• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.53-57
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• 2013

Although the lowering of Ag content in Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu is known to improve the mechanical shock reliability of the solder joint, it is also known to be detrimental to the solderbility. In this study, the quaternary alloying effect of In and the minor alloying effects of Mn and Pd on the solderability, thermal cycling and mechanical shock reliabilities of the low Ag content Sn-1.2Ag-0.7Cu solder were investigated using board-level BGA packages. The solderability of Sn-1.2Ag-0.7Cu-0.4In was proved to be comparable to that of Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu but its thermal cycling reliability was inferior to that of Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu. While the 0.03 wt% Pd addition to the Sn-1.2Ag-0.7Cu-0.4In decreased the solderability and reliabilities of solder joint, the 0.1 wt% Mn addition was proved to be beneficial especially for the mechanical shock reliability compared to those of Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu and Sn-1.0Ag-0.5Cu compositions. It was considered to be due that the Mn addition decreased the Young's modulus of low Ag content Pb-free solders.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.13-19
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• 2018

The soldering property of Pb-containing solder(Sn-Pb) and Pb-free solders(Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu and Sn-1.0Ag-0.7Cu-1.6Bi-0.2In) for solar combiner box module was compared. The solar combiner box module was composed of voltage and current detecting modules, diode modules, and other modules. In this study, solder paste printability, printing shape inspection, solder joint property, X-ray inspection, and shear force measurements were conducted. For optimization of Pb-free soldering process, step 1 and 2 were divided. In the step 1 process, the printability of Pb-containing and Pb-free solder alloys were estimated by using printing inspector. Then, the relationship between void percentages and shear force has been estimated. Overall, the property of Pb-containing solder was better than two Pb-free solders. In the step 2 process, the property of reflow soldering for the Pb-free solders was evaluated with different reflow peak temperatures. As the peak temperature of the reflow process gradually increased, the void percentage decreased by 2 to 4%, but the shear force did not significantly depend on the reflow peak temperature by a deviation of about 0.5 kgf. Among different surface finishes on PCB, ENIG surface finish was better than OSP and Pb-free solder surface finishes in terms of shear force. In the thermal shock reliability test of the solar combiner box module with a Pb-free solder and OSP surface finish, the change rate of electrical property of the module was almost unchanged within a 0.3% range and the module had a relatively good electrical property after 500 thermal shock cycles.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.91-97
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• 2014

With Pb-free solder joints containing Sn-Ag-Cu-based ternary alloys (Sn-1.0 wt.%Ag-0.5Cu and Sn-4.0Ag-0.5Cu) and Sn-Ag-Cu-In-based quaternary alloys (Sn-1.0Ag-0.5Cu-1.0In, Sn-1.2Ag-0.5Cu-0.4In, Sn-1.2Ag-0.5Cu-0.6In, and Sn-1.2Ag-0.7Cu-0.4In), fracture-mode change, shear strengths, and fracture energies were observed and measured under a high-speed shear test of 500 mm/s. The samples in each composition were prepared with as-reflowed ones or solid-aged ones at $125^{\circ}C$ to 500 h. As a result, it was observed that ductile or quasi-ductile fracture modes occurs in the most of Sn-Ag-Cu-In samples. The happening frequency of a quasi-ductile fracture mode showed that the Sn-Ag-Cu-In joints possessed ductile fracture properties more than that of Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu in the high-speed shear condition. Moreover, the Sn-Ag-Cu-In joints presented averagely fracture energies similar to those of Sn-Ag-Cu joints. While maximum values in the fracture energies were measured after the solid aging for 100 h, clear decreases in the fracture energies were observed after the solid aging for 500 h. This result indicated that reliability degradation of the Sn-Ag-Cu-In solder joints might accelerate from about that time.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.55-61
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• 2000

Sn-37Pb and Sn-3.5Ag-0.7Cu solder balls of 0.3 mm diameter were reflow soldered with the variation of soldering peak temperature and conveyer speed of reflow machine. The peak temperatures far soldering were changed in the range of 220~$240^{\circ}C$ for Sn-37Pb and 230~$260^{\circ}C$ for Sn-3.5Ag-0.7Cu. As the results of experiments, optimum soldering condition for Sn-37Pb was $230^{\circ}C$ of soldering temp., 0.7~0.8 m/min of conveyer speed. The optimum condition for the Sn-3.5Ag-0.7Cu was $250^{\circ}C$ and 0.6 m/min. The maximum shear strength for the soldered joints of Sn-37Pb was 555 gf and of Sn-3.5Ag-0.7Cu was 617 gf. Thickness of the intermetallic compound Cu6Sn5 on the soldered interface was 1.13~1.45 $\mu\textrm{m}$ for Sn-37Pb and 2.5~4.3 $\mu\textrm{m}$ for Sn-3.5Ag-0.7Cu.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.51-57
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• 2008

In this paper, wetting and interfacial reaction properties for low Ag containing Sn-Ag-Cu Pb-free solder alloy, i.e., Sn-0.3Ag-0.7Cu were investigated and compared with those of Sn-1.0Ag-0.5Cu and Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu. Melting behavior and stress-strain curves of some Sn-xAg-xCu alloys were also measured using a differential scanning calorimeter(DSC) and a tensile test machine, respectively. In order to enhance insufficient wetting properties of Sn-0.3Ag-0.7Cu alloy, the improvement of wetting properties were analyzed by applying fluxes containing higher content of halide or indium adding of 0.2wt.% into the solder alloy. It was concluded that the small addition of indium is more effective for the improvement of wettability in low temperature range of $230{\sim}240^{\circ}C$ than applying flux containing higher content of halide.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.61-67
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• 2005

Since lead (Pb)-free solders for electronics have higher melting points than that of eutectic Sn-Pb solder, they need higher soldering temperatures. In order to decrease the soldering temperature we tried to coat Sn-Bi layer on $Sn-3.5\%Ag$ solder by electroplating, which applies the mechanism of transient liquid phase bonding to soldering. During heating Bi will diffuse into the $Sn-3.5\%Ag$ solder and this results in decreasing soldering temperature. As bonding samples, the 1608 capacitor electroplated with Sn, and PCB, its surface was finished with electroless-plated Ni/Au, were selected. The $Sn-95.7\%Bi$ coated Sn-3.5Ag was supplied as a solder between the capacitor and PCB land. The samples were reflowed at $220^{\circ}C$, which was lower than that of normal reflow temperature, $240\~250^{\circ}C$, for the Pb-free. As experimental result, the joint of $Sn-95.7\%Bi$ coated Sn-3.5Ag showed high shear strength. In the as-reflowed state, the shear strength of the coated solder showed 58.8N, whereas those of commercial ones were 37.2N (Sn-37Pb), 31.4N (Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu), and 40.2N (Sn-8Zn-3Bi). After thermal shock of 1000 cycles between $-40^{\circ}C$ and $+125^{\circ}C$, shear strength of the coated solder showed 56.8N, whereas the previous commercial solders were in the range of 32.3N and 45.1N. As the microstructures, in the solder $Ag_3Sn$ intermetallic compound (IMC), and along the bonded interface $Ni_3Sn_4$ IMC were observed.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.57-64
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• 2012

Ball shear test was performed by test variables such as loading speed and annealing time in order to investigate the effect of surface finishes on the bonding strength of Sn-1.2Ag-0.7Cu-0.4In Pb-free solder. The shear strength increased and the ductility decreased with increasing shear speed. With increasing shear speed, the electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG) finish showed dominant brittle fracture mode, while organic solderability preservative (OSP) finish showed pad open fracture mode. The shear strength and toughness for both surface finishes decreased with increasing annealing time under the high-speed shear test of 500 mm/s. Typically, the thickness of intermetallic compound increased with increasing annealing time, which means that exposure of brittle fracture became much easier. With increasing annealing time, the both ENIG and OSP finishes exhibited the pad open fracture mode. Overall, ENIG finish showed higher shear strength rather than OSP finish due to its superior barrier stability.

• 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.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.61-72
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• 2022

We investigated the electrochemical behavior of Sn (93.0 %)-Ag (4.06 %)-Cu (0.89 %) during electrolysis of Pb-free solder waste to recover tin and silver. A thin strip of the solder waste produced by high-temperature melting and casting was used as a working electrode to perform electrochemical analysis. During anodic polarization, the current peak of an active region decreased with an increase in the concentration of sulfuric acid used as an electrolyte. This resulted in the electro-dissolution of the working electrode in the electrolyte (1.0 molL^-1 sulfuric acid) for a constant current study. The study revealed that the thickening of an anode slime layer at the working surface continuously increased the electrode potential of the working electrode. At 10 mAcm^-2, the dissolution reaction continued for 25 h. By contrast, at 50 mAcm^-2, a sharp increase in the electrode potential stopped the dissolution in 2.5 h. During dissolution, silver enrichment in the anode slime reached 94.3% in the 1 molL^-1 sulfuric acid electrolyte containing a 0.3 molL^-1 chlorine ion, which was 12.7% higher than that without chlorine addition. Moreover, the chlorine enhanced the stability of the dissolved tin ions in the electrolyte as well as the current efficiency of tin electro-deposition at the counter electrode.

• 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.