Kiwi project with nRF52840

[harti]

I have included the reference design for the nRF52840 in my project. Unfortunately, the VIAs in Pads have a hole diameter of 0.15mm and a diameter of 0.35mm and are also still staggered. Since this is not a standard, this increases the costs and I would like to increase the hole diameter to 0.2mm (diameter 0.4) and make it non-staggered. The actual solder pad is 0.254mm and could be increased to 0.3mm.
Is this a problem with the soldering process?

[Andreas]

Hi,

 

If you increase the hole diameter then you will increase the size of the surrounding 'ring' that breaks up the grounding of the chip. It is hard to say whether or not this will be a problem, if you do the rest of your design well it will probably be fine. Feel free to submit your design for a free review by Nordic engineers.

As for the pad diameter and solder resist opening this is also hard to say, but doing so is likely to increase the risk of issues. The pad diameter is 0.2-0.3mm with 0.25mm nominal. You should consult with your EMS and evaluate how your prototypes react to their equipment with these larger pads.

 

Best regards,

Andreas