In this study, both two-dimensional and three-dimensional finite element an
alyses were used to study the stress distribution in and deflection of the
flip chip assembly under thermal loading. It is found that the three-dimens
ional results compared favorably with experimental measurements, while the
two-dimensional results consistently overestimate both stresses and deflect
ion. Among the two-dimensional models, the plane stress assumption seems to
yield results closer to the full three-dimensional predictions. Furthermor
e, three-dimensional models were used to ;investigate the effect of printed
wiring board size on the overall deflection of the flip-chip assembly. Thi
s size effect of the printed wiring board has significant implications on t
he design of multi-chip modules. The results indicate that a square array p
lacement pattern is preferable to a staggered array for multiple chip modul
es in order to reduce mechanical interaction between chips. For square arra
ys, such mechanical interaction between chips can be neglected when the min
imum distance between adjacent chips is more than 2 times the chip size.