• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.25-27
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• 2005

Sn-9Zn solder balls were bonded to Cu and ENIG (Electroless Nickel/Immersion Gold) pads, and the effect of aging on their joint reliability was investigated. The interfacial products were different from the general reaction layer formed in a Sn-base solder. The intermetallic compounds formed in the solder/Cu joint were $Cu_{5}Zn_{8}$ and $Cu_{6}Sn_{5}$. After aging treatment, voids formed irregularly at the bottom side of the solder because of Sn diffusion into the $Cu_{5}Zn_{8}$ IMC. In the case of the solder/ENIG joint, $AuZn_{3}$ IMCs were formed at the interface. In the case of the Sn-9Zn/ENIG, the shear strength remained nearly constant in spite of aging for 1000 hours at $150^{\circ}C$. On the other hand, in the case of the Sn-9Zn/Cu, the shear strength significantly decreased after aging at $150^{\circ}C$ for 100hours and then remained constant by further prolonged aging. Therefore, the protective plating layer such as ENIG must be used to ensure the mechanical reliability of the Sn-9Zn/Cu joint.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.33-35
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• 2006

The interactions between Cu/Sn-Ag-(Cu) and Sn-Ag-(Cu)/Ni interfacial reactions were studied during isothermal aging at $150^{\circ}C$ for up to 1000h using Cu(ENIG)/Sn-3.5Ag-(0.7Cu)/Cu(ENIG) sandwich solder joints. A typical scallop-type Cu-Sn intermetallic compound (IMC) layer formed at the upper Sn-Ag/Cu interface after reflowing, whereas a $(Cu,Ni)_6Sn_5$ IMC layer was observed at the Sn-Ag/ENIG interface. The Cu in the $(Cu,Ni)_6Sn_5$ IMC layer formed on the Ni side was sourced from the dissolution of the opposite Cu metal pad or Cu-Sn IMC layer. When the dissolved Cu arrived at the interface of the Ni pad, the $(Cu,Ni)_6Sn_5$ IMC layer formed on the Ni interface, preventing the Ni pad from reacting with the solder. Although a long isothermal aging treatment was performed at $150^{\circ}C$, no Ni was detected in the Cu-Sn IMC layer formed on the Cu side. Compared to the single Sn-Ag/ENIG solder joint, the formation of the $(Cu,Ni)_6Sn_5$ IMC layer of the Cu/sn-Ag/ENIG sandwich joint effectively retarded the Ni consumption from the electroless Ni-P layer.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.54-58
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• 2013

Joint properties of vehicle ECU (Electric Control Unit) module which was manufactured by using Sn-Cu-Cr-Ca alloy were investigated. A new solder which has a middle melting temperature about $231^{\circ}C$ was fabricated as the type of 300um solder ball and paste type. The prototype modules were made by reflow process and measured spreadability, wettability shear strength and estimated interface reaction. The spreadability of the alloy was about 84% from the measurement of contact angle of the solder ball and the wetting force was measured 2mN. The average shear strength of the module which was manufactured by using the solder paste, was 1.9 $kg/mm^2$. Also, the thickness of IMC(intermetallic compound) was evaluated with various aging temperature and time in order to understand Cr effect on Sn-0.7Cu solder. $Cu_6Sn_5$ IMC was formed between Cu pad and the solder alloy and the average thickness of the $Cu_6Sn_5$ IMC was measured about 4um and it was about 50% of thickness of $Cu_6Sn_5$ IMC in Sn-0.7Cu. It is expected to have a positive effect on reliability of the solder joint.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.119-125
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• 2017

We have studied the effects of Ag on the characteristics of $Sn_{43}Bi_{57}Ag_x$(wt%) lead-free solders for photovoltaic ribbon. Ag atoms in the solder formed an alloy phase of Ag3Sn after reacting with some part of Sn atoms, while they did not react with Bi atoms, but decreased the mean size of Bi solid phase and the thickness of solder. When Ag atoms of 3.0 wt% was added to eutectic $Sn_{43}Bi_{57}$(wt%) solder, it showed the optimally useful results that the peel strength of photovoltaic ribbon greatly increased and the sheet resistance of the solder decreased. In the meanwhile, the eutectic $Sn_{43}Bi_{57}$(wt%) solder showed a low melting temperature of $138.9^{\circ}C$, and showed a very similar result regardless of the added amount of Ag atoms.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.87-92
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• 2008

The interface microstructure of Sn-3.5Ag/Cu joint was modified by electroplating varying amount of Zn on Cu UBM. As the amount of Zn dissolved in Sn-3.5Ag solder increased with the electroplating Zn thickness, Cu-Sn IMCs such as $Cu_6Sn_5$ and $Cu_3Sn$ were replaced by Zn-containing IMCs such as $Cu_5Zn_8$ and $Ag_5Zn_8$, which increased the drop reliability of solder joints significantly. When the amount of Zn dissolved in solder was about 3.8wt%, drop resistance was best due to the effective suppression of Cu-Sn IMC and voids at the interface.

• 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 Welding and Joining
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.41-45
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• 2011

SnAgCu lead-free solder alloy is considered as the best alternative to eutectic tin-lead solder. However, the detailed material properties of SnAgCu solder are not available in public. Hence, this paper presents an estimation of mechanical properties of SnAgCu lead-free solder. In particular, the weight percent of Ag was varied as 1.0wt%, 2.5wt%, 3.0wt%, and 4.5wt% in order to estimate the effect of Ag in the Sn-xAg-0.5Cu ternary alloy system. For this purpose, four types of SnAgCu bars were first molded by casting and then standard specimens were cut out of molded bars. Micro-Vickers hardness, tensile tests were finally performed to estimate the variations in mechanical properties according to the weight percent of Ag. Test results reveal that the higher the weight percent of Ag is, the higher the hardness, yield strength, and ultimate tensile strength become. More material properties will be further investigated in the future work.

• Proceedings of the International Microelectronics And Packaging Society Conference
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.55-58
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• 2002

The possibility of SnCuX Solder as alternative for Pb-free Solder have been investigated in this study. SnCuX Solder balls(500${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$) were placed on Si-wafer which is Al/Ni/Cu(500nm/$4{\mu}{\textrm}{m}$/$4{\mu}{\textrm}{m}$)UBM layer. After reflow soldering at $250^{\circ}C$, shear strength and microstructure were analyzed. The results showed that the shear strength(500gf) of SnCuX was higher than that of SnCuX at $230^{\circ}C$ and $Cu_6Sn_5$ intermetallic compounds were formed between Cu and SnCuX Solder layers

• Electronic Materials Letters
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.678-688
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• 2018

The repeated-bending properties of Sn-0.7Cu, Sn-0.3Ag-0.7Cu (SAC0307), and Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu (SAC305) solders mounted on flexible substrates were studied using highly accelerated stress testing (HAST), followed by repeated-bending testing. In the Sn-0.7Cu joints, the $Cu_6Sn_5$ intermetallic compound (IMC) coarsened as the HAST time increased. For the SAC0307 and SAC305 joints, the $Ag_3Sn$ and $Cu_6Sn_5$ IMCs coarsened mainly along the grain boundary as the HAST time increased. The Sn-0.7Cu solder had a high contact angle, compared to the SAC0307 and SAC305 solders; consequently, the SAC0307 and SAC305 solder joints displayed smoother fillet shapes than the Sn-0.7Cu solder joint. The repeated-bending for the Sn-0.7Cu solder produced the crack initiated from the interface between the Cu lead wire and the solder, and that for the SAC solders indicated the cracks initiated at the surface, but away from the interface between the Cu lead wire and the solder. Furthermore, the oxide layer was thickest for Sn-0.7Cu and thinnest for SAC305, regardless of the HAST time. For the SAC solders, the crack initiation rate increased as the oxide layer thickened and roughened. $Cu_6Sn_5$ precipitated and grew along the grain and subgrain boundaries as the HAST time increased, embrittling the grain boundary at the crack propagation site.

• Proceedings of the International Microelectronics And Packaging Society Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.133-137
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• 2003

The effect of Bi additions to the eutectic Sn-3.5Ag solder alloy on the growth kinetics of the intermetallic compound (IMC) layers during solid-state aging of Sn-Ag-Bi/Cu solder joints has been Investigated. The Bi additions enhanced the growth rate of the total IMC layer comprising of $Cu_6Sn_5$ and $Cu_3Sn$ sublayers. This enhanced IMC growth rate was primarily due to the rapid increase In the growth rate of $Cu_6Sn_5$ sublayer. The growth rate of $Cu_3Sn$ sublayers was little influenced and appeared to be retarded by the Bi additions. The observed growth behavior of $Cu_6Sn_5$ and $Cu_3Sn$ sublayers could be understood if the interfacial reaction barrier at the $Cu_6Sn_5/solder$ interface were reduced by the segregation of Bi at the interface.