Contents 1. Introduction
Solder joints are often considered as the weakest link in the electronic system [1]. As these systems becomes more complex, time to market is under pressure and expected lifetime is increased, the reliability of solder interconnects in electronic system becomes increasingly important. In order to evaluate the reliability in an adequate way, accelerated tests are the most appropriate route. Although lots of efforts have been put in accelerated solder testing, there are still many challenges such as introduction of new types of solder materials, loading conditions, testing time, damage monitoring and failure identification [2]–[6]. Particularly the accelerated test of solder joints in applications with long expected lifetime like solder interconnects in solid state lighting products [7] is sometimes very time consuming and costly. In addition, new legislation will lead to a rapid replacement of the well characterized conventional lead solders to the less extensively characterized Sn-Ag-Cu (SAC) lead free solders. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop new and fast testing methods and protocols for accurate fatigue damage monitoring for this new type of solders.
