EPE 442

ADVANCED SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING

TECHNOLOGY

Individual Assignment 2








ELECTRONIC PACKAGE : Plastic Ball Grid Array (PBGA)
PROTOTYPE SYSTEM : PC Motherboard


NAME : Chan Huan Yang
MATRIX NUMBER : 108469
COURSE : Manufacturing Engineering with Management
LECTURER : Dr. Khairudin Mohamed





School of Mechanical Engineering


Date of submission: 7
th
May 2014
ABSTRACT

In this report, I present the overall process involved in fabricating Plastic Ball Grid Array
(PBGA) at Level-1 manufacturing and PC motherboard Assembly at Level-2 manufacturing. The
first section of the discussion is about the process of developing a PBGA. The following section of
discussion is about the process of developing a prototype system which is the PC motherboard.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

A ball grid array (BGA) is a type of surface-mount packaging used for integrated circuits. BGA
packages are used to permanently mount devices such as microprocessors on a PC motherboard. The
BGA is descended from the pin grid array (PGA), which is a package with one face covered (or
partly covered) with pins in a grid pattern which, in operation, conduct electrical signals between the
integrated circuit and the printed circuit board (PCB) on which it is placed. On the other hand,
motherboards are the most complex and essential part of the modern PC. Not only do they hold the
chipsets that pass data from peripherals, drives and memory to the processor, they also provide slots
and ports for all the other system components and the circuits through which all data must pass.

2.0 DISCUSSION

2.1 Process of Developing a Plastic Ball Grid Array (PBGA)

Die preparation
First wafers are sorted at the assembly site and stored in a die bank. A 2
nd
optical visual inspection is
conducted to inspect for defects before the wafers are released for production. Next wafers are
mounted on a backing tape that adheres to the back of the wafer. The backing/mounting tape
provides support for handling during wafer saw and the die attach process. The wafer saw process
cuts the individual die from the wafer leaving the die on the backing tape. The wafer saw equipment
consists of automated handling equipment, saw blade, and an image recognition system. The image
recognition system maps the wafer surface to identify the areas to be cut, known as the saw street. DI
Water is dispensed on the wafer during the saw process to wash away particles (Si Dust) and to
provide lubrication during the dicing process. Wafers are dried by spinning the wafer at a high RPM
before going to the die attach process.
Die attach
Die attach provides the mechanical support between the silicon die and the substrate, i.e. lead frame,
plastic or ceramic substrate. The die attach is also critical to the thermal and, for some applications,
the electrical performance of the device. Die attach material formulations are optimized to provide
strong adhesion to the plastic substrate.
Wire bond
Bonding to a plastic substrate typically involves lower temperatures than bonding to a lead frame
alloy. Temperatures are reduced (to 160 C) to maintain sufficient strength in the substrate material
so that the ultrasonic energy is efficiently utilized.
Molding/Encapsulation
Transfer molding is used to encapsulate some PBGA packages. Emerging for other PBGA
applications is the use of liquid encapsulants. Liquid encapsulants are used where wire pitch is tight
and for filling cavity packages. Liquid encapsulants are also formulated using epoxy resins, fused
silica filler, and other additives. Being in liquid form, these encapsulant materials have low viscosity
and can be filled with high levels of silica to impart desired mechanical properties. Liquid
encapsulants are dispensed from a syringe. Depending on the PBGA configuration, a dam resin may
be deposited as the first step. The dam resin defines the encapsulation area around the device. The
cavity or defined area is filled with encapsulant that covers the device and the wires. Finally a cure
process is used. The lower viscosity of liquid encapsulants greatly diminishes the probability of wire
sweep.
Solder ball attach
PBGAs use solder balls as the interconnect path from the package to the printed circuit board.
Solder balls are attached to the substrate by applying a flux, placing the balls on the pads, and
reflowing the PBGA. The reflow process forms a metallurgical joint between the solder ball and the
substrate ball pad. Alignment is a key parameter during ball placement to avoid missing balls or
solder bridging.
Marking
Marking is used to place corporate and product identification on a packaged device. Marking allows
for product differentiation. Either ink or laser methods are used to mark packages. Laser marking is
preferred in many applications because of its higher throughput and better resolution.
Singulation
Individual PBGA units are cut from the substrate strip and placed in trays for subsequent handling.
Inspection
Assembled PBGAs are inspected to measure the co-planarity of the solder balls.
2.2 Process of Developing a PC Motherboard
Raw materials
Like any other electronic item, tracing the motherboard back to its roots leaves us staring at a hole in
the ground or, to be more accurate, a couple of them. The two dominant constituents of a printed
circuit board are fiber glass which provides insulation and copper, which forms the conductive
pathways, taking us back to their birthplaces in a sand quarry and open-cast copper mine respectively.
Turning sand into glass and copper ore into metal are processes that are hundreds of years old, but
what we do with the materials next is anything but ancient.
Fabricating copper-clad laminate
Molten glass is extruded to produce glass fibers that are woven to create a sheet of fiberglass fabric.
Next the sheet is impregnated with epoxy resin and heated to partially cure the resin; the resulting
sheet is called 'prepreg'. Multiple sheets of prepreg are stacked to produce a laminated sheet of the
required thickness. Sheets of copper foil are applied to both sides of the laminate and the sandwich is
placed in a heated press. This completes the curing of the resin, making the laminate rigid and
causing the layers to bond together. The result is an insulating sheet of fiberglass with copper foil on
both sides: copper-clad laminate. The overall thickness of the printed circuit board (PCB) is typically
1.6mm. This means that, for a six-layer board, the fiberglass laminates will be about 0.35mm thick
and the copper foil will be about 0.035mm thick. The fiberglass is thick enough to provide adequate
mechanical strength and rigidity, and the copper is sufficient for good electrical and thermal
conductivity.
Etching away unwanted copper
A photosensitive material called photo-resist is applied to both sides of the copper-clad laminate,
totally covering the copper layers. This is usually a dry film process, in which thin films of solid
photo-resist are laminated onto both sides of the board using equipment that's fairly similar to an
office laminator. Now a transparent artwork showing the pattern of the PCB's pads and tracks is
placed over the photosensitive copper-clad laminate, and is then exposed to ultraviolet light.
Ultraviolet is used rather than visible light so the board can be handled safely in daylight. Where the
photo-resist is exposed to ultraviolet, the chemicals polymerize, forming a plastic. Since the board
has two copper layers, each of which has a photo-sensitive coating, this process is carried out twice
using different artworks for each side. Next, the board is immersed in a chemical solution to develop
the latent image. The developer washes away the unexposed photo-resist, leaving only material that
was polymerized and which corresponds to the pad and tracks. The areas of the copper film that
aren't protected by the remaining polymerized portions of the photoresist are etched away. In an
oxidation reaction, metallic copper is transformed into a copper salt, which is water-soluble and
therefore washes off during the etching. For quick etching, the board passes through a chamber in
which the etchant is sprayed at a high pressure and at a temperature of about 50C. After etching, the
board is washed to remove surplus etchant and the remaining photo-resist is removed using an
organic solvent. The insulating fiberglass board now has a pattern of copper tracks on each side that
will form the circuit's interconnections. This assembly is called a core. However, motherboards have
a multilayer construction, which means they have more than two copper layers. This means that the
above process has to be carried out several times. In the case of a six-layer motherboard, two of these
cores will be needed to provide four of those layers. We'll see later how the other two layers are
made.
Building up a stack
Double-sided cores are now sandwiched together to start the creation of a multilayer PCB. Two cores
are used for a six-layer board (a common figure for motherboards), but they can't be stacked directly
on top of each other because this would cause the copper tracks on the top of the bottom core to short
with the tracks on the bottom of the top core. To stop this from happening, a sheet of prepreg is
placed between them. Sheets of prepreg are also applied to the top and bottom of the stack before it's
subjected to pressure and a high temperature to complete the curing of the prepreg and bond
everything together. For a six-layer board, the stack would comprise: prepreg / core / prepreg / core /
prepreg. This means that the final result will be: fiberglass / copper / fiberglass / copper / fiberglass /
copper / fiberglass / copper / fiberglass.
Drilling the holes
Holes are now drilled through the board. First come the mounting holes, which will be used for
mechanical fixing (bolting the motherboard into the PC's case). Second are the holes that are used to
accommodate the leads of through-hole components when they're soldered to the board in a couple
of steps' time. Finally, there are the tiny holes that form vias (vertical interconnect access), which
make electrical connections between the various copper layers or will, when we get to routing,
testing and QA. Despite the use of a high-speed, numerically controlled drilling machine, drilling can
be a very time-consuming process, especially if lots of different hole sizes are required. For this
reason, it's common to stack boards together so that several are drilled at once, saving time and
money.
Copper and tin plating
Electro-plating would be an obvious choice to make the vias conductive, except for one minor
problem: only already-conducting surfaces can be electro-plated. To get around this, the board is
immersed in various chemicals that coat its entire surface with a thin layer of copper. It's a slow
method and very expensive, but it provides just enough conducting metal to electro-plate over the top.
Electro-plating the entire board would be wasteful because most of the copper would subsequently
be etched away to produce the pads and tracks on the outer layers of the PCB. Instead a photo-resist
is applied, exposed to UV light through an artwork and developed as when fabricating the copper
clad laminate but with one important alteration. Here, a different type of artwork is used so that the
photo-resist remains in those areas that don't correspond to the pads and tracks of the finished board.
Now the electro-plating will only increase the thickness of the copper on the areas without the
insulating photo-resist. The board is finally electroplated with tin, which, once again, only adheres to
those areas of the board that will form the pads and tracks. The tin serves three purposes: it prevents
the copper tarnishing; it provides a surface that can be soldered to more easily than copper; and it
acts as a resist (after first removing the remaining photo-resist) in the next process etching away
the unwanted copper. We now have a PCB with copper pads and tracks on the outer two surfaces,
tracks on four internal layers, and vias making the necessary connections between the various layers.
To complete the bare PCB, a solder mask and component identification are applied via silkscreen
printing. The solder mask covers all of the board where solder shouldn't adhere when the
components are fixed in place. This prevents unwanted bridges between tracks that could occur
during wave soldering in step 9. The component identification provides a visible labeling of each of
the components with their serial numbers. This is useful in manual inspection or board maintenance.
Routing, testing and QA
Steps 2 to 7 involved the processing of a panel a sheet of material comprising several motherboard
PCBs. Now the individual boards are separated using a numerically controlled router, which is also
used to create any non-plated larger holes and slots that are needed. The board is then given a going
over by a 'bed-of-nails' tester, an automated process that probes both sides of the board to ensure that
electrical pathways exist where they are supposed to and that there are no shorts. Finally, before
leaving the PCB fabrication facility, the motherboard is given a QA inspection to ensure it meets its
specification in terms of the overall board size, mounting hole tolerances and so on.
Surface mounting
The first components to be soldered onto the bare PCB are the surface mountings. Solder paste a
mixture of solder powder and flux is printed onto those pads on the top surface of the board where
the contacts of the surface-mounting components (SMCs) will be soldered. The SMCs are placed on
the board using a pick-and-place machine. The tackiness of the solder paste holds the components in
place, but they're not fixed securely and there isn't a proper electrical connection. The next stage is
reflux soldering. The PCB is placed in a reflux oven and heated to over 200C. The solder in the paste
melts and then solidifies when the board cools down again, providing good electrical connections
and fixing the components securely.
Through-hole components
Next the larger through-hole components are fitted, often on a manual production line. Included are
the processor socket, the memory and expansion card slots and the various connectors such as
keyboard, mouse, audio and video sockets. The components are fitted to the top side of the board
with their pins protruding through pads on the bottom side of the board. The board then enters a
wave soldering machine. This contains a tank of molten solder that's pumped across a submerged
edge, causing a raised wave of solder. As the board progresses through this apparatus, each part of
the bottom side of the board comes into contact with the solder wave. The solder adheres to the
board wherever it's free of solder resist, thereby making mechanical and electrical connections
between the component leads and the pads.
Final testing and packaging
For final testing, processor and memory modules are plugged into their sockets. External PC
components such as a hard disk, CD/DVD drive, monitor, keyboard and so on are also plugged into
their appropriate connectors. With the motherboard now effectively built into a complete PC, a full
functional test involving every socket is carried out. This is mostly an automated process, although
humans do still have a part in the process for areas like audio circuitry. All this is followed up with a
'burn-in' test, which involves running diagnostic software on the motherboard for a protracted time
while it's subjected to high temperatures and temperature cycles. If the board passes this test, which
is designed to cause any potentially faulty components to fail, the motherboard is complete. All that
remains is for the finished board to be packaged in an antistatic bag and box, and it's ready to take
pride of place in a new PC.
3.0 CONCLUSION
PBGA provides better performance in term of high density, heat conduction and low inductance
leads. However it also has some limitations such as noncompliant connections, difficulty of
inspection, difficulties with BGAs during circuit development and cost of equipment. Meanwhile,
PC motherboard It holds many of the crucial electronic components of the system, such as the central
processing unit (CPU) and memory, and provides connectors for other peripherals. Unlike a
backplane, a motherboard contains significant sub-systems such as the processor and other
components. Motherboard specifically refers to a PCB with expansion capability and as the name
suggests, this board is the "mother" of all components attached to it, which often include sound cards,
video cards, network cards, hard drives, or other forms of persistent storage; TV tuner cards, cards
providing extra USB or FireWire slots and a variety of other custom components (the term
mainboard is applied to devices with a single board and no additional expansions or capability, such
as controlling boards in televisions, washing machines and other embedded systems).
4.0 REFERENCES
[1]
http://focus.ti.com/en/download/qlty/SEMICONDUCTOR_PACKAGING_ASSEMBLY_TECHNO
LOGY-MISC.pdf
[2] http://www.techradar.com/news/computing-components/motherboards/how-motherboards-are-
made-a-miracle-of-modern-electronics-709366/2#articleContent