• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.71-77
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• 2007

In this study, the mechanical and electrical properties of three different ball grid array (BGA) solder joints, consisting of Sn-37Pb, Sn-3.5Ag and Sn-3.5Ag-0.75Cu (all wt.%), with organic solderability preservative (OSP)-finished Cu pads were investigated as a function of reflow number. Based on scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis results, a continuous $Cu_6Sn5$, intermetallic compound (IMC) layer was formed at the solder/substrate interface, which grew with increasing reflow number. The ball shear testing results showed that the shear force peaked after 3 reflows (in case of Sn-Ag solder, 4 reflows), and then decreased with increasing reflow number. The electrical property of the joint gradually decreased with increasing reflow number.

• Proceedings of the International Microelectronics And Packaging Society Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.104-108
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• 2002

This paper was investigated the lead free solder characteristics by P mass percentage chang e. Tension test, wetting balance test, spread test, and analysis of intermetallic compound after isothermal aging of Sn-2.5Ag-0.7Cu-0.005P, Sn-2.5Ag-0.7Cu-0.01P, Sn-2.5Ag-0.7Cu-0.02P, Sn-0.7Cu-0.005P were performed for estimation. By adding P on the solder alloys, it was showe d improvement of tensile strength, reduction of intermetallic compound growth and reduction of oxidization of fusible solder under wave soldering processes. After comparing solder alloy containing P with tin lead eutectic solder alloy, p containing solder alloys showed much better solderability than eutectic solder alloys.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.49-55
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• 2011

The failure of electronic instruments is mostly caused by heat and shock. This shock causes the crack initiation at the solder joint interface of PCB component which is closely related with the formation of intermetallic compound(IMC). The Ag content in Pb-free Sn-xAg-0.5Cu solder alloy used in this study was 1.0, 1.2 and 3.0 wt.%, respectively. After soldering with PCB component, isothermal aging was performed to 1000 hrs. The growth of IMC layer was observed during isothermal aging. The drop impact property of solder joint was evaluated by impact bending test method. The solder joint made with the solder containing lower Ag content showed better impact bending property compared with that with higher Ag content. On the contrary to this result, the solder joint made with solder containing higher Ag content showed better impact bending property after aging. It should be caused by the formation of fine $Ag_3Sn$, which relieved the impact. It showed consequently the different effect of fine $Ag_3Sn$ and coarse $Cu_6Sn_5$ particles formed in the IMC layer on the impact bending property.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.11 no.4 s.33
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• pp.43-48
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• 2004

Electromigration of Sn-3.5Ag-0.5Cu solder bumps was investigated with current densities of $3{\~}4{\times}10^4 A/cm^2$ at temperatures of $130{\~}160^{\circ}C$ using flip chip specimens which consisted of upper Si chip and lower Si substrate. Electromigration failure of the Sn-3.5Ag-0.5Cu solder bump occurred with complete consumption of Cu UBM and void formation at cathode side of the solder bump. The activation energies for electromigration of the Sn-3.5Ag-0.5Cu solder bump were measured as 0.61 eV at current density of $3{\times}10^4 A/cm^2$, 0.63 eV at $3.5{\times}10^4 A/cm^2$, and 0.77 eV at $4{\times}10^4 A/cm^2$, respectively.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.89-96
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• 2002

This study examined the effects of adding Zn to Sn-3.5Ag solder on the microstructure changes and behavior of interface reaction of the solder joint with Cu substrate. The solder/Cu joints were examined with microscope to observe the characteristics of microstructure changes and interfacial reaction layer with aging treatment for up to 120 days at $150^{\circ}C$. Results of the microstructure changes showed that the microstructures were coarsened with aging treatment, while adding 1%Zn suppresses coarsening microstructures. The Sn-3.5Ag/Cu had a fast growth rate of the reaction layer in comparison with the Sn-3.5Ag-1Zn at the aging temperature of $150^{\circ}C$. Through the SEM/EDS analysis of solder joint, it was proved that intermetallic layer was $Cu_6Sn_5$ phase and aged specimens showed that intermetallic layer grew in proportion to $t^{1/2}$, and the precipitate of $Ag_3Sn$ occur to both inner layer and interface of layer and solder. In case of Zn-containing composite solder, $Cu_6Sn_5$ phase formed at the side of substrate and Cu-Zn-Sn phase formed at the other side in double layer. It seems that Cu-Zn-Sn phase formed at solder side did a roll of banrier to suppress the growth of the $Cu_6Sn_5$ layer during the aging treatment.

• Applied Science and Convergence Technology
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.345-350
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• 2014

The surface oxidation mechanism of lead-free solder alloys has been investigated with multiple reflow using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It was found that the solder surface of Sn-Ag-Cu-In solder alloy is surrounded by a thin $InO_x$ layer after reflow process; this coating protects the metallic surface from thermal oxidation. Based on this result, we have performed a wetting balance test at various temperatures. The Sn-Ag-Cu-In solder alloy shows characteristics of both thermal oxidation and wetting balance better than those of Sn-Ag-Cu solder alloy. Therefore, Sn-Ag-Cu-In solder alloy is a good candidate to solve the two problems of easy oxidation and low wettability, which are the most critical problems of Pb-free solders.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.218-220
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• 2006

Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu solder is widely used as micro-joining materials of flip chip package(FCP) because of the fact that it causes less dissolution and has good thermal fatigue property. However, compared with ternary electroplating in the manufacturing process, binary electroplating is still used in industrial field because of easy to make plating solution and composition control. The objective of this research is to fabricate Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu solder bumping having accurate composition. The ternary Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu solder bumping could be made on a Cu pad by sequent binary electroplating of Sn-Cu and Sn-Ag. Composition of the solder was estimated by EDS and ICP-OES. The thickness of the bump was measured using SEM and the microstructure of intermetallic-compounds(IMCs) was observed by SEM and EDS. From the results, contents of Ag and CU found to be at $2.7{\pm}0.3wt%\;and\;0.4{\pm}0.1wt%$, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.47 no.8
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• pp.500-507
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• 2009

Pb-free solder has recently been used in electronics in efforts to meet environmental regulations, and a number of Pb-free solder alloy choices beyond the near-eutectic SnAgCu solder are now available. With increased demand for thin and portable electronics, the high cost of alloys containing significant amounts of silver and their poor mechanical shock performance have spurred the development of low Ag SnAgCu solder, which provides improved mechanical performance at a reasonable cost. Although low Ag SnAgCu solder exhibits significantly higher fracture resistance under high-strain rates, little thermal fatigue data exist for this solder. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate thermal fatigue reliability of low Ag SnAgCu solder under variation of thermal stress in order to allow its implementation in electronic products with high reliability requirements. In this study, the reliability of Sn0.3Ag0.7Cu(SAC0307), a low Ag solder alloy, is discussed and compared with that of Sn3Ag0.5Cu(SAC305). Three sample types and six samples size are evaluated. Mechanical properties and microstructure of the solder joint are investigated under thermal shock cycles. It was observed that the mechanical strength of SAC0307 dropped slightly with thermal cycling relative to that of SAC305. This reveals that the failure mode of SAC0307 is different from that SAC305 under this critical condition.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.226-226
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• 2008

지난 10여년 동안 Sn-3.0Ag-0.5(wt%)Cu 합금은 대표 무연솔더 조성으로 다양한 전자제품의 실장 및 접합에 적용되어 왔으며, 그 신뢰성 역시 충분히 검증된 바 있다. 그러나 최근 Ag 가격의 급격한 상승과 솔더 접합부의 내 충격 신뢰성을 보다 향상시키고자 하는 업계의 동향은 Ag의 함량이 낮은 무연솔더 조성의 적용 확대를 유도하고 있다. 이에 따라 본 연구자들은 저 Ag 함유 무연슬더로 Sn-1.2Ag-0.5Cu-0.4In 조성을 제안한 바 있는데, 이는 Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu 조성 이상의 solderability를 가지면서도 그 금속원료 가격이 약 20% 가량 저렴한 특징을 가진다. 또한 열 싸이클링 (cycling) 테스트를 통한 슬더 조인트의 신뢰성을 평가한 결과, Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu에 크게 뒤떨어지지 않는 양호한 특성이 관찰되었다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 열 싸이클링 테스트와 더불어 최근 그 중요성이 지속적으로 커지고 있는 내 충격 신뢰성 평가 시험을 실시하여 개발된 4원계 무연솔더 조성의 기계적 특성을 기존 무연솔더 조성과 비교, 분석해 보았다. 각 솔더 조성은 솔더 볼 형태로 제조되어 CSP(Chip Scale Package) 상에 범핑 (bumping)되었으며, CSP를 PCB(Printed Circuit Board) 상에 실장하는 공정에서도 Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu 및 Sn-1.2Ag-0.5Cu-0.4In의 두 종류의 솔더 페이스트가 사용되었다. 본 연구에서의 내 충격 신뢰성 시험에는 자체 제작한 rod drop 시험기를 사용하였는데, 고정된 CSP 실장 board의 후면 부위를 일정한 높이에서 추를 반복적으로 자유 낙하시켜 급격한 충격을 주는 방식으로 실험을 실시하였다. 이 때 추의 무게는 30g, 낙하 높이는 10cm 였으며, 추의 낙하 시 측정된 board 의 휨 변위량은 약 0.7mm로 측정되었다. 사용된 CSP와 PCB 는 모두 daisy chain 방식으로 연결되어 있기 때문에 저항측정기를 사용한 간단한 실시간 저항 측정 방법으로 시험 이력에 따른 파단부의 발생 시점과 대략의 위치를 손쉽게 확인할 수 있었다. 솔더 조인트의 파단 기준 저항값으로 $1000\Omega$을 설정하였으며. 각 조건 당 5 개 이상의 샘플에 대해 평가를 실시한 후 그 평균값을 조사하였다. 시험 결과 제안된 Sn-1.2Ag-0.5Cu-0.4In 조성은 대표적인 저 Ag 함유 조성인 Sn-1.0Ag-0.5Cu에 비해서는 떨어지는 내 충격 신뢰성을 나타내었지만, 우수한 연성에 기인하여 Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu 조성에 비해서는 약 2 배 이상 우수한 신뢰성이 관찰되었다. 또한 CSP의 실장 시 Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu보다 Sn-1.2Ag-0.5Cu-0.4In 조성 솔더 페이스트를 적용한 경우에서 보다 우수한 내 충격 신뢰성을 나타내어 기본적으로 개발된 Sn-1.2Ag-0.5Cu-0.4In 솔더 페이스트가 Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu 조성의 기존 솔더 페이스트 보다 내 충격 신뢰성이 우수함을 검증할 수 있었다. 각 조성의 솔더 조인트를 $150^{\circ}C$ 에서 500시간 aging한 후 실시한 내 충격 신뢰성 평가에서는 모든 조성에서 그 신뢰성이 급감하는 경항을 나타내었으나, Sn-1.2Ag-0.5Cu-0.4In가 Sn-l.0Ag-0.5Cu보다도 그 상대적인 신뢰성이 우수한 것으로 관찰되었다. 이와 같이 aging 후 실시하는 충격시험은 가장 실제적인 상황과 유사한 조건이므로 상기의 실험 결과는 매우 고무적이었으며, 이에 대한 보다 면밀한 분석이 요청되었다. 마지막으로 파면 및 미세조직 관찰을 통하여 각 조성에서의 충격 파단 특성을 비교, 분석해 보았다.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.17-23
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• 2013

As a basic research to develop stretchable electronic packaging technology, CNT-Ag composite pads were formed on top of Cu/Sn chip bumps and flip-chip bonded using anisotropic conductive adhesive. Average contact resistances of the flip-chip joints were measured with respect to bonding pressure and presence of the CNT-Ag composite pads. When Cu/Sn chip bumps with CNT-Ag composite pads were flip-chip bonded to substrate Cu pads at 25MPa or 50 MPa, contact resistance was too high to measure. The specimen processed by flip-chip bonding the Cu/Sn chip bumps with CNT-Ag composite pads to the substrate Cu pads exhibited an average contact resistance of $213m{\Omega}$. On the other hand, the flip-chip specimens processed by bonding Cu/Sn chip bumps without CNT-Ag composite pads to substrate Cu pads at 25MPa, 50MPa, and 100MPa exhibited average contact resistances of $370m{\Omega}$, $372m{\Omega}$, and $112m{\Omega}$, respectively.