Abstract:

Some companies perform long-term storage of electronic components to support the customer needs of their long-life products. The most common way of undertaking long-term storage is to place the electronic components within their carriers, such as tape and reel or tray, and pack them inside a moisture barrier bag along with desiccant and humidity indicator card before placing them inside a controlled temperature and relative humidity (RH) atmosphere. Degradation of these items during storage can cause manufacturability and reliability risks to electronic components after storage. The companies performing the long-term storage do not select the carriers, as electronic component manufacturers have already chosen them. As a result, the companies may need to replace the packaging media either before or during storage. However, replacing the packaging media has its own challenges, such as nonavailability of the material property information, prior storage history of packaging media, and product change or product discontinuation notifications, distributor repackaging, and counterfeit packaging media. This paper describes these challenges and methods of mitigating them for the successful long-term storage of electronic components.