Key Parameters Affecting Solder Joint Life of Chip Resistors and Chip Capacitors Mounted on Insulated Metal Substrate

Aluminum insulated metal substrate (IMS) is often used as an alternative to FR-4 to enhance heat dissipation in high power applications. Although IMS offers better heat dissipation, the solder joint life of leadless chip resistors and chip capacitors under thermal cycling can decrease. This is due to the higher mismatch of the coefficient of thermal expansion between the ceramic based components and the aluminum board. This paper has two main objectives. One is to investigate the sensitivity of solder joint life of ceramic chip capacitor and chip resistor mounted on IMS to variations in dielectric thickness, board material, and solder thickness on. This sensitivity analysis is conducted with finite element analysis (FEA) simulation. The other objective is to determine the solder joint life for different resistor sizes at different temperature ranges with FEA modeling and experiment data. These results are presented in terms of design guidelines to be used in the selection of component size, board material, and temperature ranges, given an expected solder joint life.