• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.35-40
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• 2010

In this study, the reliability of thermal shock, thermal cycle, and complex vibration test at high temperature were examined for 3 types of lead-free solder alloys, Sn-3.5Ag, Sn-0.7Cu and Sn-5.0Sb. For the reliability test, daisychained BGA chips with ENIG-finished Cu pad was assembled with the three lead-free solders on OSP-finished PCBs. Among the 3 types solder alloys, Sn-3.5Ag solder alloy showed the highest degradation rate of electrical resistance and joint strength. On the other hand, Sn-0.7Cu solder alloy had high stability after the reliability tests.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.18-18
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• 2007

지난 수년 동안 Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu 합금은 전자산업의 표준 무연솔더 조성으로 전자제품의 제작에 사용되어져 왔으며, 그 신뢰성도 충분히 검증되어 대표적인 무연 솔더 조성으로의 입지를 굳혀왔다. 그러나 전자제품의 mobile화에 따른 내충격 신뢰성에 대한 요구와 최근의 급격한 Ag 가격의 상승은 Ag 함량의 축소에 의한 원가절감을 요청하게 되었으며, 이에 따라 소량의 Ag를 함유하는 솔더 조성 개발에 대한 연구가 산업 현장을 중심으로 절실히 요청되고 있다. Sn-Ag-Cu의 3원계 함긍에서 Ag는 합금의 융점을 낮추고, 강도와 같은 합금의 기계적 특성을 증가시키는 한편, 모재에 대한 합금의 젖음성을 향상시키는데 필수적인 원소로 인식되고 있다. 따라서 Sn-Ag-Cu의 3원계 함금에서 Ag의 함량을 감소시키게 되면, 합금액 액상선 온도와 고상선 온도가 벌어져 pasty range(또는 mush zone)가 증가하게 되고, wettability도 감소하게 되어 솔더 합금으로서의 요구 특성을 많이 상실하게 된다. 또한 Ag 함량을 감소시키게 되면 합금의 elongation이 향상되면서 내 impact 수명이 향상되는 효과를 볼 수 있으나, 합금의 creep 특성 및 기계적인 강도는 감소하면서 열싸이클링 수명은 감소하는 경향을 나타내게 된다. 따라서 솔더 합금의 내 impact 수명과 열싸이클링 수명을 동시에 만족시키지 위해서는 Ag 함량을 최적화하기 위한 고려가 필요하며, 합금원소에 대한 연구가 요청된다고 하겠다. 한편 Ag의 함량을 3wt.% 이상으로 첨가할 경우에도 비교적 느린 응고 속도에서는 조대한 판상의 $Ag_3Sn$ 상을 형성하는 경향이 있어 외관 물량을 야기 시킬 가능성이 매우 커지는 현상도 보고되고 있다. 따라서 Ag의 첨가량을 최적화 하면서 솔더 재료로서의 특성을 계속적으로 유지하기 위해서는 제 4 원소의 함유가 필수적이라고 할 수 있다. 본 연구에서는 Sn-Ag-Cu계에 첨부하는 제 4원소로서 In을 선택하였다. 비록 In은 Ag보다 고가이기 때문에 산업적인 적용을 위한 솔더 합금 원소로는 거의 각광받지 못했으나, 본 연구의 결과로는 In은 매우 소량 첨가할 경우에도 Sn-Ag-Cu계 합금, 특히 소량의 Ag를 함유하는 Sn-Ag-Cu계 합금의 wettabilty와 기계적 특성 향상에 매우 효과적임을 알 수 있었다. 결론적으로 본 연구를 통해 구현된 Sn-Ag-Cu-In계 최적 솔더 조성의 경우 Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu의 표준 조성에 비하여 약 18%의 원자재 가격 절감을 도모할 수 있을 것으로 예상되는 한편. Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu에 유사하거나 우수한 wettability 특성을 나타내었고. Sn-1.0Ag-0.5Cu 또는 Sn-l.2Ag-0.5Cu-0.05Ni 조성보다는 월등히 우수한 wettability 특성을 나타내었다. 더구나 Sn-Ag-Cu-In계 최적 솔더 조성은 합금의 강도 저하는 최소화 시키면서 합금의 elongation은 극적으로 향상시켜 합금의 toughness 값이 매우 우수한 특성을 가짐을 알 수 있었다. 이렇게 우수한 toughness 값은 솔더 조인트의 대표적 신뢰성 요구 특성인 열싸이클링 수명과 내 impact 수명을 동시에 향상시킬 수 있을 것으로 예상된다. 요컨대 본 연구를 통해 구현된 Sn-Ag-Cu-In계 솔더 조성은 최적 솔더 조성에서 요구되는 4가지 인자, 즉, 저렴한 원재료 가격, 우수한 wettability 특성, 합금 자체의 높은 toughness, 안정하고 낮은 성장 속도의 계면 반응층 생성을 모두 만족시키는 특징을 가짐으로서 기존 무연솔더 조성의 새로운 대안으로 자리 잡을 것으로 기대된다.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.50-55
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• 2007

The smaller size and higher integration of advanced electronic package systems result in severe electrochemical reliability issues in microelectronic packaging due to higher electric field under high temperature and humidity conditions. Under these harsh conditions, electronic components respond to applied voltages by electrochemical ionization of metal and the formation of a filament, which leads to short-circuit failure of an electronic component, which is termed electrochemical migration. This work aims to evaluate electrochemical migration susceptibility of the pure Sn, Sn-3.5Ag, Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu solder alloys in $Na_{2}SO_{4}$. The water drop test was performed to understand the failure mechanism in a pad patterned solder alloy. The polarization test and anodic dissolution test were performed, and ionic species and concentration were analyzed. Ag and Cu additions increased the time to failure of Pb-free solder in 0.001 wt% $Na_{2}SO_{4}$ solution at room temperature and the dendrite was mainly composed of Sn regardless of the solders. In the case of SnAg solders, when Ag and Cu added to the solders, Ag and Cu improved the passivation behavior and pitting corrosion resistance and formed inert intermetallic compounds and thus the dissolution of Ag and Cu was suppressed; only Sn was dissolved. If ionic species is mainly Sn ion, dissolution content than cathodic deposition efficiency will affect the composition of the dendrite. Therefore, Ag and Cu additions improve the electrochemical migration resistance of SnAg and SnAgCu solders.

• 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.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.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.83-85
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• 2003

This paper is investigated the shear strength by using the micro shear-punch test method for Sn-37Pb alloy, binary and ternary alloys of environment-friendly Pb-free solder alloys which would be surely applicable to the electronic packages. As a result, in case of Max. shear strength, Sn-4Ag-0.5Cu has the highest value and Sn-37Pb has the lowest value on every condition of experiment temperature. Also, In case of Pb-free solder joint specimens, it was found that Pb-free solder alloys have higher value of shear strength than eutectic Sn-Pb solder alloy and Sn-4Ag-0.5Cu has the highest value.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.157-166
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• 1998

Recently as environmental pollution caused by Pb has posed a serious threat to the global environment, the trend to regulate the usage of Pb in electronic industry is one the rise. Currently, the solder alloy with high Pb content, Sn-37%Pb, is utilized in the electronic assembly therefore, the objective of this study is to develop an alternative solder alloy for the existing Sn-37%Pb solder alloy. First thing, this work choosed Sn-5%Pb-1.5%Ag, Sn-5%Pb-1.5%Ag-x%Bi(x=1~5%) for candidate solder alloys, and examined their properties such as melting range, wettability, microhardness, tensile property, oxidation behavior and microstructure. Wettability was on the same level of Sn-37%Pb. Dissolution of Pb ion in Sn-5%Pb solder was 0.46ppm. This solder alloy revealed cellular dendrite microstructure $\beta$-Sn matrix, Pb-rich phase, Ag/Sn, and Cu/Sn Intermetallic compounds. The range of solidification temperature was within 3$0^{\circ}C$. Also these alloy displayed higher tensile strength and lower elongation than Sn-37%Pb. The resistance of oxidation in Sn-5%Pb-1.5%Ag solder alloy was superior to that of Sn-37%Pb solder alloy. But that of Sn-5%Pb-1.5%Ag-5%Bi solder alloy was equal to that of Sn-37%Pb solder alloy.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.27-36
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• 2007

In this study, we investigated the interfacial reactions between various Sn-Ag-Cu(SAC) solder alloys and ENIG(Electroless Ni Immersion Gold) and Cu-OSP(Organic Solderability Preservative) pad finish. In the case of the interfacial reaction between Sb added SAC solder and ENlf thinner P-rich Ni layer was formed at the interface. In the case of the interfacial reaction between Ni added SAC solder and Cu-OSP, the uniform $Cu_6Sn_5$, intermetallic compounds(IMCs) were formed and $Cu_6Sn_5$ grain did not grow after multiple reflows. Thinner $Cu_3Sn$ IMCs were farmed at the interface between $Cu_6Sn_5$ and Cu-OSP after $150^{\circ}C$ thermal aging.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.919-926
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• 2002

In this study, the numerical prediction of the thermal fatigue lie? of a $\mu$BGA (Micro Ball Grid Array) solder joint was focused. Numerical method was performed using the three-dimensional finite element analysis for various solder alloys such as Sn-37%Pb, Sn-3.5%Ag, Sn-3.5%Ag-0.7%Cu and Sn-3.5%Ag-3%In-0.5%Bi during a given thermal cycling. Strain values obtained by the result of mechanical fatigue tests for solder alloys, were used to predict the solder joint fatigue life using the Coffin-Manson equation. The numerical results showed that Sn-3.5%Ag with the 50-degree ball shape geometry had the longest thermal fatigue life in low cycle fatigue. A practical correlation for the prediction of the thermal fatigue life was also suggested by using the dimensionless variable γ. Additionally Sn-3.5Ag-0.75Cu and Sn-2.0Ag-0.5Cu-2.0Bi were applied to 6$\times$8$\mu$BGA obtained from the 63Sn-37Pb Solder. This 6$\times$8$\mu$BGA were tested at different aging conditions at 130$\^{C}$, 150$\^{C}$, 170$\^{C}$ for 300, 600 and 900 hours. Thickness of the intermetallic compound layer was measured thor each condition and the activation energy thor their growth was computed. The fracture surfaces were analyzed using SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) with EDS ( Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy).

• Proceedings of the International Microelectronics And Packaging Society Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.141-145
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• 2001

Sn-3.5Ag 무연 솔더에 Cu를 첨가한 3원계 합금을 만든 후 압연과 열처리한 후 크리프 특성을 연구하였다. 모든 솔더 합금에서 1차 크리프는 거의 관찰되지 않았으며, 2차와 3차 크리프가 대부분을 차지하였고, 최소 크리프 변형율은 Cu 함량이 0.75 wt %에서 최소이었고, 응력 지수는 약 4이었으며, 파단 시간 또한 0.75 wt% Cu에서 가장 길었다. 크리프 기구는 격자 확산에 의한 전위의 상승과 전위 활주에 의한 고온 크리프임을 앞 수 있었으며, Cu의 첨가는 1 wt% 가지 연성에 큰 영향을 주지 않았으나, 1.5 wt% 첨가했을 경우 연성은 크게 감소하였다.