Effect of microwave operating power and reflow time on the microstructure and tensile properties of Sn–3.0Ag–0.5Cu/Cu solder joints

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the morphology and tensile properties of SAC305 solder alloy under the influence of microwave hybrid heating (MHH) for soldering at different microwave parameters. Design/methodology/approach Si wafer was used as susceptor in MHH for solder reflow. Microwave operating power for medium and high ranging from 40 to 140 s reflow time was used to investigate their effect on the microstructure and strength of SAC305/Cu solder joints. The morphology and elemental composition of the intermetallic compound (IMC) joint were evaluated on the top surface and cross-sectional view. Findings IMC formation transformed from scallop-like to elongated scallop-like structure for medium operating power and scallop-like to planar-like structure for high operating power when exposed to longer reflow time. Compositional and phase analysis confirmed that the observed IMCs consist of Cu6Sn5, Cu3Sn and Ag3Sn. A thinner IMC layer was formed at medium operating power, 80 s (2.4 µm), and high operating power, 40 s (2.5 µm). The ultimate tensile strength at high operating power, 40 s (45.5 MPa), was 44.9% greater than that at medium operating power, 80 s (31.4 MPa). Originality/value Microwave parameters with the influence of Si wafer in MHH in soldering have been developed and optimized. A microwave temperature profile was established to select the appropriate parameter for solder reflow. For this MHH soldering method, the higher operating power and shorter reflow time are preferable.

Rapid and Localized Soldering Using Reactive Films for Electronic Applications

The rapid and localized heating techniques allow the joining of temperature-sensitive materials and components without thermal induced damage commonly encountered when high-temperature solder reflow processes are used. This is also advantageous for making assemblies with materials having a large difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion without induced bowing or cracking. The use of exothermic reactive foil sandwiched between solder preforms is a promising local and rapid soldering process because it does not require any external heat source. The reactive foil is formed from alternatively stacked nanolayers of Ni and Al until it reaches the total film thickness. Once the film is activated by using an external power source, a reaction takes place and releases such an amount of energy that is transferred to the solder preforms. If this amount of energy is high enough, solder preforms melt and insure the adhesion between the materials of the assembly. The influences of the applied pressure, the reactive film (RF) thickness as well as the solder, and the attached materials chemical composition and thickness were investigated. It was shown that the applied pressure during the process has a strong effect on the joint initial quality with voids ratio decreases from 64% to 26% for pressure values between .5 and 100 kPa, respectively. This can be explained by the improvement of the solder flow under higher pressure leading to a better surface wettability and voids elimination. Otherwise, the joint quality was found to be improved once the solder melting duration is increased. This relationship was observed when the thickness of the reactive foil is increased (additional induced energy) or the thickness of solders, Cu, and/or Si is decreased (less energy consumption). The microstructure of the AuSn joint achieved using the RFs shows very fine phase distribution compared with the one obtained using conventional solder reflow process in the oven because of high cooling rate. The mechanical properties of the joint were evaluated using shear tests performed on 350-μm-thick silicon diodes assembled on active metal brazed substrates under a pressure of 100 kPa. The RFs were 60 μm thick and sandwiched between two 25-μm-thick 96.5Sn3Ag.5Cu (SAC) preforms. The voids ratio was about 37% for the tested samples and shear strength values above 9.5 MPa were achieved which remains largely higher than MIL-STD-883H requirements. Finally, the process impact on the electrical properties of the assembled diodes was compared with a commonly used solder reflow assembly and the results show a negligible variation.

Parametric study of electronics components joining using reactive films for high temperature applications

In this paper, in order to assemble electronic components onto substrates, a local rapid soldering process using an exothermic reactive foil sandwiched between solder preforms was evaluated. Among others, the main interest of this technique is that it can allow the use of high temperature melting solders, without the need to heat the whole assembly above this melting temperature. The reactive foil is commercially available and is formed from alternatively stacked nanolayers of Ni and Al until it reaches the total film thickness. Once the film is activated by using an external power source, a reaction takes place and releases such an amount of energy that is transferred to the solder preforms. If this amount of energy is high enough, solder preforms melt and insure the adhesion between the materials of the assembly. The process was evaluated using a standard SAC305 and a high temperature Au80Sn20 preforms. The influences of the applied pressure, the reactive film thickness as well as the solder and the attached materials nature and thicknesses were investigated. The initial joint quality was evaluated using scanning acoustic microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and shear strength measurements. It was shown that the applied pressure during the process has a strong effect on the joint initial quality. The voids ratio between metallized diode dice and an Active Metal Braze (AMB) substrate decreases from 64% to 26% for pressure values between 0.5kPa and 100kPa respectively. Otherwise, under a constant low pressure of 13kPa, reducing the substrate metal thickness on a low thermal conductivity insulator allows the improvement of the initial joint quality and a voids ratio of about 15% was reached when using 35μm of copper on FR4 substrate. The use of aluminum instead of copper as a metal for the ceramic metallized substrate (with the same gold finishing layer) led to a reduction in the void ratio in the joint. The microstructure of the AuSn joint achieved using the reactive films shows very fine phase distribution compared to the one obtained using conventional solder reflow process in the oven. The mechanical properties of the joint were evaluated using shear tests performed on 350μm thick silicon diodes assembled on AMB substrates under a pressure of 100kPa. The reactive films were 60μm thick and were sandwiched between two 25μm thick SAC preforms. The void ratio was about 37% for the tested samples and shear strength values above 9.5MPa were achieved which remains largely higher than MIL-STD-883H requirements. Finally, the process impact on the electrical properties of the assembled diodes was compared with a commonly used solder reflow assembly and results show a negligible variation.