• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.598-603
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• 2005

To develope new lead-free solders with the melting temperature close to that of Sn-37Pb$(183^{\circ}C)$, Sn-0.7Cu-5Pb-1Ga, Sn-0.7Cu-5Pb-1Ag, Sn-0.7Cu-5Pb-5Bi-1Ag, and Sn-0.7Cu-SBi-1Ag alloys were composed by adding low-netting elements such as Ga, Bi, Pb, and Ag to Sn-0.7Cu. Then the melting temperatures, microstructures, wettability, and adhesion properties of these alloys were evaluated. DSC analysis showed that the melting temperature of Sn-0.7Cu-SPb-1Ga was $211^{\circ}C$, and those of other alloys was in the range of $192\~200^{\circ}C$. Microstructures of these alloys after heat-treatment at $150^{\circ}C$ for 24 hrs were basically composed of coarsely- grown $\beta-Sn$ grains, and $Cu_6Sn_5$ and $Ag_3Sn$ intermetallic precipitates. Sn-0.7Cu-5Pb-1Ga and Sn-0.7Cu-5Pb-5Bi-1Ag showed excellent wettability, while Sn-0.7Cu-5Bi-1Ag and Sn-0.7Cu-5Pb-5Bi-1Ag revealed good adhesion strength with the Cu substrates. Among 4 alloys, Sn-0.7Cu-5Pb-5Bi-1Ag with the lowest melting temperature $(192^{\circ}C)$ and relatively excellent wettability and adhesion strength was suggested to be the best candidate solder to replace Sn-37Pb.

• 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.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.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.98-104
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• 2014

Photovoltaic (PV) cell is considered as one of the finest ways to utilize the solar power. A study of improving solar cell's efficiency is important because the lifetime of solar cell is determined by photovoltaic module technology. Therefore, oxidation (and/or corrosion) of solder materials will be one of the primary yield and long-term reliability risk factor. Recently, the development of lead-free solder alloy has been done actively about lead-free solder alloys of the thermodynamic and mechanical properties. However, the oxidation behavior have rarely been investigated In this study, the oxidations of 60 wt% Sn-40 wt% Pb, 62 wt% Sn-36 wt% Pb -2 wt% Ag, 50wt% Sn-48 wt% Bi-2 wt% Ag alloys for the interconnect ribbon after exposure in atmosphere at $100^{\circ}C$ for several times were investigated. The wettability of 62 wt% Sn-36 wt% Pb-2 wt% Ag and 50 wt% Sn-48 wt% Bi-2 wt% Ag solders was also studied to compare with that of 60 wt% Sn-40 wt% Pb alloy. The results howed that the zero cross time and the wetting time of 50 wt% Sn-48 wt% Bi-2 wt% Ag solder were better than other two samples. The surface of tested samples was analyzed by XPS. The XPS result showed that in all samples, SnO grew first and then the mixture of SnO and $SnO_2$ was detected. $SnO_2$ grew predominantly for the long time aging. Moreover XPS depth profile analysis has found surface enrichment of tin oxide.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.77-85
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• 2004

To evaluate the effect of plasma cleaning on the soldering reliability the plasma cleaning using Ar-10vol%$H_2$ gas was applied on a UBM(Under Bump Metallization). The UBM consisted of Au/ Cu/ Ni/ Al layers which were deposited on a Si-wafer with 20 nm/ 4 $\mu\textrm{m}$/ 4 $\mu\textrm{m}$/ 0.4 $\mu\textrm{m}$ thickness respectively. Sn-3.5%Ag, Sn-3.5%Ag-0.7%Cu and Sn-37%Pb solder balls sized of 500 $\mu\textrm{m}$ in diameter were used. Solder balls on the UBM were plasma reflowed under Ar-10%$H_2$ plasma (with or without plasma cleaning). They were compared with air reflowed solder balls with flux. The spreading ratios of plasma reflowed solder with plasma cleaning was 20-40% higher than that of plasma reflowed solder without plasma cleaning. The shear strength of plasma reflowed solder with plasma cleaning was about 58-65MPa. It showed 60-80% higher than that of plasma reflowed solder without plasma cleaning and 15-35% higher than that of air reflowed solder. Thus it was believed that plasma cleaning for the UBM using Ar-10vol%$H_2$ gas was considerably effective for the improvement of the strength of solder ball.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.237-242
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• 2014

Recently much research are has been done into the compositions of lead-free solders. As a result, there has been a rapid increase in the number of new compositions. In the past, the properties of these new compositions were determined and verified through drop-impact tests. However, these drop tests were expensive and it took a long time to obtain a result. The main goal of this study was to establish an analytical method capable of predicting the impact life-time of a new solder composition for board-level flip chips though the application of drop simulations using LS-DYNA. Based on the reaction load obtain with LS-DYNA, the drop-impact fracture cycles were predicted. The study was performed using a Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu solder (305 composition). To verify the reliability of the proposed analytical method, the results of the drop-impact tests and life-time analysis were compared, and were found to be in good agreement. Thus, the new analytical method was shown to be very useful and effective.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.44-51
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• 2010

A miniature shear testing machine was designed and developed, adopting a piezoelectric actuator with mechanical advantage using 4 levers in order to investigate shear behavior of a small solder ball. The final output displacement was initially expected to be 2.88 mm without load resistance, considering the lever ratio of 24 and the piezo displacement of 0.12 mm with an exciting voltage of 10 V. However, the final plunger displacement ${\Delta}{\upsilon}$ can be expected as ${\Delta}{\upsilon}=2.88-3.04{\times}10^{-4}F$ as a function of piezoelectric force F due to the stiffness of various levers and connectors and piezo actuator. The shear behavior of lead-free solder ball in diameter of $760{\mu}m$ was successfully investigated in a speed range of 2 mm/s~0.0035 mm/s using this designed device.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.12 no.2 s.35
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• pp.121-128
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• 2005

Solder joints in microelectronic devices are frequently operated at an elevated temperature in service. They also experience plastic deformation caused by temperature excursion and difference in thermal expansion coefficients. Deformed solders can go through a recovery and recrystallization process at an elevated temperature, which would alter their microstructure and mechanical properties. In this study, to predict the changes in mechanical properties of Pb-free solder joints at high temperatures, the high temperature microhardness of several Pb-free and composite solders was measured as a function of temperature, deformation, and annealing condition. Solder alleys investigated include pure Sn, Sn-0.7Cu, Sn-3.5Ag, Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu, Sn-2.8Ag-7.0Cu (composite), and Sn-2.7Ag-4.9Cu-2.9Ni (composite). Numbers are all in wt.$\%$ unless specified otherwise. Solder pellets were cast at two cooling rates (0.4 and $7^{\circ}C$/s). The pellets were compressively deformed by $30\%$ and $50\%$ and annealed at $150^{\circ}C$ for 2 days. The microhardness was measured as a function of indentation temperature from 25 to $130^{\circ}C$. Their microstructure was also evaluated to correlate with the changes in microhardness.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.12 no.4 s.37
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• pp.301-306
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• 2005

Aging characteristics of newly developed Sn-1.8Bi-0.7Cu-0.6In solder was evaluated by shear strength and microstructure. Stencil printing was applied to form solder. The shear strength of Sn-1.8Bi-0.7Cu-0.6In at $150^{\circ}C$ showed the highest values through aging. Intermetallic compounds formed on the interface between solder and Au/Cu/Ni/Al UBM were $(Cu,\;Ni)_6Sn_5$ Furthermore, it was found that Spatting of Intermetallic compounds started before 500h aging at $150^{\circ}C$.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.467-471
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• 2015

Thus far, solders used in electronics remain lead-based. Pb-free solutions in electronic components and systems are receiving increased attention in the semiconductor and electronics industries. Pb-free materials currently in used are Sn-37Pb, Sn-4Ag and Sn-4Ag-0.5Cu/Ni plate joints. In this study, solder alloys were used at high temperatures for artificial aging processing that was performed at $150^{\circ}C$ for 0hr, 100hr, 200hr, 400hr, 600hr and 1000hr. The SP test was conducted at $30^{\circ}C$ and $50^{\circ}C$. As a result, the maximum shear strength of all the specimens decreased with the increase in artificial aging time and temperature of the SP test. In addition, Pb-free solders showed higher total fracture energy compared with Sn-37Pb at high temperatures. The mechanical properties of Sn-4Ag-0.5Cu solder/Ni plate joints remained in excellent conditions in electronic parking systems at high temperatures.