IPC-4555

Performance Specification
for High Temperature
Organic Solderability
Preservatives (OSP) for
Printed Boards

Developed by 4-14E Final Finishes for Printed Boards – OSP Task Group
of IPC

Users of this publication are encouraged to participate in the

development of future revisions.

Contact:

IPC

Tel 847 615.7100

Fax 847 615.7105
April 2022 IPC-4555

Table of Contents
1.0 SCOPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4.3.5 Limitations of OSP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.1 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4.4 Visual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2. Feature Size for Thickness Measurement . . . . . . . 1 4.5 OSP Coating Thickness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.3. Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4.5.1 OSP Coating Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.4 OSP Chemical Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4.5.2 OSP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.5 Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4.6 Production Conformance Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.6 Measurement Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4.6.1 Production Measurement Requirement . . . . . . . . . 6
1.7 Definition of Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4.6.2 Statistical Process Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.8. Process Control Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4.6.3 Reworking OSP Coated PBs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.9 Order of Precedence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4.7 Solderability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.9.1 Conflict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4.7.1 Stressing of the Deposit Prior
1.9.2 Clause References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 to Solderability Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

1.9.3 Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4.7.2 Solderability Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1.10 Use of “Lead” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4.8 Cleanliness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1.11 Abbreviations and Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 5.0 QUALITY ASSURANCE PROVISIONS . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1.12 Terms and Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 5.1 General Quality Assurance Provisions . . . . . . . . . . 7

2.0 APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 5.1.1 Qualification Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2.1 IPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 5.1.2 Sample Test Coupons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2.2 International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 5.2 Quality Conformance Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

2.3 ASTM International (ASTM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 APPENDIX A Abbreviations and Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . 9

3.0 GENERAL DISCUSSION HIGH TEMPERATURE APPENDIX B Coating Thickness of OSP . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

OSP (PB-FREE ASSEMBLY) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.1 Galvanic Corrosion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Figures

3.2 OSP with Selective Gold Finish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Figure 3-1 Illustration of Galvanic Corrosion
Mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4.0 REQUIREMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Figure 3-2 Example of Selective ENIG board-note
4.1 Requirements of OSP Deposit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 bare copper features near the center. . . . . . . . 4
4.2 Printed Board Fabrication Supplier Figure 3-3 Galvanic effect- Note complete etch
Process Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 out of the copper trace connecting to
4.2.1 General Coating Line Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . 5 the ENIG plated feature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

4.2.2 OSP Deposit Thickness Measurement . . . . . . . . . . 5 Figure 4-1 Acceptable Solder Flow (IPC-A-600H) . . . . 6

4.3 Performance Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

4.3.1 Shelf Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Tables
4.3.2 Storage and Handling of OSP processed PBs . . . . 5 Table 4‑1 Requirements of High Temperature
4.3.3 Solderability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Organic Solderability Preservative (OSP) . . . 4

4.3.4 Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Table 5-1 Suggested Fabricator Qualification Plan . . . . 7

v
April 2022 IPC-4555

Performance Specification for High Temperature Organic

Solderability Preservatives (OSP) for Printed Boards

1.0 SCOPE
This performance specification sets requirements for High Temperature Organic Solderability Preservatives (OSP-High
Temperature) for Pb-free soldering. It is intended for use by chemical suppliers, printed board manufacturers, electronics
manufacturing services (EMS) and original equipment manufacturers (OEM).

1.1 Purpose This standard may be used to specify acceptance criteria to meet performance requirements in addition to those found
in the IPC-6010 family (IPC-6011, IPC-6012 and IPC-6013) of standards. The OSP deposit specified by using this document will
meet the highest coating durability rating for OSP as specified in the J-STD-003 printed board solderability specification.
This specification is based on three critical factors:

1.1.1 The OSP coating process is in control producing a normal distribution for organic film coating thicknesses.

1.1.2 That the tool used to measure the deposit and therefore control the process is accurate and reproducible for the thickness
range specified.

1.1.3 That the OSP process results in uniform deposit characteristics.

If any of these three critical factors are not met, then the deposit produced will not meet the performance criteria defined herein.

1.2 Feature Size for Thickness Measurement This performance specification has been generated based on a deposit thickness
measured ONLY on feature sizes per each supplier’s procedure. Measurement of non-standard feature sizes and/or a combination
of different feature sizes will prevent compliance to the statistical requirements of this specification. Requirements to measure
non-standard sized features is AABUS and the supplier of the printed board is not responsible for the performance of the deposit
as specified in this document.

1.3 Description OSP is an organic containing coating that is applied directly to a bare copper surface. It is a single use surface finish
typically used for soldering. It may be used in conjunction with gold, both electrolytic gold and ENIG/ENEPIG. In such cases
use of a so-called selective OSP is necessary to avoid formation of OSP deposits on the gold surfaces. The OSP layer protects the
underlying copper from oxidation. Some OSP processes have been validated for use with press fit applications (IPC-9797).

1.4 OSP Chemical Descriptions: High Temperature OSP processes are compatible with the higher temperatures of lead-free
assembly.

OSP processes (for higher temperatures of lead-free assembly) are typically acidic and the main functional material is a nitrogen
containing organic molecule. Each supplier of the OSP process shall ensure that its particular formulation is compatible with
lead-free assembly. It is the function of the OSP coating to minimize oxygen penetration to the base metal during multiple thermal
excursions.
1.5 Classification
CLASS 1 General Electronic Products
Includes products suitable for applications where the major requirement is function of the completed assembly.
CLASS 2 Dedicated Service Electronic Products
Includes products where continued performance and extended life is required, and for which uninterrupted service is desired but
not critical. Typically, the end-use environment would not cause failures.
CLASS 3 High Performance/Harsh Environment Electronic Products
Includes products where continued high performance or performance-on-demand is critical, equipment downtime cannot be
tolerated, end-use environment may be uncommonly harsh, and the equipment shall function when required, such as life support
or other critical systems.

1
IPC-4555 April 2022

1.6 Measurement Units This Standard uses International System of Units (SI) units per ASTM SI10, IEEE/ASTM SI 10, Section 3
[Imperial English equivalent units are in brackets for convenience]. The SI units used in this Standard are millimeters (mm) [in] for
dimensions and dimensional tolerances, Celsius (°C) [°F] for temperature and temperature tolerances, grams (g) [oz] for weight,
and lumens (lm) [footcandles] for illuminance.

Note: This Standard uses other SI prefixes (ASTM SI10, Section 3.2) to eliminate leading zeroes (for example, 0.0012 mm becomes
1.2 μm) or as an alternative to powers-of-ten (3.6 x 103 mm becomes 3.6 m).

1.7 Definition of Requirements The words shall or shall not are used in the text of this document wherever there is a requirement
for materials, preparation, process control or acceptance. The word “should” reflects recommendations and is used to reflect
general industry practices and procedures for guidance only. Line drawings and illustrations are depicted herein to assist in the
interpretation of the written requirements of this Standard. The text takes precedence over the figures.

1.8 Process Control Requirements The primary goal of process control is to continually reduce variation in the processes, products,
or services to provide products or processes meeting or exceeding User requirements. Process control tools such as IPC-9191,
JESD557 or other User-approved system may be used as guidelines for implementing process control.

Manufacturers of Class 3 products shall develop and implement a documented process control system.

A documented process control system, if established, shall define process control and corrective action limits. For Class 1 and 2
products, the use of “statistical process control (SPC)” shall be optional and should be based on factors such as design stability, lot
size, production quantities, and the needs of the manufacturer. See paragraph 4.6.2 for the quality assurance section regarding SPC.

Process control methodologies shall be used in the planning, implementation and evaluation of the manufacturing processes used
to produce soldered electrical and electronic assemblies. The philosophy, implementation strategies, tools and techniques may
be applied in different sequences depending on the specific company, operation, or variable under consideration to relate process
control and capability to end product requirements.

When a decision or requirement is to use a documented process control system, failure to implement process corrective action and/
or the use of continually ineffective corrective actions be grounds for disapproval of the process and associated documentation..

1.9 Order of Precedence The contract shall take precedence over this Standard, referenced standards and drawings.
In the event of conflict, the following order of precedence applies:
1) Procurement as agreed and documented between customer and supplier.
2) Master drawing reflecting the customer’s detailed requirements.
3) When invoked by the customer or per contractual agreement, this standard.
When documents other than this standard are cited, the order of precedence shall be defined in the procurement documents.
The User has the opportunity to specify alternate acceptance criteria.

1.9.1 Conflict In the event of conflict between the requirements of this standard and the applicable drawing(s) and documentation,
the applicable user-approved drawing(s) and documentation govern.

Some examples of documentation include the contract, purchase order, technical data package, engineering specification or
performance specification. In the event of a conflict between the text of this standard and the applicable documents cited herein,
the text of this standard takes precedence. In the event of conflict between the requirements of this standard and drawing(s) and
documentation that has not been user approved, this standard governs.

1.9.2 Clause References When a clause in this document is referenced its subordinate clauses apply, unless the requirement
references specific subordinate clauses.

1.9.3 Appendices Appendices to this standard are not binding requirements unless separately and specifically required by this
standard, the applicable contracts, assembly drawing(s), documentation or purchase orders.

1.9.3.1 Appendix A Abbreviations and Acronyms

1.9.3.2 Appendix B Coating Thickness of OSP

1.10 Use of “Lead” For readability and translation, this document uses the noun lead only to describe leads of a component. The
metallic element lead is always written as Pb.