Is it possible to solder small BGA(flip chip) at home?

[TNb]

Is it possible to solder something like STM EMFI02 at home? Assuming I can screw up several times before I get it of course.

While bigger BGA packages can be soldered manually(like Louis shows below), this is flip chip and damn small one, so I suspect it is more touchy about temperature profile, positioning etc.


Should I even consider to buy it and try to solder with hands or better forget about it and find more suitable package IC?

And while we're at it - maybe somebody knows good and simple ESD usb protection IC like EMFI02?

[evb149]

That is 500um pitch, no different than most SMD components like QFNs.
And only 11 balls.  And probably inexpensive enough that you could experiment with a few without too much loss.
So yes it should be possible.
You ought to use a proper stencil with the right thickness and geometry and the matching type of solder paste and reflow profile.  But even if you just tried to reflow it with manually applied paste or wetted planarized pads I imagine that you'd get successful soldering most of the time.  Obviously you'd have to be careful with placement to a degree and not allow it to be moved by tilting or vibration during reflow.  Even so I bet you could do it with a hot air rework tool.
Give it a try.
ENIG PCBs would be best.  I don't know if you can route breakout traces properly on your PCB with that geometry though but give it a try.

I wonder why you are concerned about an EMI protection IC that is relatively difficult to use, though, I would think there would be easier solutions for that particular concern.

Is it possible to solder something like STM EMFI02 at home? Assuming I can screw up several times before I get it of course.

While bigger BGA packages can be soldered manually(like Louis shows below), this is flip chip and damn small one, so I suspect it is more touchy about temperature profile, positioning etc.


Should I even consider to buy it and try to solder with hands or better forget about it and find more suitable package IC?

And while we're at it - maybe somebody knows good and simple ESD usb protection IC like EMFI02?

[TNb]

Thanks! Maybe I'll find better IC, for now I haven't seen good one, usually they are either too complex with MUXes inside and other additional crap or I can use separate TVS diodes... but yeah, propably there is better IC, but nevertheless it would be interesting to try solder this puppy by hand, so I might as well buy couple of them

P.S. If somebody wonders about topic of using BGAs in their design - routing them is pain in the ass, requires multi-layer board and manufacturer that can handle small pitch traces, so even if it is possible to solder - probably throw this idea away for small hobby prototypes.
However(!) you can be lucky like me and you need just outer pins of BGA, so you route it as QFN package basically

[plazma]

Hot air works with BGA. Pre-tin or order HASL PCBs. No need for solder paste. The BGA ball alone is enough. Apply flux to PCB before placing the chip.

Solder paste does help a little bit. Especially if the PCB  is not pretinned or without HASL. I have access to a very good dispenser at work. I have used it for 100+ pin BGA chips.