Section 3:

Reflow Profiling

What is a Temperature
The Typical Profile
or Thermal Profile?
The reflow profile is defined by the
High quality, low defect soldering requires relationship of temperature versus time
identifying the optimum temperature profile during heating. A typical profile consists of
for reflowing the solder paste. Achieving three heating slopes (the time vs temperature
SMT process consistency means repeating relationship or rate of temperature rise)
this profile over and over. Every solder defined by Figure 3-1. This “three step”
joint on every board needs to be heated profiling approach has been commonly used
similarly if the desired soldering results are since the early days of SMT.
to be accomplished. From the solder’s point
of view, it does not matter what the heat Each solder paste defines the heating slopes
source to the solder joint is. and time and temperature limits within each
slope. It is best to consult your solder paste
What does matter is that the heat is applied supplier to determine the exact heating
to the solder joint in a controlled manner. condition required for the paste you are
The heating and cooling rise rates must be using. For the purpose of discussion, we
compatible with the solder paste and will use the traditional three step profile,
components. The amount of time that the which is typical of RMA pastes.
assembly is exposed to certain temperatures
must be defined and maintained. In other The three step heating profile slopes are
words, the solder reflow profile must first be called preheat, dryout, and reflow.
defined and then maintained.
Preheat
In the preheat section, the goal is to fully
225
PEAK T EMPERATURE preheat the entire SMT assembly to
200
SOLDER LIQUIDOUS temperatures between 100°C and 150°C.
183
175
The most critical parameter in the preheat
150 RATE WETTING
OF TIME section is to control the rate of rise to
T( oC) 125 RISE
between 1-4°C/second.
100

75
The main concern is minimizing thermal
50
shock on the components of the assembly.
25
Preheat Dryout Reflow Cooling For example, multilayer ceramic chip
capacitors can be vulnerable to cracking if
Time (Sec.)
heated too fast. In addition, rapid heating
can cause the solder paste to spatter.
Figure 3-1. A typical
thermal profile.

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Dryout have water-cooled or refrigerated cooling
The second heating section, referred to as sections so the timeover and cooling rates
the dryout, soak, or preflow zone, is used can be precisely controlled.
primarily to ensure that the solder paste is
fully dried before hitting reflow
temperatures. It is characterized by a What are the Profile Control
consistent temperature (often between
150°C - 170°C) for an extensive (60-120 Limits?
second) time period.
The profile is not a simple line graph
The dryout portion of the profile acts as a between time and temperature, but rather a
flux activation zone for RMA solder pastes. band or process window as defined by upper
Dryout provides thermal stabilization of and lower control limits. Heating within the
large and small components to ensure limits will result in high quality solder joints
uniform heating as the SMT assembly enters providing all other aspects of the process are
the reflow zone. Convection ovens have in control.
reduced the need for the thermal
stabilization, as the entire profile tends to be The size of the reflow profile band is
uniform (referred to as “Delta T” defined as defined by the range of temperature
the temperature difference between the deviation (thermal tolerance) that can occur
warmest and coldest component lead on the during while yielding high quality solder
board). joints.

Reflow In Figure 3-2, the profile band size is

The reflow section of the profile elevates the indicated as 25°C. The actual limits of the
solder paste to a temperature greater than the band will vary depending upon solder paste,
its melting point. For Sn63/Pb37 eutectic component type, and circuit board material.
solder, the melting temperature is 183°C.
This temperature must be exceeded by PR OF ILE P RO CE S S W IND OW
approximately 20°C to ensure quality reflow B UR NT B O AR DS
225 E X CE SS IV E
for every solder joint lead. LIQU ID OUS
200 TIM E
CO LD
175 183
S OLD ER
The amount of time the solder joint is above 150
T HE RM A L GO O D
the melting point is referred to as the wetting SH OCK INCO M P LET E
T ( oC) 125 D RYIN G
time or timeover. The wetting time is 30 to 100
60 seconds for most pastes. If the wetting 75
time is excessive, intermetallic layer may 50
form in the joint, which result in brittle 25
solder joints. P reheat D ryout Reflow Cooling

T im e ( S ec.)
Excessively slow cooldown while the paste
is liquidous can also cause the solder joint to
Figure 3-2. A graphical representation of
consist of a larger grain structure, resulting a 25°C reflow profile process band.
in a potentially weaker solder joint.
Common cooling rates are controlled
between 1-2°C/second. Many reflow ovens

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It should be noted that the band width is of the production problems from improper
defined by the temperature and time axis. If profiling and possible causes.
the product temperature profile is not
maintained within the control limits, a defect One should note that these problems may
will occur. Figure 3-3 indicates some also be caused by non-reflow processes as
well.

Figure 3-3. Basic Solder Reflow Troubleshooting.

Problem Possible Cause (Profile Related)

Cracked chip capacitors Excessive rise rate in the preheat zone

Solder balls Incomplete drying before reflow

(dryout section too cool and too short a duration)
Excessive drying temperature (fluxes skin over)
Improper gas atmosphere (nitrogen versus air)

Cold solder joints Insufficient time over reflow temperature

Solder not wetting to leads Excessive drying time causing fluxes to deteriorate
Excessive reflow temperature/time causing oxidation

Solder not wet on pad Lead is heating faster than board (too much airflow)

Component/board burning Excessive reflow temperature

Notes:

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Defining the Profile Control your TC’s, it is important to keep in mind
that areas that are densely populated or have
Limits larger components will take longer to heat
up and also will hold heat longer. It is also
The profile control limits need to be defined important to place TC’s at the edges of the
for the given SMT assembly. To define board and in any areas with small or non-
these limits, one should be aware of not only existent components that will heat up faster
the solder paste requirements, but also any than the rest of the board.
specific requirements of components or the
circuit board material. The process band
width is defined as the total deviation in
temperature that can occur and yield reliable
results.

To determine the profile control limits,

thermocouples are attached to a sample
board populated with components.

The Thermocouple Attachment

Process
Thermocouple placement for determining profile control
NOTE: This section contains information from KIC limits. (Photo courtesy of KIC Thermal Profiling.)
Application Note #00001, Rev: 98-05. The entire
document is found at www.kicthemal.com.

It is strongly recommended to attach TCs Surface Preparation

with high-temperature solder for best Thoroughly clean your selected TC
results. An alloy like Indium #228 locations, taking care to remove any residual
(88Pb/10Sn/2Ag) with a 267°C solidus low temperature solder and other
temperature is a good solder for TC contaminants that might prevent complete
attachment. high temperature solder wetting.
Use alcohol or a suitable solvent to scrub the
TC Locations attachment surface. Then place the solder
TC location is usually determined by wick on the surface and press the soldering
identifying critical or sensitive components iron into the wick, heating both the wick and
and attaching the TC’s to the appropriate the surface to be cleaned. Use as much wick
pads. Additionally, it is best to place the as necessary to remove all free flowing
TC’s so that you receive temperature solder droplets. When solder has been
readings from the hottest and coldest points completely removed, re-scrub the
on the board. The measurements received attachment surface to remove any remaining
from these three to twelve TC’s (depending contaminants.
on the size of the board) will allow you to
determine whether the thermal profile is Attachment
consistent throughout the product, and also Do not attempt to attach the TC by melting
to measure the heating and cooling profiles solder into the spot and then shoving in the
of heat sensitive components. In placing bead. Place the TC bead on the attachment

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surface and heat both evenly, then touch the
solder to the heated TC bead and let the heat
from the TC bead melt the solder. This
method gives you superior wetting and a
stronger solder attachment to the pad or
lead.

Your temperature reading will come from

the first point of contact between the two
wires leading from the TC. To insure
accurate readings, it is critical to carefully
separate the two wires all the way up to the
TC bead after soldering.

High temperature solder is an efficient heat

conductor, so if a tiny bit gets between the
TC bead and the lead or pad, you will still
get an accurate reading. However, too much
solder at the measurement point will
increase the heat capacity of the TC and Each of the curved lines is the temperature as sensed by a
thermocouple attached to a product as it passes through
cause your peak temperature measurement the oven. (Graph courtesy of KIC Thermal Profiling.)
to read low.

Oven Setup How Does Oven Performance

Relate to the Reflow Profile
Once the thermocouples are placed on the
test board, the reflow oven is set up to create Control Band?
a three step thermal profile on the board.
Common oven parameters that are adjusted Once the three step profile is defined and the
to create the thermal profile are: oven parameters are determined, the reflow
oven must be able to produce consistent
• Zone setpoint temperatures results within the reflow profile band. The
• Conveyor speed user should be aware of all variables that
influence the band. To achieve high quality,
• Fan speed
low defect soldering results, the sum of all
• Refrigerated cooling rates (if
the non-uniformities must fall within the
applicable) defined reflow profile band. These variables
may be defined as product related and oven
Profiling then becomes essentially an related.
iterative process comparing the test board
temperature results to the desired profile. If Product Related Variables
the results differ, oven parameters are By far the most critical product related non-
adjusted and the test is rerun. uniformity is that created by large mass
differences on the product. Since it is easier
to heat an area that has no components as

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compared with an area with large The mass (M) times the specific heat (Cp ) is
components, temperature differentials will often referred to as thermal mass. Greater
exist on the product. thermal mass requires more heat to achieve
a given temperature rise.
Oven Related Variables
Consistent thermal repeatability under In Figure 3-4, the area populated with the
product load (oven temperature changes due PLCCs has considerably more thermal mass
to mass variation) and edge-to-center and per unit area than the area with the discrete
front-to-back product heating uniformity are components.
the two most common factors that effect the
reflow process.
HIGH MASS D IFFERENT IAL LOW MASS DIF FERENT IAL

The following sections describe these three

main causes of non-uniform heating in the
SMT reflow process: board mass
differential (product related variables),
conveyor and heater edge effects and
product loading (oven related variables).

Mass Differential
The amount of temperature rise of a product
as it travels through an oven heating zone MASSHILO. DRW

depends upon a number of variables. The Figure 3-4. Comparison of high mass
temperature rise of an object subjected to versus low mass differential boards.
heat is determined by the following
equation:
The high mass area will be more difficult to
∆T = Q x A x t / (M x Cp ) heat. The non-uniformity caused by thermal
mass differential may be measured by
WHERE: thermocoupling a lead on the largest and
∆T = Product Temperature Rise (°C)
Q = Heat Absorbed (W/cm2) smallest device, and running a profile. (As
A = Exposed Area (cm2) described previously.)
t = Heating Dwell Time (seconds)
M = Mass of Object (kg)
Cp = Specific Heat (W-sec/kg-°C)

Notes:

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Oven Uniformity repeatable results. Ovens will generally
A second main cause of non-uniform specify a maximum loading factor (ranging
product heating is the oven heating pattern. from 0.5 to 0.9).
This can be caused by edge effects on the
heaters (less heat at the end) or by heat The loading factor becomes an important
sinking of the conveyor system. The edge consideration when sizing an oven. (See
effect may be caused by insufficient airflow Section 7 – Choosing Your Reflow Oven.)
around the edges of the machine, or by non- The non-uniformity caused by repeatability
uniformities that are inherent in the heaters. can be measured by running a profile on a
test board, then loading the oven down.
The heat sinking of the conveyor is really a Periodically, run the test board within the
mass effect, similar to the one described oven load and compare with the unloaded
above. The oven uniformity may be profile.
measured by thermocoupling a bare board
over a matrix of points, and running a
profile. The matrix should include points on Board
the board edges (front, back, left, and right), Length Space
and the center of he board.

Oven Repeatability
Repeatability refers to the oven’s capability
to repeat a given profile. Repeatability is Board Length
affected by machine loading (number of Load Factor =
Board Length + Space
boards in the oven). Figure 3-5 shows a
typical product loading condition. The
loading factor is defined in the figure.
Figure 3-5: Load factor calculation
The higher the value of the loading factor, combines board length and the space
between the boards.
the more difficult it is for any oven to give

Notes:

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