Technical Library | 2013-07-03 10:31:54.0
It has been demonstrated in numerous pieces of work that stencil printing, one of the most complex PCB assembly processes, is one of the largest contributors to defects (Revelino et el). This complexity extends to prototype builds where a small number of boards need to be assembled quickly and reliably. Stencil printing is becoming increasingly challenging as packages shrink in size, increase in lead count and require closer lead spacing (finer pitch). Prototype SMT assembly can be further divided between industrial and commercial work and the DIYer, hobbyist or researcher groups. This second group is highly price sensitive when it comes to the materials used for the board assembly as their funds are sourced from personal or research monies as opposed to company funds. This has led to development of a lower cost SMT printing stencil made from plastic film as opposed to the more traditional stainless steel stencil used by industrial and commercial users.This study compares the performance of these two traditional materials and their respective impact on solder paste printing including efficiency and print quality.
Technical Library | 2023-07-25 16:25:56.0
This paper address two significant applications of stencils in advance packaging field: 1. Ultra-Thin stencils for miniature component (0201m) assembly; 2. Deep Cavity stencils for embedded (open cavity) packaging. As the world of electronics continues to evolve with focus on smaller, lighter, faster, and feature-enhanced high- performing electronic products, so are the requirement for complex stencils to assemble such components. These stencil thicknesses start from less than 25um with apertures as small as 60um (or less). Step stencils are used when varying stencil thicknesses are required to print into cavities or on elevated surfaces or to provide relief for certain features on a board. In the early days of SMT assembly, step stencils were used to reduce the stencil thickness for 25 mil pitch leaded device apertures. Thick metal stencils that have both relief-etch pockets and reservoir step pockets are very useful for paste reservoir printing. Electroform Step-Up Stencils for ceramic BGA's and RF Shields are a good solution to achieve additional solder paste height on the pads of these components as well as providing exceptional paste transfer for smaller components like uBGAs and 0201s. As the components are getting smaller, for example 0201m, or as the available real estate for component placement on a board is getting smaller – finer is the aperture size and the pitch on the stencils. Aggressive distances from step wall to aperture are also required. Ultra-thin stencils with thicknesses in the order of 15um-40um with steps of 15um are used to obtain desired print volumes. Stencils with thickness to this order can be potential tools even to print for RDLs in the package.
Technical Library | 2023-07-25 16:50:02.0
Some of the new handheld communication devices offer real challenges to the paste printing process. Normally, there are very small devices like 01005 chip components as well as 0.3 mm pitch uBGA along with other devices that require higher deposits of solder paste. Surface mount connectors or RF shields with coplanarity issues fall into this category. Aperture sizes for the small devices require a stencil thickness in the 50 to 75 um (2-3 mils) range for effective paste transfer whereas the RF shield and SMT connector would like at least 150 um (6 mils) paste height. Spacing is too small to use normal step stencils. This paper will explore a different type of step stencil for this application; a "Two-Print Stencil Process" step stencil. Here is a brief description of a "Two-Print Stencil Process". A 50 to 75 um (2-3 mils) stencil is used to print solder paste for the 01005, 0.3 mm pitch uBGA and other fine pitch components. While this paste is still wet a second in-line stencil printer is used to print all other components using a second thicker stencil. This second stencil has relief pockets on the contact side of the stencil any paste was printed with the first stencil. Design guidelines for minimum keep-out distances between the relief step, the fine pitch apertures, and the RF Shields apertures as well relief pocket height clearance of the paste printed by the first print stencil will be provided.
Technical Library | 2023-08-04 15:27:30.0
A designed experiment evaluated the influence of several variables on appearance and strength of Pb-free solder joints. Components, with leads finished with nickel-palladium-gold (NiPdAu), were used from Texas Instruments (TI) and two other integrated circuit suppliers. Pb-free solder paste used was tin-silver-copper (SnAgCu) alloy. Variables were printed wiring board (PWB) pad size/stencil aperture (the pad finish was consistent; electrolysis Ni/immersion Au), reflow atmosphere, reflow temperature, Pd thickness in the NiPdAu finish, and thermal aging. Height of solder wetting to component lead sides was measured for both ceramic plate and PWB soldering. A third response was solder joint strength; a "lead pull" test determined the maximum force needed to pull the component lead from the PWB. This paper presents a statistical analysis of the designed experiment. Reflow atmosphere and pad size/stencil aperture have the greatest contribution to the height of lead side wetting. Reflow temperature, palladium thickness, and preconditioning had very little impact on side-wetting height. For lead pull, variance in the data was relatively small and the factors tested had little impact.
Technical Library | 2023-07-25 16:42:54.0
Printing solder paste for very small components like .3mm pitch CSP's and 01005 Chip Components is a challenge for the printing process when other larger components like RF shields, SMT Connectors, and large chip or resistor components are also present on the PCB. The smaller components require a stencil thickness typically of 3 mils (75u) to keep the Area Ratio greater than .55 for good paste transfer efficiency. The larger components require either more solder paste height or volume, thus a stencil thickness in the range of 4 to 5 mils (100 to 125u). This paper will explore two stencil solutions to solve this dilemma. The first is a "Two Print Stencil" option where the small component apertures are printed with a thin stencil and the larger components with a thicker stencil with relief pockets for the first print. Successful prints with Keep-Outs as small as 15 mils (400u) will be demonstrated. The second solution is a stencil technology that will provide good paste transfer efficiency for Area Ratio's below .5. In this case a thicker stencil can be utilized to print all components. Paste transfer results for several different stencil types including Laser-Cut Fine Grain stainless steel, Laser-Cut stainless steel with and w/o PTFE Teflon coating, AMTX E-FAB with and w/o PTFE coating for Area Ratios ranging from .4 up to .69.
Technical Library | 2014-03-13 15:25:01.0
A student competition paper at Budapest University of Technology And Economics, Department of Electronics Technology gives background, covers stencil design and discusses stencils intended for pin in paste application. The stencil applied for depositing the solder paste is a thin, 75–200 µm thick metal foil, on which apertures are formed according to the solder pads on the printed circuit board. Stencil printing provides a fast, mass solder paste deposition process; relatively expensive, appropriate and recommended for mass production.
Technical Library | 2015-08-25 13:51:27.0
The stencil printing process is one of the most critical processes in the electronic production. Due to the requirement: "faster and smaller" it is necessary to place components with different paste volume close together without regard to solder paste printing. In our days it is no longer possible to control the solder paste volume only by adjustment of the aperture dimensions. The requirements of solder paste volumes for specific components are realized by different thicknesses of metal sheets in one stencil with so called step stencils. The step-down stencil is required when it is desirable to print fine-pitch devices using a thinner stencil foil, but print other devices using a thicker stencil foil. The paper presents the innovative technology of step-up and step-down stencils in a laser cutting and laser welding process. The step-up/step-down stencil is a special development for the adjustment of solder paste quantity, fulfilling the needs of placement and soldering. This includes the laser cutting and laser welding process as well as the resulting stencil characteristics and the potential of the printing process.
Technical Library | 2021-04-21 19:28:30.0
Voids affect the thermal characteristics and mechanical properties of a solder joint, thereby affecting the reliability of the solder interconnect. The automotive sector in particular is requiring the mitigation of solder voids in various electronic control modules to the minimum possible level. Earlier research efforts performed to decrease voids involved varying the reflow profile, paste deposit, paste alloy composition, stencil aperture, and thickness.
Technical Library | 2015-06-11 21:20:29.0
The use of bottom terminated components (BTC) has become widespread, specifically the use of Quad Flat No-lead (QFN) packages. The small outline and low height of this package type, improved electrical and thermal performance relative to older packaging technology, and low cost make the QFN/BTC attractive for many applications.Over the past 15 years, the implementation of the QFN/BTC package has garnered a great amount of attention due to the assembly and inspection process challenges associated with the package. The difference in solder application parameters between the center pad and the perimeter pads complicates stencil design, and must be given special attention to balance the dissimilar requirements
Technical Library | 2023-05-02 19:06:43.0
As 0402 has become a common package for printed circuit board (PCB) assembly, research and development on mounting 0201 components is emerging as an important topic in the field of surface mount technology for PWB miniaturization. In this study, a test vehicle for 0201 packages was designed to investigate board design and assembly issues. Design of Experiment (DOE) was utilized, using the test vehicle, to explore the influence of key parameters in pad design, printing, pick-andplace, and reflow on the assembly process. These key parameters include printing parameters, mounting height or placement pressure, reflow ramping rate, soak time and peak temperature. The pad designs consist of rectangular pad shape, round pad shape and home-based pad shape. For each pad design, several different aperture openings on the stencil were included. The performance parameters from this experiment include solder paste height, solder paste volume and the number of post-reflow defects. By analyzing the DOE results, optimized pad designs and assembly process parameters were determined.
