Activation energy for Cu-Sn intermetallic in CNT-reinforced Sn-1.0Ag-0.5Cu solder

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the addition of 0.05 Wt.% carbon nanotube (CNT) into the Sn-1.0Ag-0.5Cu (SAC) solder on the intermetallic (IMC) growth. Lead-based solders play an important role in a variety of applications in electronic industries. Due to the toxicity of the lead in the solder, lead-free solders were proposed to replace the lead-based solders. Sn-Ag-Cu solder family is one of the lead-free solders, which are proposed and considered as a potential replacement. Unfortunately, the Sn-Ag-Cu solder faces some reliability problems because of the formation of the thick intermetallic compounds. So the retardation of intermetallic growth is prime important. Design/methodology/approach The solder joint was aged under liquid state aging with soldering time from 1 to 60 min. Findings Two types of intermetallics, which are Cu6Sn5 and Cu3Sn were observed under a scanning electron microscope. The morphology of Cu6Sn5 intermetallic transformed from scallop to planar type as the soldering time increases. The addition of carbon nanotube into the SAC solder has retarded the Cu6Sn5 intermetallic growth rate by increasing its activation energy from 97.86 to 101.45 kJ/mol. Furthermore, the activation energy for the Cu3Sn growth has increased from 102.10 to 104.23 kJ/mol. Originality/value The increase in the activation energy indicates that the growth of the intermetallics was slower. This implies that the addition of carbon nanotube increases the reliability of the solder joint and are suitable for microelectronics applications.

Crack Reduction in Tabbing and Stringing Processes for Solar Cells

Wafer cracking is considered to be an important loss in solar cell manufacturing as it crucially affects the production yield as well as the efficiency of solar cells fabricated. There is a certain chance of cracking in wafer when the substrate undergoes some thermal and/or mechanical loads during its fabrication. This research therefore aims to decrease the solar cells cracking in tabbing and stringing processes as the two processes are responsible for a great number of cracks in the substrate. A set of experiments was performed in this study, where soldering temperature and time were tested and the amount of cracks in solar cells was quantified. The findings showed that the use of 185°C soldering temperature with the soldering time of 1,200 ms can reduce the number of cracks in the tabbing and stringing of silicon solar cells. With this setup, the adhesion force between tabbing ribbons and substrate surface can also be promoted, thus preventing the delamination problem in the cell panels.

Influences of soldering time on wettability and intermetallic phase between Sn-3.0Cu solder and copper substrate

In this paper, the influences of soldering time on the wettability and intermetallic phase between Sn-3.0Cu lead-free solder and copper substrate were investigated. Reflow soldering was performed at 350 ° C under variable soldering times of 10, 20, 40, 60, 120, 240 and 480 s. The results indicated that the wettability and intermetallic growth depend on the soldering time. In addition, the Cu6Sn5 and Cu3Sn intermetallic phases with a hexagonal crystal structure were found between the lead-free solder and the copper substrate. The growth of intermetallic phases increased with soldering time, and the growth of intermetallic phases remarkably depended on grain boundary diffusion and was volume diffusion-controlled for Cu6Sn5 and Cu3Sn, respectively.

Ultrasonic Fluxless Soldering of Eutectic SnPb and SnAgCu Alloys: A Feasibility Study

Compared with the traditional eutectic SnPb soldering, lead-free soldering has been a focal point for electronics packaging research in order for the industry to meet the regulations on environment protection. By eliminating the lead element from soldering process, the concerns on environmental pollution can be significantly reduced. However, the current lead-free soldering processes usually still require the flux chemicals for promoting wetting. The use of flux chemicals is not environmentally friendly. In this study, motivated by the potential benefits of soldering using ultrasonic energy, we carry out a feasibility study of ultrasonic fluxless soldering experiments on both the regular eutectic SnPb soldering alloy, Sn63Pb37 and the popular SnAgCu alloy, SAC305. By developing the appropriate testing conditions, the solder joints are successfully formed using the dipping ultrasonic soldering method regardless if chemical flux is applied. The effects of soldering time, temperature, and ultrasonic power are investigated. The results from SEM observation and EDS element analysis indicate that the use of chemical flux produces thicker intermetallic compound (IMC) layers for Sn63Pb37 alloy, and a longer soldering time leads to thicker IME layers for both solder alloys. However, a higher soldering temperature may not be beneficial to the growth of IME layer in ultrasonic soldering of SAC305 alloy. However, the driving mechanisms behind the phenomena remain to be investigated in the future.

Research of Joining Brittle Nonmetallic Materials with an Active Solder

This paper deals with soldering high-purity brittle, nonmetallic materials such as SiO2, Si, and C (graphite). However, these materials exert poor wettability when using tin solder. Therefore, to reduce the wetting angle, an Sn solder alloyed with active Ti element was used. At a soldering temperature of 860°C and 15 min soldering time, the wetting angle on SiO2ceramics was 30°, on silicon 42°, and on graphite 52°. All these wetting angles are below 90° and are acceptable for soldering. It has been shown that the bond in all joined materials (SiO2, Si, and C) was of a diffusion character. New intermetallic products were formed on the boundary with nonmetal, thus allowing bond formation. The shear strength of SiO2ceramics attained an average value of 17 MPa.

Effect of Joint Size on Microstructure and Growth Kinetics of Intermetallic Compounds in Solid-Liquid Interdiffusion Sn3.5Ag/Cu-Substrate Solder Joints

The effect of joint size on the interfacial reaction in the Sn3.5Ag/Cu-substrate soldering system was examined. An experiment was conducted in which parameters such as bonding time, temperature, and pressure were varied at multiple levels. The morphology and thickness of all intermetallic compounds (IMC) were analyzed using the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) techniques. An examination of the microstructures of solder joints of different sizes revealed that the size of the solder joint has no effect on the type of IMCs formed during the process. It was found that the joint size significantly affected the thickness of the intermetallic layers. The Cu3Sn intermetallic layers formed in the smaller sized solder joints were found to be thicker than those in the larger sized solder joints. In all specimen sizes, the increase in the thickness of Cu3Sn intermetallic layers with soldering time was found to obey a parabolic relationship. Additionally, for the cases when eutectic solder is available in the joints, a similar soldering time and temperature dependency were found for the Cu6Sn5 IMC phase. The intermetallic growth of the Cu3Sn phase was under a volume-diffusion controlled mechanism. The growth rate constants and activation energies of intermetallic layers were also reported for different joint thicknesses. Furthermore, the growth rate constants of the Cu3Sn intermetallic layer were found to depend upon the size of the joints.

Joining Active Metals with Al2O3 by Use of Solders

The work deals with joining active metals as Ti, Zr and Hf with Al2O3ceramics. The solubility of these active metals in selected Sn and In based solders was studied at a selected soldering temperature. Capability of active metals to wet Al2O3ceramics and to form a diffusion bind was ascertained. Soldering was performed with Sn, Sn5Ag, In and In30Sn solders, which were enriched by an active element from metallic substrate of the joint in soldering process. Soldering temperature in vacuum varied from 770 to 870 °C and soldering time was selected from 8 to 20 min. It was found out that the most suitable metal for active solders is Ti, because it is dissolved in Sn solder already at temperature 780 °C. Wetting of ceramic Al2O3substrate and formation of a diffusion bond was achieved already at temperature 830 °C/8 min. Diffusion bond with Zr was formed just at temperature 870 °C/20 min. and it was impossible to form a diffusion bond with Hf.

Wetting and Intermetallic Study between Sn-3.5Ag-1.0Cu-xZn Lead-Free Solders and Copper Substrate (x = 0, 0.1, 0.4, 0.7)

The development of lead-free solders has been an essential task in the electronics industry because of the restriction of lead use by legislation. Among the candidates, Sn-Ag-Cu group of solder alloys have great advantages to replace the conventional Sn-Pb solder. In this study, the wetting and intermetallic study between Sn-3.5Ag-1.0Cu-xZn lead-free solder reacting on copper substrate were investigated under different soldering conditions. The addition of 0.7wt% of Zn improved the wettability on Cu substrate since it has the highest spreading area at 310°C. The Cu6Sn5 and Cu3Sn phases are the main interface intermetallic formed and these intermetallics increased in thickness with time and temperature. At 270°C, the addition of 0.7wt% Zn retarded the growth of Cu3Sn intermetallic until 10 min of the soldering time. Generally the addition of Zn was beneficial in retarding the total intermetallic thickness.

Growth of Cu-Zn5 and Cu5Zn8 Intermetallic Compounds in the Sn-9Zn/Cu Joint during Liquid State Aging

The phase and intermetallic thickness of Cu-Zn5 and Cu5Zn8 has been investigated under liquid state aging using reflow method. Both intermetallics were formed by reacting Sn-9Zn lead free solder with copper substrate. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to see the morphology of the phases and energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) was used to estimate the elemental compositions of the phases. The morphology of the Cu5Zn8 phase was rather flat but when the soldering temperature and time increases, the morphology becomes scallop. Intermetallic thickness measurements show that the thickness of Cu-Zn5 decreases with increasing soldering time and temperature. Whereas, the thickness of Cu5Zn8 intermetallic increases with soldering time and temperature.