May 06,2019
With the technological advancement, the demand for thinner and lighter electronics products have increased. Thanks to various chip packaging technologies, the miniaturization of devices have become possible. Ball Grid Array (BGA) is one such technology that has gained popularity owing to several miniaturization advantages that it offers. This post highlights the detail information about BGAs, and their testing and inspection.
What is a Ball Grid Array (BGA) Packaging Technology?
BGA is a surface-mount technology that uses an array of solder balls for electrical interconnection. The interconnection is achieved between the package body and the base. Based on different packaging materials, a number of BGA components has been developed such as Ceramic BGA (CBGA), Plastic BGA (PBGA), Tape BGA (TBGA), Ceramic Column (CCBGA), and Chip-Scale Package (CSP). Some of the features offered by aforementioned BGA components include higher packaging reliability, lower soldering defects, and more solid soldering joints; higher number of I/O ends and large I/O end spacing, excellent electrical and frequency characteristics, and guaranteed BGA soldering planarity.
A Detailed Discussion on Different BGA Packaging Technologies
Let’s discuss the aforementioned BGA packages in detail:
-
CBGA: This BGA type is the oldest among other BGA types. This is a square or rectangular-shaped ceramic package, which uses solder balls for creating external electrical connection instead of leads. These balls are placed in a grid at the bottom of the package body.
-
PBGA: This package is perfect for mid to high-performance devices, which demand ease of surface mounting, low inductance, and relatively low costs while retaining high levels of reliability. This package contains extra copper layers that help increase the level of power dissipation.
-
TBGA: This BGA package is intended for electronic solutions that need high thermal performance, and demands no without an additional heat sink.
-
CCBGA: This technology is suited for all those high-density applications, where high reliability and high performance are the main concerns. These BGA packages utilize wire columns to create interconnections. These columns are known to absorb thermal stress between the ceramic package and the circuit board.
-
CSP: A Chip Scale Package (CSP) is named so because they it is designed in the size of a chip. This definition is suited for any package that meets the specifications of a chip, as well as can be surface mounted. BGA is one of the leading types of CSPs, whereas the other types are non-flip-flop, flip-flop, wire bonded, and so on. These packages are mostly used in advanced compact electronic packages including laptops, smart devices, cell phones, and many more.
Although BGA devices utilize advanced technologies, they are prone to failure. Joint failure is one of the main problems faced by the BGA devices. Insufficient heat applied to the joints is one of the reasons for their failure. Hence, it is important to assure the testing and inspection of joints, and other components are performed during the designing. Also, if these joints fail over time, it is important to get them repaired from reliable BGA rework services. All this means that you must source your BGAs from
trusted PCB assembly services with advanced capabilities such as BGA inspection and BGA rework. Sierra Assembly Technology, Inc. is one of the leading
BGA assembly services in the US that provides BGA soldering, as well as BGA inspection and BGA rework services.