Reliability Testing and Stress Measurement of QFN Packages Encapsulated by an Open-Ended Microwave Curing System

In this paper, the influence of microwave curing on the reliability of a representative electronic package is examined by reliability testing and measurement of residual stresses. A LM358 voltage regulator die was mounted to an open quad flat no-leads (QFN) package for reliability testing. For the stress measurement, a specifically designed stress measurement die was mounted to the QFN package. The chips were encapsulated with Hysol EO1080 thermosetting polymer material. Curing was performed using an open-ended microwave oven system equipped with in situ temperature control. Three different temperature profiles for microwave curing were selected according to the requested degree of cure and chemical composition of the cured material. A convection cure profile was selected for the control group samples. Temperature cycle tests and highly accelerated stress tests (HAST) were performed on a total number of 80 chips. Ninety-five QFN packages with stress measurement chips were also manufactured. The increased lifetime expectancy of the microwave-cured packaged chips was experimentally demonstrated and measured between the 62% and 149% increased lifetime expectancies after temperature cycle test (TCT), and between 63% and 331% after a HAST and TCT compared to conventionally cured packages. The analysis of specifically designed stress test chips showed significantly lower residual stresses ranging from 26 to 58.3 MPa within the microwave-cured packages compared to conventionally cured packaged chips, which displayed residual stresses ranging from 54 to 80.5 MPa. Therefore, this paper provides additional confidence in the industrial relevance of the microwave curing system and its advantages compared to the traditional convection oven systems.