An Analytical Model for Time-Dependent Shearing Deformation in Area-Array Interconnects

An analytical model is developed for predicting the time-dependent shearing displacement in area-array solder interconnects due to global CTE mismatch under thermal cycling. As a first step toward incorporating the creep deformation of the solder, the material is modeled as viscoelastic and temperature-independent. This permits one to invoke the correspondence principle of viscoelasticity to map the authors’ previously derived, closed-form solution for an elastic nonprismatic (concave, convex, or cylindrical) Timoshenko beam under shear loading into the associated viscoelastic solution. This leads to general analytical results for the frequency-dependent shear displacement amplitude in the critical joint. The results are expressed conveniently in terms of a “full-creep correction factor” and a “frequency correction factor,” which explicitly show the effects of the following parameters on the joint deformation: joint shape; array population; array, component, and substrate dimensions; viscoelastic material properties of the interconnect material; elastic properties of the component and substrate materials; and loading frequency. To demonstrate the technique for a particular viscoelastic constitutive law, the solder is assumed to behave elastically under hydrostatic loads and as a viscoelastic Kelvin solid under deviatoric conditions. For this special case the creep portion of the deformation is shown to be dependent upon only two dimensionless parameters: a dimensionless loading frequency and a material- and shape-dependent joint parameter. The results of the study may be useful in identifying design and process modifications that may improve the thermal fatigue life of area arrays. [S1043-7398(00)00404-7]