Resistance to Soldering Heat and Thermal Characteristics of Plastic SMDs

This paper addresses the themes of resistance to soldering heat and heat dissipation as aspects of reliability in relation to surface mounted devices soldered on a plastic substrate by the most common industrial processes. Reliability data are presented for devices soldered by double wave, multiple wave, vapour phase and infra‐red processes and comments given on the reliability results. In terms of heat dissipation, using an internally developed test pattern and suitable test boards, a study was made of the influence of the substrate on thermal dissipation, thermal impedance, and new medium power SO and PLCC packages offering the possibility of cost‐effective power dissipation in the range of 1.5–2 W while still maintaining a standard outline.