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February 10, 2012
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Cause of Voids in Leadless Packages
Cause of Voids in Leadless Packages
What is the primary cause of solder voiding in leadless packages such as BGA's?
This program first published January 2010
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Comments  »
Use the form below to submit a comment.
There is no standard that supports the percentage of voids in thermal pads of QFN or LGA packages. The customer and the manufacturer have to come to an agreement on the percentage of the voids acceptable. Some customers demand that the voids in the thermal pad be less for RF supporting QFNs.

However masking the via holes, providing the via holes of correct dimension and type and at equal spacing, will reduce the percentage of voids. Proper stencil designing for the thermal pads will also reduce the voids in thermal pads. Increasing the metal load or reducing the flux content in the solder paste will give some good results. Thermal pad design plays the major role in voiding, so discuss with the customer and come to an agreement on the thermal pad voids.


S.S
Is it acceptable if a void, or total voids, are less than 25% of an BGA ball? I was told that this criteria is also applicable for QFN and LGA packages. However, I find it hard to accept. A 0.1mm size void in a BGA of 1mm ball size is difference from a 0.1mm size void in a LGA pad which is rectangular in shape. The ratio of the void to ball in term of area for BGA is definitely much smaller compare to that of LGA or QFN.

To me, taking all parameters constant, the solder joint reliability for QFN or LGA pad would be much lower compared to the BGA ball. As I am not involved in process, I could be totally wrong. I would like to learn from anyone of you in this aspect.


Wee Mei, DSO National Laboratories, Singapore
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Cause of Voids in Leadless Packages

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