The properties comparison of solder joints on ceramic and FR-4 substrates

Reliability of electro-technical products is still a highly actual and discussed topic. Every electro-technical product consists not only of the components, functional blocks and systems, but also substrate as printed circuit board (PCB) or ceramic substrates, which are interconnected by solder joints. This article is focuses on a comparison of some properties of solder joints on ceramic and PCB substrates. Standard aluminum oxide ceramics (corundum) with thickness t = 0.65 mm was used as the ceramic substrate. Standard FR-4 board with a thickness t = 1.5 mm was used as the PCB substrate. This paper compares the main strength of solder joint at various concentrations of O2, type solders (SnPb, SnAgCu, ...), the size of components (0402, 0603, 2512, ...) and material surfaces. Shear test equipment DAGE was used to compare the mechanical strength.