In addition to the typical advantages of PBGA pack-ages,
the FC-style H-PBGA provides multiple, low-inductance connections from chip
to package,
as well as, die size and cost benefits. By providing multiple, low-inductance
connections the FC-style, HPBGA offers equivalent or better performance than
an extra on-chip metal layer. The FC technology also provides die-size
benefits through the elimination of the bond pad ring and better power bussing
and metal utilization. The OLGA substrate results in a smaller package, since
there
is no cavity, and thermal management benefits since the thermal solution can
directly contact the
die.

PBGA
BGA PACKEGING DESIGN
A BGA package consists of a wire-bonded die on a substrate. The substrate is
usually made of two metal layers of copper clad bismaleimide (BT) laminates,
but can have up to four metal layers. Four metal-layer substrate designs often
contain additional power and ground planes. The die and bonds are
encapsulated within a protective molding compound. Via holes drilled through
the board provide routing from the lead fingers to eutectic solder balls on the
underside. The array of solder balls on the underside of the BGA package
provides a high density interconnection of quality solder joints.

The H-PBGA and HL-PBGA, however, are configured differently to provide

for greater thermal and if required, electrical performance. The thermal
advantage provided by this design is based first upon attaching the die to the
bottom surface of a heatspeader or slug that also forms the topside of the
package. Secondly, because the copper heatspreader forms the top of the
package, the thermal resistance is extremely low and exposes the package
surface to available air flow. If required, this heatslug can be directly coupled
to active or passive thermal management devices such as heat sinks or heat
pipes. Improved electrical performance is achieved through additional power
and/or ground planes.
BGA CLASSIFICATION
There are various types of BGA packages are available in the market . As the
Technological development is taking place new thermally stable materials are
produced for its manufacture .the commonly used material for BGA are plastic
Ceramic etc.
The various plastic BGA’s in the market are shown below:

1) PBGA (Die up configuration )

2) H-PBGA ( Die up configuration )

3) HL-PBGA (Die down configuration )

MANUFACTURE PROCESS OF BGA
The manufacture of BGA Ic is a large step process where after each step the
inspection is done. As the processsors ,microcontrollers or different ic of
various complex circuits are design. After wards the solder balls are placed on
these chips called ball grid array packaging.
The solder balls are previously made of uniform size and are collected in an
bowl. A vacuum ball picker instrument is used which work on the phenomena
of picking the solder balls from the container with the vaccum created in the
pipe which picks the solder balls with its nozzles. A CNC machine is used to
Handle this instrument.which has been loaded with the CAD data of that Ic So
that proper alignment of solder balls can take place with the IC.The solde balls
are dipped in the flux before they are mount on the ICs The nozzles dip a small
surface of solder balls in the flux tank.

After this
it is send
to oven

Now these balls are taken to the ICs workbench where they are mounted on
them. After mounting these ICs are passed throw a oven for reflow process
where the solder balls having flux get attached to the ICs.
Now these ICs are send to the inspection Workbench , where the inspection by
naked eyes using high power lenses is done manually.where they check
problems wrong alignment,crack in solder balls if they pass it these BGA
packages are ready for sale or to be placed on PCB.
BGA BOARD DESIGN
To achieve maximum reliability, the design of the PCB on which the BGA is
mounted should be considered. In particular, the diameter of package lands and
board lands are very important. The actual sizes of these dimensions are
key factors, but their ratio is also of critical importance. Fig shows a BGA
Board Layout with the optimum 1 to 1 ratio for package land to PCB land. This
optimized ratio equalizes stresses, reducing the chances of a stress cracked
solder ball, which will lead to premature system failure. Ratios other than 1 to 1
will lead to unequal distribution of stress loads. For example, solder lands that
are larger than the package lands will place a greater amount of stress on the
ball at the package land to ball interface. This can cause cracking and premature
failure at the package land to ball interface.
BGA MOUNTING PROCESS
Replacing leaded packages with BGA’s offers several board assembly
advantages:
1. Improved device planarity
2. No chance to bend leads
3. Greater pad to pad spacing
With no chance to bend or deform leads, BGA products offer PCB
manufacturers a significant yield improvement over similar lead count fine-
pitch surface mount devices. Another important feature of BGA products is
their ability to
self-align over the PCB solder lands. This feature is caused by the surface
tension of the solder balls pulling the BGA over the pads. The use of solder
paste is recommended for mounting BGA devices, although it is possible to
omit the paste, and only use a flux. The advantages of using paste are:
1. Paste acts as a flux, and aids wetting of the solder ball to the PCB land.
2. Paste, being sticky, helps hold the component in place during reflow.
3. Paste helps to overcome any minor variations in planarity of the solder balls.
4. Paste contributes to the final volume of solder in the joint, and thus allows
this volume to be varied to give an optimum joint.
FLUXING
Most BGA assembly is done with a solder paste that contains flux, however,
there are some companies reporting adequate results from mounting BGAs
when using low residue, no clean or an aqueous clean flux. To obtain high
yields and reliable joints this may require monitoring the surface insulation
resistance of the board to insure there are no foreign contaminates on the board
or slder ball surface that will show up as reliability problems later on.
Fluxing without paste does come with disadvantages; the ball reflowed with
only flux will have a smaller solder volume than the initially attached ball.The
self centering ability decreases because of the smaller solder volume.

SOLDER PASTE
Assembly with solder paste has advantages over just fluxing the pads. The paste
is the vehicle to provide the flux necessary to both the PCB and solder ball
surfaces to enable proper soldering of the component to the board. A no-clean
or aqueous clean solder paste with 63Pb/37Sn is commonly used in mounting
the PBGA. Typically the choice of solder paste determines the profile and
reflow
parameters. Most paste manufacturers provide a suggested thermal profile for
their products which should be referenced prior to developing a reflow process.
Since the BGA balls consist of solder, the flux activity on the ball surface is
assured, so long as the paste reaches the ball surface. The selection of paste is
generally made to fit the entire component mix being assembled, not driven by
the use of BGA packages. It is necessary, however, to ensure that all the
thermal and environmental requirements of the paste can be met. On the
average, the BGA packages do not need any specialized solder paste. However,
most solder suppliers have developed a BGA paste that has minimal voiding
during reflow. This paste may also be used for non BGA components as well.

PASTE DEPOSITION INSPECTION

The quality of the paste print is the single most important factor in producing
high yield BGA assemblies. Defects detected after paste print require a strip and
rescreen of the PCB. Any deviation can turn into a defect downstream requiring
rework and repair. Thus the most economic area to intensify process controls
when beginning BGA assembly is in the paste screening step.

SOLDER STENCILS
The stencil thickness, as well as the etched pattern geometry, determines the
precise volume of solder alloy deposited onto the device land pattern. Stencil
alignment accuracy and consistent solder volume transfer is critical for uniform
reflow-solder processing. Stencils are usually made of brass or stainless steel,
with stainless steel being more durable. Hole designs are dependant on the
solder ball size, squeegee type, board layout, and the paste used. There appears
to be no single hole style that is used by everyone. There are companies that
are using square, diamond, round and oval shapped holes. Round holes are
definitely the dominate design.
Ensuring proper stencil application is the most important factor with regards to
reflow yields further on in the process.
BGA PASTE DEPOSITION
PLACEMENT & ALIGNMENT OF BGA ON PCB
PLACEMENT
BGA packages have shown excellent self-centering properties. Because of this,
wide variation in placement location is accommodated during reflow of the
solder joints. The general rule for BGA packages is that the placement be at
least 50% on pad.The self centering characteristics of the BGA are attributed to
surface tension which will pull the component onto the pad during peak reflow
temperatures.

BALL TO PAD PLACEMENT MACHINE VIEW

ALIGNMENT
The pick and place accuracy governs the package placement and rotational
(theta) alignment. This is equipment/process dependent. Slightly misaligned
parts (less than 50% off the pad) typically automatically self-align during
reflow. Self centering on the pads is greatly reduced for grossly misaligned
packages (greater than 50% off the pad) and may develop electrical shorts, as a
result of solder bridges, if they are subjected to reflow.

PICK AND PLACE MACHINE

The main areas of concern for Pick-n-Place machines are:
• Component body alignment
• Component ball alignment.
• Inspection of component balls before placement.
Most alignment inspections can be done from either the top or the bottom. As
there is no defining mark on the bottom of the BGA package, the only way to
ensure Pin 1 is located in proper position is from the top by using the Pin one
mark as the orientation indicator. Proper placement is then done:
• From the top by alignment marks on the board (which must be done on the
stencil,
• By aligning off the bottom of the component by using an up-down vision
system to accurately place the balls on the solder paste. Because the top surface
of some of the BGA packages (like the HL-PBGA types) are highly reflective,
some top side vision systems do better with their inspection process if they use
a diffuse light-ing source instead of polarized source. A round fluorescent tube
type light near the package or a light filter over the polarized fixture seems to
enhance the operation of some systems.
SOLDER REFLOW
Except for semi-accurate placement of packages, there are no special
requirements necessary when reflowing BGA components. As with all SMT
components, it is important that profiles be checked on all new board designs.
In addition, if there are multiple PBGAs on the board, the profile should be
checked at the different PBGA locations on the board. Component temperatures
may vary because of nearby surrounding components, location of the part on
the board, and areas of package densities. Temperatures may also be different at
the edge of the package than in the center.

PCB CLEANING
Cleaning can be done with aqueous, semi-aqueous, or solvent based systems, or
not done at all. With the need to eliminate Chloroflourocarbon (CFC)
containing materials, many companies have moved to using a no-clean or
aqueous based system. The proper cleaning of solder flux residues and other
ionics left on the boards from the assembly process is necessary for long term
reliability of the finished product. “NO clean” fluxes simply mean that there is
no harmful residues left on the board that will cause any corrosion or damage to
the components if left on the board. This residue has sometimes shown to be a
collection point for outside contamination on the board surface. For any
application, an evaluation needs to be done to see if the remaining residue still
needs to be removed from the boards in final application.
PACKAGE DIMENSIONS
The various PBGA packages available in the market are shown in table below :
PACKAGE BALL ARRAY CONFIGURATION
SYMBOL LIST FOR PBGA FAMILY
PBGA OUTLINE DIAGRAM
MOISTURE SESTIVITY IN BGA
Most PBGA components are highly sensitive to moisture exposure before the
reflow temperature exposure. Maintaining proper control of moisture uptake in
components is critical to the prevention of "popcorning" of the package body
or encapsulation material. BGA components, before shipping, are baked dry
and enclosed in a sealed desiccant bag with a desiccant pouch and a humidity
indicator card.
With most surface mount components, if the units are allowed to absorb
moisture beyond their out of bag times for their moisture rating, damage may
occur during the reflow process.

REWORK OF BGA PACKAGES

SMT yields of BGA packages are very high, but there may still be a possible
need for rework of components. Component defects, SMT defects, or other
functional problems require rework of the package from the PCB
Rework is the process of removing a component from a PCB, and replacing it
with a new component. The removed component is not immediately reusable.
The shape and volume of the solder balls will not be the same as a new
package. If component reuse is desired, a separate process for replacement of
solder balls should be used.

Rework Tooling
There are several systems currently on the market for reworking BGA
components. Some systems direct the heat under the package while other
systems direct hot gas on the top of the package. Backside heating is a common
feature of all BGA rework tools. While some systems attempt to backside heat
with local hot gas behind the package to be reworked, this often results in large-
scale PCB warpage during processing, especially if the PCB is large. The
suggested method is to use a global heat that brings the entire PCB up to a
specified temperature (100-125° C)

Component Removal
The BGA package is removed with a hot gas tool, usually fitted with a custom
head that is sized to the BGA package. Proper sizing of the gas head reduces the
thermal impact on adjacent packages. Correct tool settings depend on the tool
being used, the package being removed, and the PCB. Determining the settings
is an exercise in profiling, similar to initial reflow. By using a profile assembly
with thermocouples mounted in solder joints, tool settings can be determined
which assure that all solder joints reflow properly. Monitor both the top and
bottom of the PCB.
The component is removed from the PCB by a vacuum nozzle within or integral
to the hot gas head. When profiling, shut the vacuum off so the component is
not removed to avoid damage to the profile card. Control the pressure of the
head down onto the component during removal. If pressure is applied after the
solder balls are melted, the solder is pressed between the “plates” of substrate
and PCB,

ADVANTAGES OF USING BGA

 BGA packages are smaller
 No fragile leads
 Board assembly improved
 Board inspection reduce
 Better thermal,mechanical & electrical properties

CONCLUSION
BGA packages provide a reliable solution for high-pin-count designs as long as
thermal,
electrical and mechanical issues are considered. BGA devices can have a
positive impact on theoverall PCB technology. Using BGA packaging
technology can result in a more robust and cost effective assembly process
SELFCENTERING OF BGA
Self centering is one of the mot important property of solde present in BGA
Which help in proper alingment