In Situ Observation of Liquid Solder Alloys and Solid Substrate Reactions Using High-Voltage Transmission Electron Microscopy

The complex reaction between liquid solder alloys and solid substrates has been studied ex-situ in a few studies, utilizing creative setups to “freeze” the reactions at different stages during the reflow soldering process. However, full understanding of the dynamics of the process is difficult due to the lack of direct observation at micro- and nano-meter resolutions. In this study, high voltage transmission electron microscopy (HV-TEM) is employed to observe the morphological changes that occur in Cu6Sn5 between a Sn-3.0 wt%Ag-0.5 wt%Cu (SAC305) solder alloy and a Cu substrate in situ at temperatures above the solidus of the alloy. This enables the continuous surveillance of rapid grain boundary movements of Cu6Sn5 during soldering and increases the fundamental understanding of reaction mechanisms in solder solid/liquid interfaces.

Study of mechanical properties of indium-based solder alloys for cryogenic applications

Purpose This study aims to develop indium-based solders for cryogenic applications. Design/methodology/approach This paper aims to investigate mechanical properties of indium-based solder formulations at room temperature (RT, 27 °C) as well as at cryogenic temperature (CT, −196 °C) and subsequently to find out their suitability for cryogenic applications. After developing these alloys, mechanical properties such as tensile and impact strength were measured as per American Society for Testing and Materials standards at RT and at CT. Charpy impact test results were used to find out ductile to brittle transition temperature (DBTT). These properties were also evaluated after thermal cycling (TC) to find out effect of thermal stress. Scanning electron microscope analysis was performed to understand fracture mechanism. Results indicate that amongst the solder alloys that have been studied in this work, In-34Bi solder alloy has the best all-round mechanical properties at RT, CT and after TC. Findings It can be concluded from the results of this work that In-34Bi solder alloy has best all-round mechanical properties at RT, CT and after TC and therefore is the most appropriate solder alloy amongst the alloys that have been studied in this work for cryogenic applications Originality/value DBTT of indium-based solder alloys has not been found out in the work done so far in this category. DBTT is necessary to decide safe working temperature range of the alloy. Also the effect of TC, which is one of the major reasons of failure, was not studied so far. These parameters are studied in this work.

Emerging Interconnection Technology and Pb-Free Solder Materials for Advanced Microelectronic Packaging

In the field of electronics packaging, Pb-bearing solder alloys are mostly used as robust interconnecting materials [...]

Low Temperature Material Characterization of Lead-Free SAC Solder Alloy at High Strain Rate After Prolonged High Temperature Storage

During operations, handling, and storage in extreme environmental applications including aerospace, defense and automotive, the electronics may be exposed to high and low operating temperatures. In automotive underhood applications, the temperature can vary especially from −65 to +200 °C. Under prolonged storage, SnAgCu solder materials have been shown to continually evolve in the mechanical properties. New doped SAC solder alloys have recently been introduced with the addition of Ni, Co, Au, P, Ga, Cu and Sb to SAC solder alloy to increase the robustness under prolonged thermal exposure. High strain-rate data on SAC solder alloys after prolonged storage operating at low operating temperatures is not available in published literature. In this paper, materials characterization of SAC (SAC105 and SAC-Q) solder after prolonged storage at low operating temperatures (−65°C–0 °C) and at high strain rates (10–75 per sec) has been studied. The fabricated SAC leadfree solder specimens were isothermally aged up to 12 months at 50°C before testing. Anand Viscoplastic model has been used to compute 9 anand parameters from measured Tensile data to describe the material constitutive behavior. The computed 9 anand parameters were used to verify the accuracy of the Anand model. A good correlation was found between experimental data and Anand predicted data.

Enhanced Processability and Thermal Fatigue Reliability With Low Melting Point SnBi Solder Alloy LMPA-Q

SnBi based solder alloys become an interesting alternative for standard SnAgCu as they can be used to solder components at much lower temperature. The typically 50°C lower solder reflow temperature is less damaging for PCB and components, and also prevents hot tear and head-in-pillow failures for large fine pitch BGA components. A reasonable concern for these low-melting temperature solders is the thermal cycling reliability performance, in particular for harsh conditions such as automotive products. In this work, thermal cycling testing and failure analysis have been performed on 9 × 9 mm size QFN components and large chip components (2010 and 2512) which are typically sensitive to thermal fatigue. The results are benchmarked to standard SAC alloy. Also the process advantages from the low temperature solder alloys are depicted in this paper. Finally, the effect of Pb contamination on this SnBi based solder is investigated.

Effect of Mechanical Cycling at Elevated Temperatures on The Constitutive Properties and Microstructure of Lead Free Solder Alloys

Solder joints in electronic packages often experience fatigue failures due to cyclic mechanical stresses and strains in fluctuating temperature environments. These stresses and strains are induced by mismatches in coefficients of thermal expansion, and lead to damage accumulation that contributes to crack initiation, crack propagation, and eventually to failure. In this study, we have tried to compare the effects of elevated mechanical cycling on SAC305 and SAC+Bi (SAC_Q). Initially, small uniaxial cylindrical samples of both alloys were prepared and reflowed in a reflow oven. These samples were then mechanically cycled for various durations at testing temperatures of 100 °C. The measured cyclic stress-strain curves were used to characterize the evolution of the hysteresis loop properties (peak stress, hysteresis loop area, and plastic strain range) with high temperature mechanical cycling. In addition, uniaxial tensile tests and creep tests were also conducted on specimens that had been previously mechanically cycled for various durations (e.g 0, 50, 100, 200, and 300 cycles) at an elevated temperature. This allowed us to study the evolution of the constitutive behavior of the solder alloys that occurred during the high temperature mechanical cycling due to the fatigue damage that builds up in the specimens. The reductions in the properties that occur during high temperature mechanical cycling were also correlated with the corresponding changes in the microstructure of the specimens. Rectangular cross-sectioned samples of the two lead free solder alloys were polished and selected regions indented to track the changes in the microstructure of a fixed region with mechanical cycling at T = 100 °C. Using the results of this study, we are working to develop better fatigue criteria for lead free solders which are subjected to variable temperature applications.