Failure Analysis

At Ceram, we have the latest state-of-the-art equipment and use a variety of cutting-edge techniques to help you. This is where Ceram’s unique combination of analytical techniques and over thirty years experience in problem solving pays dividends.

PCB Defects and Field Failures

Typical causes of failure encountered by PCB manufacturers include:

• Board delamination
• Component misalignment
• Broken metal lines
• Cold-solder joints and poor die bonding
• Surface contamination by metal and ionic residues

Techniques and methods for solving problems:

• 3D Non-Contact Profiling (3DP) for topographic information (e.g. size and distribution of particles)
• SEM/EDX for chemical analysis of particulates
• XPS and ToFSIMS for identification and quantification of surface contaminants or stains (both organic and inorganic)
• DSIMS for investigation of buried interfaces and sub-surface defects
• Identify corrosion product
• Detect impurities which may be related to the corrosion mechanism
• Determine the shape of corrosion defects or the thickness of an oxide layer.

On board defects may not be detected at the time of manufacture but may develop in service and result in failure in use.

Adhesion, Soldering and Disbondment

Failure in the adhesion or wire bonding processes can occur when contaminants are present on one or both of the joining surfaces. For a wire bonding process in the electronics industry, failure frequently occurs as a result of oxide layers, ionic or organic residues on the wire or contact pad surfaces. The cause of poor adhesion is usually investigated by examining both sides of the locus of failure. This process requires analytical techniques which are capable of unambiguously identifying unknowns in well-defined sample locations i.e. XPS, ToFSIMS and DSIMS.

Contamination Problems

Contamination of wafers, components and PCBs can manifest itself in many ways and have a multiplicity of sources including particulates, atmospheric pollution, cleaning and drying stains, organic solvent residues, corrosion, solder and flux residues, hazes and discolourations. In most cases the contamination source is identified and characterised using a combination of the most sensitive surface analysis techniques:

Corrosion occurs on metallic substrates, e.g. aluminium contact pads and can result in change in surface finish, the formation of visible surface defects, removal of material from the surface, changes in bondability and electrical properties. Ceram’s wide range of surface analytical techniques are typically used to:

• Identify corrosion product
• Detect impurities which may be related to the corrosion mechanism
• Determine the shape of corrosion defects or the thickness of an oxide layer.