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4, DECEMBER 1990

865

A New Power Cycling Technique for Accelerated Reliability Evaluation of Plated Through Holes and Interconnects in PCBs
RAMACHANDRA MUNIKOTI AND PULAK DHAR
Abstract-This paper describes the development of a new and simple power on-off cycling technique that can rapidly assess the reliablity of PTH copper barrels and interconnects in PCBs. In this technique, a chain of PTH copper barrels and interconnecting tracks are resistance heated by passing 5-8 A of dc for a few minutes. Switching the current on-off creates thermal cycling between 25 and 130C within the PCB, which induces cyclic fatigue strain in barrels and precipitates any latent defects or weaknesses in plated copper and interconnects. The experimental technique, test coupon design, and procedure are outlined and a valid correlation is established with the industry standard MIL-P-55110D thermal shock test. This new technique can very effectively and quickly distinguish between good and poor quality of electroplating without introducing any new failure mechanisms of the PTHs. The power cycling technique is useful as a process control tool, a quick qualification method, or as an alternative to more cumbersome and time consuming reliability evaluation techniques. About 100 cycles of this new technique, achieved in about 16 h, seem to be sufficient to assure the lifetime reliability of PTHs of most classes of PCBs.

In general, thermal shock or slow thermal cycling tests are employed to determine the capability of the PTHs to withstand cyclic temperature variations encountered in actual field life. Some of these are international standard tests: IEC oil shock test, fluidized sand bath test, MIL-P-55110 thermal shock test, MIL-STD-202 temperature cycling test, and APD-oil shock test. In these tests, the PCB specimens are subjected to temperature excursions from - 65C to 125C or 25C to 260C at different rates of temperature changes. Changes in resistance of a series of interconnected plated holes beyond some arbitrary fixed value after a test is generally considered a failure. The PTH failure modes are the following:

foil pad-barrel interfacial failures (innerlayer or post cracking); PTH barrel failure (circumferential cracking of barrels). The IPC Round Robin study on reliability of small diameter holes [l] has established that 400 cycles of MIL-T-thermal cycling, between -65C to +125C, with 30-min dwell time at each temperature extreme is the most discriminating test to distinguish between holes of good and poor reliability, showing up both early life and wear out failures. In order to satisfy the reliability requirements, the PTHs must meet two criteria: a solder float test and temperature cycling tests such as MIL-P-55 110D or MIL-STD-202E. The solder float test simulates soldering and rework operations in manufacture. Evaluation for reliability after this test is usually done by microsectioning. Corner cracks or barrel-innerlayer crack (post-cracking) are the failure modes and the failure mechanism relates to exceeding the fracture strain of barrel copper or foil-pad. Temperature cycling simulates the diurnal temperature variations experienced by the end product during its field life. Failures occur when the fatigue life of the plated barrel or the foil pad is exceeded. Thermal cycling tests are time consuming, need elaborate chambers, and are often expensive to perform. A new method called the Power Cycling Technique hereinafter referred to as PCT, developed by Northern Telecom can screen the reliability of PTHs and interconnects in a very short period of time and with very little capital equipment. It is easy to automate and can be used to process controls by PCB suppliers and users.

I. INTRODUCTION HE ever-increasing complexity, physical sizes and thicknesses, and higher interconnect densities in the new generation of multilayer PCBs call for rigorous manufacturing process controls and great attention to plated copper barrel and interconnect reliability. Further, a variety of new manufacturing processes such as surface mount technology, glue and wave soldering subjects these PCBs to increased thermal stresses which could have adverse impact on through hole reliability. Recent reports from IPC [ 11 have highlighted increased propensity to catastrophic failures of small diameter or large aspect ratio PTHs in complex PCBs. The main cause of PTH failures may be traced to significant differences in thermal expansions between the copper barrel and the surrounding glass epoxy. When, due to thermal stresses, the differential expansion causes strain that exceeds the fracture toughness of the copper barrel or interconnects, ruptures develop in the latter. This results in open circuits or intermittent contacts which may lead to system failures.
Manuscript received February 5, 1990; revised July 5, 1990. This paper was presented at the 40th Electronic Components and Technology Conference, Las Vegas, NV, May 21-23, 1990. The authors are with Northern Telecom Limited, Ottawa, Ont., Canada K I Y 4H7. IEEE Log Number 90391 15.

0148-641 1/90/1200-0865$01.OO

0 1990 IEEE

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13. NO 4. DECEMBER 1990

...

Fig. 1.

Principle of power cycling for PTH

11. PRINCIPLE OF POWER CYCLING TECHNIQUE (PCT) This technique uses temperature cycling within the PTHs to create cyclic fatigue in the copper barrels. Temperature cycling is achieved through power cycling of PTHs. Ohmic heating of copper is used to heat the holes, interconnects, and the surrounding laminate material to a temperature above the glass transition temperature of the laminate. Constant current of a few amperes is injected into a circuit consisting of PTHs interconnected in tandem (daisy chained) by low resistance copper tracks. See Fig. 1. The heat generated by 1 2 R dissipation in the copper barrel is conducted radially to the drilled surface of the laminate through glass fibers and epoxy resin. Depending on the energy dissipated and the volume of the material involved, the barrels and the laminate immediately surrounding them can be elevated to high temperature in a short time interval of 2-3 min. If the current is then switched off, free air convection cools the material back to ambient condition within 6-7 min. Thus a temperature cycling of the PTH and the interconnects can be achieved within 8-10 min through switching power on-off. The temperature attained by the heated copper loop at the end of an on period can be accurately determined by using the copper loop as a resistance thermometer and measuring the hot resistance of copper, and taking account of the fact that the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of copper is nearly equal to 4000 ppm/C. The current, in addition to inducing cyclic fatigue by thermal cycling, dynamically exercises the PTHs and interconnections. By doing so, it can precipitate any weaknesses or defects in the barrels or interconnects as open circuits or paths of high electrical resistance. A measure of acceleration of barrel life testing comes from the avalanching effect of the current itself. The current causes intense localized heating of defect sites such as microcracks, voids, thin sections, or partial post-cracks, which are seen as sources of high resistance. The resulting high local strains cause further deterioration of the defects until they manifest as open circuits at the high end of temperature. This is the avalanche effect of the current in power cycling.

So long as a barrel has good plating with adequate ductility and tensile strength and uniform physical construction free of physical or process related flaws, it can withstand power cycling without prematurely developing microcracks and incipient local increases of resistance. The temperature excursions encountered during power cycling in this case just cause cyclic fatigue in barrels. The barrels ultimately fail when the fatigue life of copper is exceeded. For good quality barrels, this occurs after several hundreds of power cycles. In conventional thermal cycling, even though the microcracks are initiated after a number of temperature cycles, the barrels have to be further thermal cycled long enough to induce total crack propagation leading to the occurrence of a circumferential barrel crack and an open circuit [l]. Thus in standard thermal cycling, there could be a considerable time delay between initiation of the crack and its manifestation as a failure. On the contrary, in the power cycling technique, current, through avalanching, tends to considerably shorten this delay or lag and induces the failures very soon after the microcracks are initiated. This is the characteristic that endows PCT with the ability to quickly discriminate between holes of good and poor reliability.

111. EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUE This section describes the technique of successfully achieving power cycling in PCBs, represented by test coupons. First a discussion of the physical basis of PCT is in order.

A . Physical Basis of Power Cycling

In order to create significant Z axis expansion mismatch between the plated barrel and surrounding glass epoxy (FR-4). the composite needs to be elevated to a temperature just above the glass transition temperature of FR-4 material. For FR-4, this temperature ranges from 11.5 to 125C. This is in consonance with MIL-STD-thermal cycling/shock test temperatures, where the high temperature limit is 125C. It is thus necessary to heat the PTH barrels to at least 130C and cool to ambient. In a daisy chained pattern of PCB tracks and barrels, tracks contribute about 80% of the resistance while the plated barrels contribute about 20% of the resistance. Total resistance of a series of 100 daisy chained holes in a typical 90-mil thick, 8 layer board would be about 200 mQ. With the passage of heating current through the loop, most of the heating takes place in the tracks. However, as the thermal conductivity of copper is far higher than that of the glassepoxy matrix surrounding the copper, heat flows from tracks into barrels very quickly, thus raising the temperature of the barrels toward a higher equilibrium value. Thus once the hot resistance of the PTH chain equivalent to 130C is attained, which happens within 3 min, the current may be switched off. The coupon cools naturally to ambient temperature in about 7 min. We thus achieve a thermal cycle between 25C and 130C. It is important at this stage to identify an important difference between PCT and MIL-STD temperature cycling or shock test. In MIL-STD testing, the whole PCB specimen is uniformly heated to the desired temperature of 125C in thermal chambers. Between 15-30 min are allowed for soak-

MUNIKOTI AND DHAR: CYCLING TECHNIQUE FOR EVALUATION OF PLATED THROUGH HOLES AND INTERCONNECTS

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LATCH RELAY

ing and stabilization. However, PCT relies on heating a thin shell of glass-epoxy resin matrix around the PTH barrel to a temperature above the glass transition temperature. That this is all that is necessary is derived from theoretical considerations by Engelmaier [l], which postulate that it is only the temperature of the thin shell around the PTH, called the area of influence, that is responsible for creating the severe Z-axis expansion mismatches between the laminate and copper barrel. Work by Lea et al. [2] has shown that once the barrel has achieved a certain temperature, say 130C, it takes less than 2 s for a FR-4 shell of 1.1 mm (45 mil) around the PTH copper barrel to attain the same temperature. This was derived from considerations of the thermal diffusion coefficients of glass fibers and epoxy resin. Thus it is only necessary to attain a temperature of 130C inside the barrel for 2-3 s for the full Z-axis expansion mismatch to occur between laminate and the copper barrel. Therefore, a time of 3 min allowed for 130C to be attained by the barrels has been found to be adequate to induce cyclic fatigue proportional to the temperature differential of 105C used in PCT. Accurate thermographic measurements of temperature rising in and around the barrels have amply confirmed this temperature buildup process and will be dealt with later.

TIMER
I

I i

l
d 7 . 7

Fig. 2.

Power cycling test setup.

Fig. 2 shows a typical test setup that automatically cycles and records the number of cycles-to-first failure of the PTH. It consists of the following: 1) 2) 3) 4) constant current source: 0- 10 A (powering); constant current source: 0- 100 mA (measurement); DVM (measures millivolt drop across the circuit); timer (flip-flop type, with individual on-off time settings); 5) cycle counter (records cycles elapsed till failure); 6) control circuit (prevents thermal runaway).

B. Test Setup and Experimental Procedure

Reliability evaluation of PTHs using PCT is carried out on PCB coupons specially designed for the purpose. The key parameter that allows uniform heating of tracks and barrels is the constant resistance per unit length of the copper track-hole chain. In FR-4 material a resistance of 1.5-2.5 m a between two holes centered 0.100 in apart seems ideal for power cycling. For a typical test coupon of 100 PTHs, on a 0.100-in pitch, in a 0.120-in thick 6 layer multilayer board interconnected with 0.030-in nominal width tracks on 1-oz copper in the first and the last inner layers (2 and 5 ) , the loop resistance turns out to be about 200 m a . In the above coupon a temperature of 130C is reached within 3 min for current level of 5-6 A. The free air cooling period is 7 min after power is switched off. Thus a cycle time of 10 min is achieved by switching on and off a current of 5-8 A in test coupons with a total circuit resistance of 159-250 m a . For a given set of coupons from the same production lot, the temperature attained could vary around 130C by a few degrees due to variations of resistance among individual coupons. It is safe to assume that the temperature attained by the barrel is 130C / - 5C, although for a given coupon, the temperature attained is quite constant as all the heating parameters are fixed. Typical powering currents required to achieve 130C in coupons of different types are given in the following:

The operation of the setup is as follows: constant current (magnitude depending on the physical size and circuit electrical resistance of the test coupon) is switched on and off through the contacts of the synchronous flip-flop timer switch. The on-off timings are fixed at 3 and 7 min respectively, for a 10-min cycle. During the off period, the change over contact of the timer switches the measuring current source (100 mA) through the FORCE leads of the test coupon. The voltage drop across the test circuit is continuously monitored (both during powering and measuring) by the DVM connected to the SENSE leads of the test coupon. Thus a 4-wire resistance measurement is carried out, which is used for the measurement of temperature rise at the end of the on period. The algorithm is quite simple and takes into account the TCR of copper as 4000 ppm/C. Thus if R , is the hot resistance and R,, the resistance at 25C measured initially at ambient, then the temperature attained at the end of an on period is given by the following [4]:

T,

l . l R h - R,,
=

0.004R2,

Loop Resistance (Ohms) 0.141 0.150 0.214 0.257

Powering Current (Amps) 7.25 7.00 5.50 5.00

(The above values are for 3.0-mm 0.120-in thick coupons).

At the onset of a failure, the current causes intense localized heating of the failure site. It may lead to thermal runaway, causing burning and fusing of the defect site. This is prevented by the control circuit. It terminates the test (i.e., switches off the power source) when a preset limit of hot resistance is exceeded. The limit is set at 150% of the initial hot resistance. At the onset of a failure when this is exceeded, a comparator latches a trip relay to terminate the test. Thus the power cycling is terminated at the first failure in the chain of PTHs, and the number of cycles to failure is

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recorded on the counter. A typical test procedure which can be computerized is as follows: connect the FORCE and SENSE leads of the test coupon to the corresponding terminal on the setup; measure R,, (room ambient) on DVM; estimate R , (for T, = 130C) from (1); use the following trial powering current settings: 5 A for 200-mn range, 6-A for 150-mfl range, 7 A for IW-mQ range of circuit resistance measured in step 2 (for standard 2-3 mm thick boards); set control referent to 1.5 x (current x R,); start cycling; at the end of first on period, the DVM indicates actual R , (i.e., 100 mA x R,); if R , < R,,,, increase current by 50 mA; repeat steps 7) and 8) until R , = R13,; if R , > R,,,, decrease current by 50 mA; repeat 7) and 10) until R , = R,30. With some experience, one is able to achieve R,,, in a couple of trials. Once the coupons are standardized, powering current level can be fixed at a given value and PCT can be started right away.
A N D FAILURE MECHANISMS IV. FAILURE MODES

Power Cvclina Test Couoon

. COPPER

1 0 1 lo11 (0 0014 thick)

. TRACK WIDTH 0 030 . HOLE PITCH 0 100

151

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. INTERCONNECT and last inner layers connected . RES UNIT LENGTH (0 100 1 2 milliohm iavg ) 25%
+I

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barrels

TODView

Maanified Side View (Cross-section1

Fig. 3.

Proposed PCT test coupon design.

As in the case of any accelerated reliability evaluation technique, one needs to be very cautious with respect to the induced failure modes and mechanisms. There is always a danger of introducing failures not representative of actual field failures. This is especially important in the PCT, since several amperes of current are passed through barrels and interconnects designed to carry much lower currents. Particular care has been taken in this study to analyze and understand all failures and compare them with those found or expected in standard and accepted reliability test methods. Extensive correlation studies were conducted with military and industry established reliability evaluation techniques such as thermal shock and thermal cycling. The most frequently observed failure mode is the circumferential cracking of the PTH copper barrels occurring in the middle one-third of the barrels. Failures occur during thermal cycling or power cycling when the fatigue life of the barrel is exceeded. The magnitude of cyclic fatigue induced in plated copper barrels by PCT is less severe than that induced by MIL-T-cycling or shock tests, since the induced fatigue is proportional to the temperature differential between the low and high temperature of the cycle. In the case of MIL-T-cycle or shock, AT is 190C, whereas AT in PCT is only 105C. While the lower temperature differential of PCT induces less cyclic fatigue in the copper barrels, current appears to play an avalanching effect as described earlier. Another important failure mode is the post cracking or the foil pad-barrel separation, also known as innerlayer cracks. This failure is predominant when excessive pad or land rotation takes place as a result of high Z-axis expansion of the laminate, exceeding the fracture elongation of the electrodeposits, as discussed in Section I. These failures manifest as corner cracks in the surface pads or at pads in the

first or the last buried layers in a multilayer board, as these are the layers that are located the farthest from the neutral plane of the PTH barrel, and experience severe bending moments. PCT is well disposed to assess the integrity of these innerlayer interconnections after a post cracking.
V. EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUE: TESTCOUPON AND RESISTANCE HEATING

Following extensive feasibility studies, power cycling test coupons were designed that would allow an in-depth study of the capabilities of this technique. A . PCT Coupon Design Since this technique involves resistance heating of the tracks and barrels to a temperature above the glass transition temperature of the laminate, the choice of resistance, current, hole spacing, interconnect scheme, etc., had to be optimized. A PCT coupon design useful for experimentation and possible production use is shown in Fig. 3. 100 holes of 0.040-in diameter are daisy chained with 1-oz copper tracks of 0.030 in width with barrels interconnected through the first and last inner layers (2 and 5 in a 6-layer board). Choice of the first and last inner layers for interconnection is made for two reasons: first, track resistance between barrels can be easily controlled within limits in coupon manufacture. Top and bottom layers may also be used for interconnections, but variable plating thickness deposited during manufacture makes it difficult to control the track resistance. Second: among the buried layers of a multilayer board, the first and the last inner layer junctions to the barrel are the ones most susceptible to damage and failure through land rotations resulting from soldering, reflow, or repair operations. Therefore, it would be useful to pass current through these layers into barrels so

MUNIKOTI AND DHAR: CYCLING TECHNIQUE FOR EVALUATION OF PLATED THROUGH HOLES AND INTERCONNECTS
200
IS0
6 LAYER 0 120 THICK, 0 040' DIA HOLES 100 CENTERS POWERING CURRENT 5 75 Amps

869

16 LAYER 0.2WTHICK. 0.040'DIA HOLES

0 100' CENTERS
POWERlNGCURAENl 8 AMPS

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0
I ' I ' I ' I ' I ~ I ' I ' I ' I ' I ' I '

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20
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100

120

140

160

180 200

220

240
0 20
40 60

TIME (s)

80

100

120

140

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180

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220

240

Fig. 4. FTH temperature build-up in PCT (IR thermography).

Time

(s)

that any defects or weaknesses are properly exercised and failures induced. This construction also allows uniform power dissipation over the length of the circuit and causes fairly uniform rise of temperature in all barrels. The beginning and end of the loop terminate in 4 holes to facilitate the accurate measurement of resistance and its change by the 4-wire method. The barrels are connected to nonfunctional pads in each of the laminating layers. These pads are known to enhance the barrel reliability [3] and their incorporation is a standard design practice. As any copper in the coupon acts as a load and conducts heat away from the sources of heat which are tracks and barrels, it is a good practice to eliminate any nonessential copper from the coupon in the vicinity of test holes and tracks.

Fig. 5 .

FTH temperature build-up in PCT (IR thermography).

B. Temperature Rise Measurements

Since raising the temperature of the glass-epoxy shell around the copper barrel to above the glass transition temperFig. 6. Example of poor drilling (0.040-in diameter x 400 magnification, ature is fundamental to the operating principle of PCT, the single wall). barrel temperature rise was independently measured and confirmed by a method different from the resistance thermometer measurements confirmed the validity and adequacy of calcumethod based on (1). Use of thermocouples in the barrels lating the barrel temperature using the resistance thermometwas not practical, as the thermocouple and the associated ric principle governed by (1). conductive cement acted as a load on the barrel thermal mass WORK,RESULTS, AND DISCUSSION VI. EXPERIMENTAL and could not be depended upon to provide accurate temperature measurements. An infrared thermographic technique Experimental work was directed toward establishing the was, therefore, employed to measure accurately the tempera- validity of PCT through correlation with the MIL-P-55110D ture rise within and around the barrel as a function of time thermal shock test adopted by the PCB industry. FR-4 test after the current was switched on. coupons were designed and manufactured at an in-house PCB Results are presented in Figs. 4 and 5 for two coupons plant. These had 6 layers, were 0.120 in thick, and had with different loop resistances and thicknesses, but with 0.100-in centered holes. Two sets of panels were manufacidentical holes spaced 0.100 in apart. tured, one set with 0.040-in diameter drilled holes and the Heating current in these cases was, respectively, 5.75 and other with 0.020-in diameter drilled holes. Each coupon had 8 A. Maximum values of current were arrived at on the basis 100 holes daisy chained between layers 2 and 5 . This interof (1) and a few trail runs as described in the previous connection through inner layers allowed an opportunity to experimental procedure. In both cases it may be seen that a exercise and detect any post-cracking, if it occurred. temperature, as measured by thermographic measurements, Half of the holes in each panel were drilled with good drill of 130C is attained at the end of 3 min. It is also observed bits and standard drilling care, while the other half were that the temperature of the FR-4 laminate over the track, at drilled with an intentionally damaged drill bit to obtain the mid-point between two holes is slightly higher than the uneven drill surfaces leading to poor quality holes. An illusbarrel temperature, as is expected. Thus the thermographic tration of the poor hole quality obtained is shown in Fig. 6.

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6 LAYER MLB, 0.120" THICK, 0.100'' CENTER, 100 HOLES

I
GDGP

I
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1
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GDGP

I I
PDGP
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PDGP

n+ 7 4 6
++ I
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GDPP

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PDPP

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0.040"

GDPP

I 1 I I

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100

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PDPP

MIL-T-SHOCK

I I I I I I I
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HOLE D I A . 0.020'' MIL-T-SHOCK

0 PCT
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400 5C

I
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0 PCT
1 400
500
LEGEND:

100

200

300

200

300

NUMBER OF CYCLES GDGP: PDPP:

T O . FAILURE

Fig. 7.

Correlation results between MIL-T-Shock and PCT.

After drilling, all the panels were cleaned the same way and were prepared for plating. Half the number of panels in both hole sizes were copper plated in a normal "good" plating bath which yielded a plated copper ductility of 5.75% and tensile strength of 39 175 lbs/in2. The other half of the panels were electroplated in a bath which was considered "bad" by the process engineers, since products from this bath consistently failed the solder float test and was about to be replaced by a new bath. Plated copper from this bath yielded a ductility of 2.5% and a tensile strength of 34 000 lbs/in2. Ductility of copper from both baths was measured on sheets deposited on standard stainless steel sheets, by the supplier of the acid copper bath using the standard elongation-to-rupture method. We thus had test coupons of 2 different hole diameters (and aspect ratios) with 2 different drilled hole quality and holes of two different plating qualities. The series loop resistance of each circuit was about 200 ma. vrr.
CORRELATION STUDIES

-GOOD_DRILL,_GOOD- PLATING POOR DRILL, POOR PLATING _ _ _ -

+ : MAXIMUM & MINIMUM VALUES Fig. 8. Correlation results between MIL-T-Shock and PCT.

VIII. DISCUSSION OF RESULTS A . Ductility/Plating Quality The test results reveal some very interesting correlations. PTH's with low ductility plating show up as failures within 100 cycles both in MIL-P-55 110 and power cycling and there is almost 1: 1 correspondence. This is as expected. Copper barrels of poor ductility are known to develop microcracks early in temperature cycling and these propagate rapidly with temperature cycling and fail as barrel cracks. In the case of PCT, as explained earlier, heat on-off cycling essentially induces the same microcracks which are avalanched by the current, resulting in early failures. These figures also confirm a known fact that plated copper barrels which have better plating quality have much better reliability, as shown by both test methods. However, whereas 0.040-in holes (GDGP) take about 230 MIL-T-cycles to failure, PCT takes about 560 cycles to show up failures in identical coupons. The correlation is nearly 1:3. For 0.020-in holes, this condition is about 1:2. We thus see a 1:2 to 3 correlation for good plating. This again is as expected. With good ductility of about 6 % , barrels are much more capable of withstanding cyclic fatigue without developing microcracks and can far exceed the minimum required 100 cycles. In power cycling,with much less temperature differential than MIL-T-shock, A T = 105C versus AT = 190C, the cyclic fatigue which is proportional to A T is much less. Microcracks are not initiated early in the life (as in the case of poor plating), and therefore, show up much later in power cycling than in thermal cycling.

Identical coupons from the same panels were subjected to both MIL-P-55110D thermal shock testing ( - 65 "C to 125"C, 15-min dwell time at each temperature extreme, with a change-over time of 2 min) and PCT. Copper loop resistance was measured every 10 cycles with a 4 wire measurement setup. In this thermal shock method, if the specimen survives 100 thermal shocks, the PTH's are considered to be reliable. The failure criterion is a 10% increase in loop resistance. Identical coupons were subjected to power cycling and number of cycles-to-failure were recorded. The failure criterion for PCT is the first failure, which shows up as an open circuit or > 50% increase in hot resistance R , during the power on (hot) period. The failure is detected by the control circuit as described earlier. Reliability results are presented as bar charts in Figs 7 and 8, for holes of 0.040 and 0,020-in diameters, respectively. Several coupons were exercised by each method and average, minimum, and maximum of number of cycles-to-failure are indicated in the figures. These holes are described by drill and plating qualities:

B . Drilling
The effect of poor drilling on PTH reliability does not appear to be as profound as poor plating quality as demonstrated by both the test methods. Poor drilling-or at least the poor quality "created"-caused rough glass epoxy surface and also some nodules. However, good ductility and adequately thick copper together appear to obviate the adverse effect of poor drilling.

GDGP: good drill, good plating; GDPP: good drill, poor plating; PDGP: poor drill, good plating; PDPP: poor drill, poor plating.

MUNIKOTI AND DHAR: CYCLING TECHNIQUE FOR EVALUATION OF PLATED THROUGH HOLES AND INTERCONNECTS

87 1

Fig. 9. Failure sites in MIL-T-Shock (top row) and PCT (bottom row). Diameter: 0.020 in, PDGP, x lo00 magnification.

Fig. 10. Failures sites in MIL-T-Shock (top row) and PCT (bottom row). Diameter: 0.040 in, PDGP, X lo00 magnification.

C. High Aspects Ratio Holes

As it is already well established in the PCB industry [l], small diameter holes or conversely holes of higher aspect ratios tend to have poorer reliability compared to those with lower aspect ratios. For this experiment, 0.040- and 0.020-in holes in the 0.120-in thick coupon have aspect ratios of 3:l and 6:l. Results can be seen in Figs. 7 and 8. As expected, 0.020-in diameter holes fail much earlier than the 0.040-in diameter holes. The reasons are dealt with at length in [I], and seems in part related to mass-transport limited copper plating characteristics in the narrow hole.

mechanisms that are not observed in standard reliability testing methods. PCT failures sometimes reveal circumferential cracks in more sites than one in the barrel. These almost always correspond to locations in the barrel where copper is thin due to rough surface finish, uneven plating or a separation between copper barrel and hole wall. This indicates another versatile facet of PCT, because it reveals weak and unreliable spots in the barrels.

F. PCT and Post-Cracking

Post-cracking is another failure mode of the multilayer PCB technology. Post-cracking can occur for several reasons, the most important being improper hole drilling and cleaning before electroless plating, poor electroless plating, or excessive thermal shocks during manufacturing- which cause land rotation. The exact role and significance of postcracking in field reliability of the PCB and its detection and prevention are still being debated in the PCB industry. During numerous PCT experiments and MIL-T-shock testing conducted so far, no failures related to post-cracking have been observed. Further experimental work is in progress to specially induce and evaluate the post-cracking phenomenon in multilayer boards by both techniques. IX. ADVANTAGES AND LIMITATIONS OF PCT

D . Discriminating Power of PCT

The above experimental results clearly delineate a relationship between PCT and standard MIL-P-55 110D thermal shock testing: for poor quality holes there is almost 1: 1 correlation; for good quality holes, PCT has a 2 to 3:l correlation to MIL-T-shocks. In other words, the PCT can clearly discriminate between PTHs of good and poor quality, a very desirable characteristic of a versatile reliability assessment or screening technique. This discriminating quality of the power cycling technique derives directly from the avalanching role played by the current.

E. Failure Analysis
In order to compare the mechanisms by which the failures occurred in both types of reliability testing, the coupons were carefully probed and the failed holes located. All the failures encountered so far have been high resistance or open circuits (circumferential cracks) of the copper barrels. The failed holes were then microsectioned to observe the nature of the cracks. Figs. 9 and 10 show sites of failures as observed both in PCT and MIL-P-55 110 testing on coupons of identical quality. It may be clearly seen that the circumferential cracks appear in mid-portion of the barrel in both the cases. This suggests a characteristic cyclic fatigue failure in the barrel. This shows that PCT does not induce any extraneous failure

PCT is simple in concept, inexpensive, and can be easily automated and installed in production shops or laboratories. It can be used for reliability or process audits at suppliers of PCBs. It may also be used for quick assessment of repair operations in manufacturing processes such as insertion of backplane pins and soldering. Above all, PCT can be used as a very quick reliability screening tool, to assess whether a given lot is acceptable or rejectable. It can help eliminate subjective judgements based on cross sections and replace it with objective assessment of PTH and interconnect reliability. Some of the limitations are that this method requires test coupons optimized in dc resistance per unit length within certain limits for comparison by different people. However,

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once the coupon design is fixed, the heating current can be predetermined and held constant to simplify the test procedure. A given PCT test setup may be used to exercise only one coupon at a time, or up to four identical coupons at a time, on a time-shared basis for a 3-min heat and 9-min cool sequence. Multiplexing of the test is possible with suitable instrumentation.
X . CONCLUSIONS

100 cycles of MIL-P-55110. The converse is also true. A 2:3

. .

A PCB passing 100- 120 PCT cycles consistently passes

A new and simple power cycling technique has been developed that can rapidly assess the reliability of copper PTHs and associated interconnects in complex PCBs. to PCT has been found to have an important discriminate quickly between barrels of good and poor reliability. Failure modes observed in PCT and MIL-T-shock test are identical-thus a correlation between the two test techniques is valid. For PTH barrels of poor quality, the correlation between the two methods as regards the number of cycles-to-failure is very close and is almost 1 : l . This establishes the fact that PCT can, because of its avalanching effect, reliably screen PCBs of inferior aualitv in a short Deriod of 100-120 cvcles (15-20 h). This is in contrast to 3 dXof testing in environkenrequiretal chambers by MIL-T-shock testing to a ment of 100 thermal shocks.
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correlation has been found between PCT and MIL-T-shock for PTH copper barrels of good quality. Current, in addition to heating the barrels and tracks, plays an avalanching role in precipitating defects without causing or initiating any defects by itself. Design of a standard PCT coupon has been presented. This design will facilitate use of fixed current levels for given barrel and track resistances and will allow comparison of reliability data from different sources. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors wish to thank Martin Yates, Keith Barrass, Bob Bradley, Neil Cook, Steve Malcolm, John Balmer, RenC Cardinal, Jack Van Den Brekel, Dieter h4arx, and Roy Sunstrum of Northern Telecom and Bell Northern Research for their assistance and interest. REFERENCES
Round robin reliability evaluation of small diameter plated through holes in printed wiring boards, IPC-TR-579, pp. 19, 41, Sept. 1988. [2] C. Lea, F. H. Howie, and M. P. Seah, Blowholing in PTH fillets, Part 8-The scientific framework leading to recommendations for its elimination. Circuit World, vol. 13, no. 3. pp. 11-20, 1987. [ 3 ] J . K. Hagge, Strain-induced failures in plated through holes, in Proc., Printed Circuit World Expo, 1980, pp. 32-36. 1 4 1 R. M. Murcko and J. J . Tomaine, Detecting subtle flaws with . . temperature cycle testing. Circuits Manuf., pp. 63-65, Dec. 1982.
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