In microelectronics packaging industry, polymer based materials are used extensively. These polymer materials show viscoelastic behavior when subject to time dependent loads or deformations. The viscoelastic behavior highly depends on both temperature and time. In many cases, these viscoelastic properties are often neglected due to saving computational cost or unavailability of full characterization of the viscoelastic properties. To make accurate predictions of packaging mechanical behavior and reliability, it is important to accurately characterize the viscoelastic behavior of mold compounds, underfill encapsulants, adhesives and other polymers used in electronic assemblies. After characterization, these parameters can be used as input material property data for finite element analysis (FEA) simulations.
In this study, both frequency dependent dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) measurements, and strain and temperature dependent stress relaxation experiments were performed on a typical underfill material in order to characterize its linear viscoelastic behavior. In both cases, a master curve was determined using the assumption of time-temperature equivalence, and Prony series expansions were utilized to model the underfill material relaxation behavior. After that, these viscoelastic underfill material parameters were used in finite element models of underfilled ball grid array packages (Ultra CSP) subjected to thermal cycling from −40 to 125 °C. Separate simulations were also performed using temperature dependent elastic properties for the underfill material. In both cases, the solder joint fatigue life was estimated, and the effects of using viscoelastic properties for the underfill in solder joint fatigue life simulation were investigated.