• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.202-208
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• 2009

The effects of aging time on the microstructure and shear strength of the Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic (LTCC)/Ag pad/Electroless Nickel Immersion Gold (ENIG)/BGA solder joints were investigated through isothermal aging at $150^{\circ}C$ for 1000 h with conventional Sn-37Pb and Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu. $Ni_3Sn_4$ intermetallic compound (IMC) layers was formed at the interface between Sn-37Pb solder and LTCC substrate as-reflowed state, while $(Ni,Cu)_3Sn_4$ IMC layer was formed between Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu solder and LTCC substrate. Additional $(Cu,Ni)_6Sn_5$ layer was found at the interface between the $(Ni,Cu)_3Sn_4$ layer and Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu solder after aging at $150^{\circ}C$ for 500 h. Thickness of the IMC layers increased and coarsened with increasing aging time. Shear strength of both solder joints increased with increasing aging time. Failure mode of BGA solder joints with LTCC substrate after shear testing revealed that shear strength of the joints depended on the adhesion between Ag metallization and LTCC. Fracture mechanism of Sn-37Pb solder joint was a mixture of ductile and pad lift, while that of Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu solder joint was a mixture of ductile and brittle $(Ni,Cu)_3Sn_4$ IMC fracture morphology. Failure mechanisms of LTCC/Ag pad/ENIG/BGA solder joints were also interpreted by finite element analyses.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.13-17
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• 2009

A semi-empirical method to estimate the surface tension of molten alloys at different oxygen partial pressures is suggested in this study. The surface tension of molten Ag-Sn and Ag-Cu alloys were calculated using the Butler equation with the surface tension value of pure substance at a given oxygen partial pressure. The oxygen partial pressure ranges were $2.86{\times}10^{-12}$－$1.24{\times}10^{-9}$ Pa for the Ag-Sn system and $2.27{\times}10^{-11}$－$5.68{\times}10^{-4}$ Pa for the Ag-Cu system. In this calculation, the interactions of the adsorbed oxygen with other metallic constituents were ignored. The calculated results of the Ag-Sn alloys were in reasonable accordance with the experimental data within a difference of 8%. For the Ag-Cu alloy system at a higher oxygen partial pressure, the surface tension initially decreased but showed a minimum at $X_{Ag}$ = 0.05 to increase as the silver content increased. This behavior appears to be related to the oxygen adsorption and the corresponding surface segregation of the constituent with a lower surface tension. Nevertheless, the calculated results of the Ag-Cu alloys with the present model were in good agreement with the experimental data within a difference of 10%.

• 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.

• 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.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.12 no.9
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• pp.750-760
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• 2002

In this study, three solders, Sn-37Pb, Sn-3.5Ag, and Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu were screen printed on both electroless Ni/Au and OSP metal finished micro-via PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards). The interfacial reaction between PCB metal pad finish materials and solder materials, and its effects on the solder bump joint mechanical reliability were investigated. The lead free solders formed a large amount of intermetallic compounds (IMC) than Sn-37Pb on both electroless Ni/Au and OSP (Organic Solderabilty Preservatives) finished PCBs during solder reflows because of the higher Sn content and higher reflow temperature. For OSP finish, scallop-like $Cu_{6}$ /$Sn_{5}$ and planar $Cu_3$Sn intermetallic compounds (IMC) were formed, and fracture occurred 100% within the solder regardless of reflow numbers and solder materials. Bump shear strength of lead free solders showed higher value than that of Sn-37Pb solder, because lead free solders are usually harder than eutectic Sn-37Pb solder. For Ni/Au finish, polygonal shaped $Ni_3$$Sn_4$ IMC and P-rich Ni layer were formed, and a brittle fracture at the Ni-Sn IMC layer or the interface between Ni-Sn intermetallic and P-rich Ni layer was observed after several reflows. Therefore, bump shear strength values of the Ni/Au finish are relatively lower than those of OSP finish. Especially, spalled IMCs at Sn-3.5Ag interface was observed after several reflow times. And, for the Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder case, the ternary Sn-Ni-Cu IMCs were observed. As a result, it was found that OSP finished PCB was a better choice for solders on PCB in terms of flip chip mechanical reliability.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.561-565
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• 2007

Because of a good wear resistance and a stable contact resistance, Ag-CdO is widely used as electrical contact material. But, the Cd-oxide mainly exists as a coarse particle and adversely affected to environment. As a reason, $Ag-SnO_2$ alloy has been developed. The Sn-oxide maintains stable and fine particle even at high temperature. In order to investigate the effect of Misch metal (Mm) additional that affects the formation of the oxide and the formation of fine matrix Ag, we studied the microstructures and properties of Ag-Sn-In(-Mm) material fabricated by rapid solidification process. The experimental procedure were melting using high frequency induction, melt spinning, and internal oxidation. The Mm addition makes Ag matrix more fine than no Mm addition. The reason is that the addition of Misch metal decreased a latent heat of fusion of alloy, as a result the rapid solidification effect of alloy is increased. The maximum hardness shows at 0.3 wt%Mm. after that the hardness is decreased until 0.4 wt% Mm, but still larger than no Mm addition alloy. At 0.5 wt% Mm alloy, the precipitation of Misch metal causes a decrease of hardness than no Mm addition alloy.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.46 no.7
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• pp.443-448
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• 2008

Contact materials are used in many electrical devices. Ag-Cd alloy has been widely used in electrical part, because Ag-Cd alloy has a good wear resistance and stable contact resistance. But nowadays Ag-Cd alloy isn't being used because of environmental challenges. Currently new research is being done on ($Ag-SnO_2$ and $Ag-SnO_2-In_2O_3$) as an alternative solution to fix any remainly environmental challenges. However $In_2O_3$ is more expensive and Ag-Sn alloy has low wear resistance. According to our research data Zn has a similar physical and chemical property. In this work, so we changed and optimized the Zn oxide to over 4 and added Sn oxide ratio 0.5, 1.0, 1.5wt%. Conclusions from the data recorded from the experiment of $Ag-ZnO-SnO_2$ are as follows.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.429-435
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• 2009

In this study, we investigated microstructure and the CO gas sensing properties of Ag-CuO-$SnO_2$ thin films prepared by co-evaporation and subsequently thermal oxidation at air atmosphere. The sensitivity of a Cu-Sn films, thermally oxidized at $600^{\circ}C$, is strongly affected by the amount of Cu. At Cu:7 wt%-Sn:93 wt%, the film exhibited a maximum sensitivity of ${\sim}2.3$ to CO gas of 1000 ppm at $300^{\circ}C$. In contrast, the sensitivity of a Sn-Ag film did not change significantly with the amount of Ag. An enhanced sensitivity of ${\sim}3.7$ was observed in the film with a composition of Ag:3 wt%-Cu:4 wt%-Sn:93 wt%, when thermally oxidized at $600^{\circ}C$. In addition, this thin film shows a response time of ${\sim}80$ sec and a recovery time of ${\sim}450$ sec to 1000 ppm CO gas. The results demonstrate that the CO sensitivity of the Ag-CuO-$SnO_2$ thin films may be closely associated with coexistence of $SnO_2$ and SnO phase, decrease in average particle size, and a porous microstructure. We also suggest that co-evaporation and followed by thermal oxidation is a very simple and effective method to prepare oxide gas sensor thin films.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.2348-2352
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• 2017

The electrical contact characteristics including temperature rise, contact resistance and arc erosion rate of the $Ag-SnO_2$ materials with increased $SnO_2$ content were investigated during the repeated make-and-break operations. The thickness of arcing melting layer reduces by half and the arc erosion rate decreases more than 70% under 10000 times operations at AC 10 A with the $SnO_2$ content increasing from 15 wt.% to 45 wt.%, on one hand, temperature rise and contact resistance increase obviously but could be reduced to the same order of conventional $Ag-SnO_2$ materials by increasing the contact force. The microstructure evolution and the effect of $SnO_2$ on the arc erosion, contact resistance were analyzed.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.406-412
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• 2001

This study is focussed on the numerical prediction of the thermal fatigue life of a ${\mu}BGA$(Micro Ball Grid Array) solder joint. Numerical method is used to perform three-dimensional finite element analysis for Sn-37mass%Pb. Sn-3.5mass%Ag solder alloys during the given thermal cycling. Strain values, along with the result of mechanical fatigue tests for solder alloys were then used to predict the solder joint fatigue life using the Coffin-Manson equation. In this study, a practical correlation for the prediction of the thermal fatigue life is suggested by using the dimensionless variable $\gamma$. As a result. it could be found that Sn-3.5mass%Ag has longer fatigue life than Sn-37mass%Pb in low cycle fatigue. In addition. the result with ${\gamm}ashow$a good agreement with the FEA results.