Authored By:
Evstatin Krastev and David Bernard
Nordson DAGE
Fremont, CA, USA
Summary
With PCB complexity and density increasing and also wider use of 3D devices, tougher requirements are now imposed on device inspection both during original manufacture and at their subsequent processing onto printed circuit boards. More complicated and dense packages have more opportunities to exhibit defects both internal to the package as well as to the PCB. As components increase in complexity their cost increases, making counterfeiting them a potentially lucrative business for unscrupulous individuals and organizations.
Recent years have brought significant improvement in the capabilities in the 2D/3D X-Ray Inspection systems. New X-ray sources, detectors, and ergonomic features improve the efficiency and productivity of the inspection process.
This paper reviews the methods of finding defects in BGAs, QFNs, and 3D packages using X-Ray inspection with real-life examples provided. Voiding, cracks, shorts, open joints, and head in pillow (HIP) will be discussed. Comparison of the relative merits of the 2D and 3D (CT) X-Ray inspection for investigating 3D packages is presented with examples. Using X-Ray inspection for detecting counterfeits is discussed at the end.
Conclusions
Modern 2D/3D X-Ray inspection systems are powerful tools for finding defects in BGA, QFN and 3D packages and also provide fast and straightforward method for identifying counterfeit components. During the last several years, significant advancements in the X-Ray technology including sealed-transmissive X-Ray sources, extremely high quality digital imaging intensifiers, and ergonomic features, has brought the X-Ray inspection to a new and much more advanced level, making the X-Ray inspection much more effective, faster and reliable.
Initially Published in the SMTA Proceedings
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