BGA Reballing for Military & Aerospace Applications

March 1, 2006

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  • Commercial market rapidly converting to lead-free
  • Military and aerospace community not ready for lead-free
  • Reduced availability of tin-lead Ball Grid Array (BGA) components
  • Conversions (carefully performed) essential to ensuring availability and reliability of components for rugged application
A close-up, top-down view of a dark, textured surface covered with a repeating pattern of small, metallic silver spheres.
  • Diminishing supply of tin-lead BGA components
  • Reliability concerns with lead-free
  • High thermal cycle environments
  • Shock and vibration
  • Tin whiskers?
  • Reballing requires controlled processes to eliminate reliability risks
  • Component level modifications (including BGA reballing) are essential to the future of military and aerospace industry
  • Reballing allows Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) components to be used in high-reliability applications without the concerns associated with mixing of lead-free and tin-lead solders
  • Reballing with high-lead solder spheres can provide even better reliability than standard tin-lead alloys
  • High-lead spheres are more ductile and provide a higher standoff, which can significantly improve solder joint reliability
A flow chart showing the semiconductor process: Moisture removal bake, Deball, Sphere placement, Reflow, Clean, Inspect, Test.
  • Automated sphere removal in FlexLine ® robotic solder dip system
  • Solder spheres and intermetallics are dissolved and flushed away by passing the component across a low temperature solder wave
  • Forced-air preheat / cool down to minimize thermal shock
  • Flux, preheat, solder, cool down, and rinse are fully programmable and repeatable
  • Controlled, gentle, multi-unit process
A blue industrial workstation featuring a computer monitor, a protective enclosure, control panels, and a keyboard.
An industrial machine with a row of metal robotic arms placing small components onto a dark conveyor belt.
A lab machine with a row of nozzles over a rectangular tray filled with red liquid, set on a stainless steel surface.
A collection of square BGA solder stencils with various grid patterns arranged on a dark background.

Low-Volume Solution


  • Patented SolderQuik TM preform
  • Total pattern flexibility
  • Fast turn around (1-3 days)
  • Moderate piece-part cost
Two industrial automated machines housed in protective glass cabinets stand on a factory floor.

High-Volume Solution


  • Automated handling
  • Custom tooling ($)
  • Tooling lead time (3-6 weeks)
  • Low piece-part cost
A Heller reflow soldering machine with a conveyor belt and connected computer terminal in a manufacturing facility.
  • Forced-convection reflow
  • Controlled process
  • Low component temperature maintained
  • Component thermal gradient minimized
  • Temperature & humidity controlled environment
  • Conductive flooring - ESD safe work areas
  • Solder analysis at carefully timed intervals
  • 100% acoustic microscopy screening available
  • Ball shear testing
  • Fully equipped reliability and failure analysis lab
A technician in a blue lab coat operates a Sewscan industrial scanning system in a workshop environment.
An industrial machine with a row of metal robotic arms placing small components onto a dark conveyor belt.
A white, bench-mounted microscope workstation with a computer monitor and keyboard in a laboratory setting.
A microscopic cross-section showing a gold-colored solder joint connecting to a metallic layer on a dark substrate.
  • Commercial components may not always be capable of meeting the environmental requirements of military and aerospace industry
  • BGA reballing, with proper controls, resolves:
  • Component availability
  • Mixed solder issues
  • Reliability risks with lead-free

SIX SIGMA

905 Montague Expressway Milpitas, CA 95035

Email: sales@solderquik.com

Phone: (408) 956 0100

Fax: (408) 956 0199


SolderQuik TM is a patented technology licensed exclusively to SIX SIGMA - Winslow Automation, Inc. FlexLine ® is a registered trademark of Winslow Automation, Inc.

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