The Ultimate Guide to Ball Grid Arrays

Over the years, various printed circuit board technologies have gained popularity. Ball Grid Array (BGA) is one such technology, which has attained immense following in the recent years. This technology is employed for circuit boards that demand high-density connections. Are you eager to know what makes this technology popular? This post discusses various BGA packages and their advantages in detail.

A Brief Introduction to BGA

BGA is a surface mount technology, which was devised for large integrated circuits with a large number of pins. In conventional QFP or quad packages, pins are placed close to each other. These pins can easily get damaged at slightest irritation. Additionally, these pins demanded tight control on soldering, otherwise, the joints and solder bridges would collapse. From a design point of view, the high pin density caused various problems, and it was difficult to take the tracks away from IC due to congestion in some areas. The BGA package was developed to overcome these issues. A Ball Grid Array has a different approach to the connections than regular surface mount connections. Unlike them, this package utilizes the underside area for connections. Also, the pins are arranged in a grid pattern on the underside of the carrier for a chip. Instead of pins providing the connectivity, the pads with solder balls provide the connection. The printed circuit board is equipped with a set of copper pads for integrating these ball array packages.

Types of BGA Packages

The following are important types of BGA packages developed to meet diverse assembly requirements:

• Tape Ball Grid Array (TBGA): This package is suited for mid to high-end solutions, which demand high thermal performance, and requires no external heat sink.
• Micro BGA: This BGA package is smaller than regular BGA packages, and is available in three pitches: 0.75mm, 0.65mm, and 0.8mm.
• Fine Ball Grid Array (FBGA): This array package has extremely thin contacts, and is basically used in system-on-a-chip contacts.
• Plastic Ball Grid Array (PBGA): This is a type of BGA package with a glob-top or plastic molded body. In this package, the size of packages range from 7 to 50mm, whereas ball pitches have sizes 1.00 mm, 1.27 mm, and 1.50 mm.
• Thermally Enhanced Plastic Ball Grid Array (TEPBGA): As the name suggests, this package provides excellent heat dissipation. There are thick copper planes in the substrate, which help draw away heat from the printed circuit board.
• Package on Package (PoP): The package is designed for applications, where space is a real concern. In this array packaging, memory package is placed on the top of the base device.
• Molded Array Process Ball Grid Array (MAPBGA): This array packaging is suited for devices that demand low inductance packaging. MAPBGA is an affordable option and offers high reliability.

All these BGA Assembly packages are designed for complex circuit boards. In the next post, we will discuss several advantages of these BGA packages.