• 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.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.55-62
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• 2023

In this study, Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu (wt.%, SAC305) solder dipping process was performed between Ni-foam skeleton with different pore per inch (PPI) to fabricate Ni-foam/SAC305 composite solder, and then applied to the transient liquid phase (TLP) bonding process to evaluate the microstructure and mechanical properties of the bonded joint. The Ni-foam/SAC305 composite solder preform consisted of Ni-foam and SAC305, and an intermetallic compound (IMC) having a (Ni,Cu)₃Sn₄ composition was formed at the Ni-foam interface. During TLP bonding process, the IMC at the Ni-foam interface was converted to (Ni,Cu)₃Sn₄+Au, and as the bonding time increased, the Ni-foam and SAC305 continuously reacted, and the bonded joint was converted into an IMC. And it was confirmed that the 130 PPI Ni-foam/SAC305 composite solder joint was converted into an IMC at the fastest rate. As a result of performing a shear test to confirm the effect of Ni-foam on mechanical properties, solder joints under all conditions exhibited excellent mechanical properties of 50 MPa or more in the early stages of the TLP bonding process, and the shear strength tends to increase as the bonding time increases.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.31-37
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• 2021

Sn-3wt%Ag-0.5wt%Cu (SAC305) solder is most popular solder in electronics industry. However, SAC305 has also drawbacks such as growth of β-Sn phase, intermetallic compounds (IMCs) of Ag3Sn, Cu6Sn5 and Cu3Sn which can result in deterioration of solder joints in terms of metallurgically, mechanically and electrically. Thus, improvement of SAC305 solders have been investigated continuously by addition of alloying elements, nano-particles and etc. In this paper, recent improvements of SAC solders including nano-composite alloys and related solderabilty and metallurgical and mechanical properties are investigated.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.29-34
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• 2020

The behavior of brittle fracture of electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG) /Sn-3.0wt.%Ag-0.5wt.%Cu (SAC305) solder joints was evaluated. The pH of the electroless nickel plating solution for ENIG surface treatment was changed from 4.0 to 5.5. As the pH of the Ni plating solution increased, pin hole in the Ni-P layer increased. The thickness of the interfacial intermetallic compound (IMC) of the solder joint increased with pH of Ni plating solution. The high speed shear strength of the SAC305 solder joint on ENIG surface finish decreased with the pH of the Ni plating solution. In addition, the brittle fracture rate of the solder joint was the highest when the pH of the Ni plating solution was 5.

• 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.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.47-53
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• 2015

The effects of electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG) and organic solderability preservative (OSP) surface finishes on the in-situ intermetallics reaction and the electromigration (EM) reliability of Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu (SAC305) solder bump were systematically investigated. After as-bonded, $(Cu,Ni)_6Sn_5$ intermetallic compound (IMC) was formed at the interface of the ENIG surface finish at solder top side, while at the OSP surface finish at solder bottom side,$ Cu_6Sn_5$ and $Cu_3Sn$ IMCs were formed. Mean time to failure on SAC305 solder bump at $130^{\circ}C$ with a current density of $5.0{\times}10^3A/cm^2$ was 78.7 hrs. EM open failure was observed at bottom OSP surface finish by fast consumption of Cu atoms when electrons flow from bottom Cu substrate to solder. In-situ scanning electron microscope analysis showed that IMC growth rate of ENIG surface finish was much lower than that of the OSP surface finish. Therefore, EM reliability of ENIG surface finish was higher than that of OSP surface finish due to its superior barrier stability to IMC reaction.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.7-14
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• 2017

The effect of high temperature-moisture on corrosion and mechanical properties for Sn-0.7Cu, Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu (SAC305) solders on flexible substrate was studied using Highly Accelerated Temperature/Humidity Stress Test (HAST) followed by three-point bending test. Both Sn-0.7Cu and SAC305 solders produced the internal $SnO_2$ oxides. Corrosion occurred between the solder and water film near flexible circuit board/copper component. For the SAC305 solder with Ag content, furthermore, octahedral corrosion products were formed near Ag3Sn. For the SAC305 and Sn-0.7Cu solders, the amount of internal oxide increased with the HAST time and the amount of internal oxides was mostly constant regardless of Ag content. The size of the internal oxide was larger for the Sn-0.7Cu solder. Despite of different size of the internal oxide, the fracture time during three-point bending test was not significantly changed. It was because the bending crack was always initiated from the three-point corner of the chip. However, the crack propagation depended on the oxides between the flexible circuit board and the Cu chip. The fracture time of the three-point bending test was dependent more on the crack initiation than on the crack propagation.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.81-88
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• 2019

In this study, the effects of graphene oxide (GO) addition on electromigration (EM) lifetime of Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu Pb-free solder joint between a ball grid array (BGA) package and printed circuit board (PCB) were investigated. After as-bonded, $(Cu,Ni)_6Sn_5$ intermetallic compound (IMC) was formed at the interface of package side finished with electroplated Ni/Au, while $Cu_6Sn_5$ IMC was formed at the interface of OSP-treated PCB side. Mean time to failure of solder joint without GO solder joint under $130^{\circ}C$ with a current density of $1.0{\times}10^3A/cm^2$ was 189.9 hrs and that with GO was 367.1 hrs. EM open failure was occurred at the interface of PCB side with smaller pad diameter than that of package side due to Cu consumption by electrons flow. Meanwhile, we observed that the added GO was distributed at the interface between $Cu_6Sn_5$ IMC and solder. Therefore, we assumed that EM reliability of solder joint with GO was superior to that of without GO by suppressing the Cu diffusion at current crowding regions.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.55-61
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• 2022

In this study, properties of Pb-free solder joints which were combined using Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu (SAC305) Pb-free solder with a mid-temperature type of melting temperature and Sn-57Bi-1Ag Pb-free solder with a low-temperature type of melting temperature were reported. Combined Pb-free solder joints were formed by reflow soldering processes with ball grid array (BGA) packages which have SAC305 solder balls and flame retardant-4 (FR-4) printed circuit boards (PCBs) which printed Sn-57Bi-1Ag solder paste. The reflow soldering processes were performed with two types of temperature profiles and interfacial properties of combined Pb-free solder joints such as interfacial reactions, formations of intermetallic compounds (IMCs), diffusion mechanisms of Bi, and so on were analyzed with the reflow process conditions. In order to compare reliability characteristics of combined Pb-free solder joints, we also conducted thermal shock test and analyzed changes of mechanical properties for joints from a shear test during the thermal shock test.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.112-116
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• 2015

This work studied the thickness and contact angle of solder joints between SAC 305 lead-free solder alloy and a Copper (Cu) substrate. Intermetallic compound (IMC) thickness and contact angle of 3Sn-Ag-0.5Cu (SAC 305) leadfree solder were measured using varying aging times, at a fixed temperature at 30℃. The thickness of IMC and contact angle depend on the aging time. IMC thickness increases as the aging increases. The contact angle gradually decreased from 39.49° to 27.59° as aging time increased from zero to 24 hours for big solder sample. Meanwhile, for small solder sample, the contact angle increased from 32.00° to 40.53° from zero to 24 hours. The IMC thickness sharply increased from 0.007 mm to 0.011 mm from zero to 24 hours aging time for big solder. In spite of that, for small solder the IMC thickness gradually increased from 0.009 mm to 0.017 mm. XRD analysis was used to confirm the intermetallic formation inside the sample. Cu₆Sn₅, Cu₃Sn, Ni₃Sn and Ni₃Sn₂ IMC layers were formed between the solder and the copper substrate. As the aging time increased, the strength of the solder joint mproved due to reduced contact angle.