Hygroscopic Swelling Influence on Critical Sensor Components: Experimental Characterization and FEA Application.

The goal of the present work is to characterize the hygroscopic expansion properties of epoxy materials relevant for sensor package components, to allow for an appropriate thermo-mechanical finite elements analysis (FEA) simulation and for the selection/control of lens and encapsulation materials. Material samples of several epoxy-based components used in optical sensor packages are exposed to humidity and variations of ambient conditions, leading to changes in their dimensions.A suitable experimental approach for hygroscopic characterization has been identified and is proposed within the present work. The resulting properties were implemented in finite elements simulations of relevant lens and package structures.