The Nordson DAGE 4000HS bondtester provides high speed bondtesting for the assessment of failure mode rather than measurement of failure force. 

Suitable for:

• High strain rate testing up to 5kg pull and 5kg shear
• High speed zone shear testing up to 80kg at 600mm/second
• Impact testing applications (as an alternative to 3 and 4 point bend testing and drop testing)
• Brittle fracture joint failure analysis
• Lead free solder ball joint evaluaton
• Shear testing multiple ballbond simultaneously

Solder ball joint integrity has always been an important issue in device manufacture, but never more so than with the introduction of lead-free solder. Although lead-free joints can be stronger, it has been noticed that they are particularly susceptible to brittle fractures at the component interface (intermetallic region) and pad-cratering at the board interface. Such failures can occur over the full life cycle of a joint, from manufacturing through testing to end use of the product itself. As the incidence of such failures has increased with the introduction of lead-free materials, the industry has acknowledged an urgent need for improved testing techniques. However, interest in brittle fracture and pad-cratering is not limited to lead-free; many solder alloys and pad surface finishes can be equally problematic.

When shear testing at traditional speeds (less than 20mm/sec), the dominant failure mode tends to be ‘solder ball shear’, i.e. a break within the solder material itself. When this happens, the only conclusion to be drawn from the data is that the bond strength is greater than that of the sheared solder ball. This makes it virtually impossible to compare the effects on bond strength of different pad finishes, pad constructions and solder alloys. Extensive research has now proved that testing at much higher speeds (typically above 1000mm/sec if testing for potential brittle fractures) will produce many more bond failures, thus allowing the performance of different components and