• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.475-480
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• 2002

The reliability of the solder joint is affected by type and extent of the interfacial reaction between solder and substrates. Therefore, understanding of intermetallic compounds produced by soldering in electronic packaging is essential. In-based alloys have been favored bonding devices that demand low soldering temperatures. For photonic and fiber optics packaging, m-based solders have become increasingly attractive as a soldering material candidate due to its ductility. In the present work, the interfacial reactions between indium solder and bare Cu Substrate are investigated. For the identification of intermetallic compounds, both Scanning Electron Microscopy(SEM) and X-Ray Diffraction(XRD) were employed. Experimental results showed that the intermetallic compounds, such as Cu$_{11}$In$_{9}$ was observed for bare Cu substrate. Additionally, the growth rate of these intermetallic compounds was increased with the reaction temperature and time. We found that the growth of the intermetallic compound follows the parabolic law, which indicates that the growth is diffusion-controlled.d.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.95-98
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• 2011

Recently, there is a growing tendency that fine-pitch electronic devices are increased due to higher density and very large scale integration. Finer pitch printed circuit board(PCB) is to be decrease insulation resistance between circuit patterns and electrical components, which will induce to electrical short in electronic circuit by electrochemical migration when it exposes to long term in high temperature and high humidity. In this research, the effect of soldering flux acting as an electrical carrier between conductors on electrochemical migration was investigated. The PCB pad was coated with OSP finish. Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu solder paste was printed on the PCB circuit and then the coupon was treated by reflow process. Thereby, specimen for ion migration test was fabricated. Electrochemical migration test was conducted under the condition of DC 48 V, $85^{\circ}C$, and 85 % relative humidity. Their life time could be increased about 22% by means of removal of flux. The fundamentals and mechanism of electrochemical migration was discussed depending on the existence of flux residues after reflow process.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.373-378
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• 2003

With increasing environmental concerns, application of lead-free solder and fluxless soldering process have been taken attention from the electronic packaging industry. Plasma treatment is one of the soldering methods for the fluxless soldering, and it can prevent environmental pollution cased by flux. On this study fluxless soldering process under $Ar-H_2$plasma using lead free solders such as Sn-3.5 wt%Ag, Sn-3.5 wt%Ag-0.7 wt%Cu and Sn-37%Pb for a reference was investigated. As the plasma reflow has higher soldering temperature than normal air reflow, the effects of UBM(Under Bump Metallization) thickness on the interfacial reaction and bonding strength can be critical. Experimental results showed in case of the thin UBM, Au(20 nm)/Cu(0.3 $\mu\textrm{m}$)/Ni(0.4 $\mu\textrm{m}$)/Al(0.4 $\mu\textrm{m}$), shear strength of the soldered joint was relatively low as 19-27㎫, and it's caused by the crack observed along the bonded interface. The crack was believed to be produced by the exhaustion of the thin UBM-layer due to the excessive reaction with solder under plasma. However, in case of thick UBM, Au(20 nm)/Cu(4 $\mu\textrm{m}$)/Ni(4 $\mu\textrm{m}$)/Al(0.4 $\mu\textrm{m}$), the bonded interface was sound without any crack and shear strength gives 32∼42㎫. Thus, by increasing UBM thickness in this study the shear strength can be improved to 50∼70%. Fluxed reflow soldering under hot air was also carried out for a reference, and the shear strength was 48∼52㎫. Consequently the fluxless soldering with plasma showed around 65∼80% as those of fluxed air reflow, and the possibility of the $Ar-H_2$ plasma reflow was evaluated.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.17-27
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• 2011

This paper describes an experimental study and finite element analysis (FEA) carried out for investigating thermal deformation behavior of solders, resulting from temperature change in the solder. With such a goal in mind, a shear specimen that was composed of two metal bars having different coefficient of thermal expansion and solder blocks placed between two bars was designed and fabricated. Two different types of solder blocks, eutectic solder (Sn/36Pb/ 2Ag) and lead-free solder (Sn/3.0Ag/0.5Cu) were tested as well. Fringe patterns for several temperature steps were recorded and analyzed for three temperature cycles using a real-time moir$\acute{e}$ setup. The experimental data was verified with FEA and used to evaluate the suitability for numerous solder constitutive models available in literatures. FEA employing Anand material model suggested by Darveaux et al. and Chang et al. were found to be in an excellent agreement with the experimental results for the eutectic solder and the lead-free solder, respectively. In addition, numerical predictions on bending displacement, shear strain and viscoplastic distortion energy are documented and viscoplastic deformation behavior of two types of solder material are compared.

• 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.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.1740-1743
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• 2007

In this study, two types of fatigue tests were conducted. First, cyclic bending tests were performed using the micro-bending tester. A four-point bending test method was adopted, because it induces uniform stress fields within a loading span. Second, thermal fatigue tests were conducted using a pseudo power cycling machine which was newly developed for a realistic testing condition. The pseudo-power cycling method makes up for the weak points in a power cycling and a chamber cycling method. Two compositions of solder are tested in all test condition, one is lead-free solder (95.5Sn4.0Ag0.5Cu) and the other is eutectic lead-contained solder (63Sn37Pb). In the cyclic bending test, the solder that exhibits a good reliability can be reversed depending on the load conditions. The lead-contained solders have a longer fatigue life in the region where the applied load is high. On the contrary, the lead-free solder sustained more cyclic loads in the small load region. A similar trend was detected at the thermal cycling test. A three-dimensional finite element analysis model was constructed. A finite element analysis using ABAQUS was performed to extract the applied stress and strain in the solder joints. A constitutive model which includes both creep and plasticity was employed. Thermal fatigue was occurred due to the creep. And plastic deformation is main damage for bending failure. From the inelastic energy dissipation per cycle versus fatigue life curve, it can be found that the bending fatigue life is longer than the thermal fatigue life.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.11 no.3 s.32
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• pp.23-30
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• 2004

Interfacial reaction of Pb-free $Sn0.7wt{\%}Cu$ and $Sn3.8wt{\%}Ag0.7wt{\%}Cu$ solders and Pt during aging has been investigated. After the $Sn3.8wt{\%}Ag0.7wt{\%}Cu/Pt$ specimens were reflowed at $250^{\circ}C$ for 30s and the $Sn0.7wt{\%}Cu/Pt$ specimens were reflowed at $260^{\circ}C$, the specimens were aged at $125^{\circ}C,\;150^{\circ}C$ and $170^{\circ}C$ for 25-121 hours. The intermetallic thitkness and morphology change during aging were characterized using SEM, EDS and XRD. $PtSn_4$ and $PtSn_2$ were observed in the solder/pt interface and the intermetallic formation was governed by diffusion. The activation energy of intermetallic formation was 145.3 kJ/mol for$Sn3.8wt{\%}Ag0.7wt{\%}Cu/Pt$ specimens for $Sn0.7wt{\%}Cu/Pt$ specimens from the measurement of the intermetallic thickness with aging temperature and time.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.450-455
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• 2002

Cu-cored Sn-Ag solder balls were fabricated by coating pure Sn and Ag on Cu balls. The melting behavior and the solderability of the BGA joint with the Ni/Au coated Cu pad were investigated and were compared with those of the commercial Sn-Ag and Sn-Ag-Cu balls. DSC analyses clarified the melting of Cu-cored solders to start at a rather low temperature, the eutectic temperature of Sn-Ag-Cu. It was ascribed to the diffusion of Cu and Ag into Sn plating during the heating process. After reflow soldering the microstructures of the solder and of the interfacial layer between the solder and the Cu pad were analyzed with SEM and EPMA. By EDX analysis, formation of a eutectic microstructure composing of $\beta$-Sn, Ag$_3$Sn, ad Cu$_{6}$Sn$_{5}$ phases was confirmed in the solder, and the η'-(Au, Co, Cu, Ni)$_{6}$Sn$_{5}$ reaction layer was found to form at the interface between the solder and the Cu pad. By conducting shear tests, it was found that the BGA joint using Cu-cored solder ball could prevent the degradation of joint strength during aging at 423K because of the slower growth me of η'-(Au, Co, Cu, Ni)$_{6}$Sn$_{5}$ reaction layer formed at the solder, pad interface. Furthermore, Cu-cored multi-component Sn-Ag-Bi balls were fabricated by sequentially coating the binary Sn-Ag and Sn-Bi solders on Cu balls. The reflow property of these solder balls was investigated. Melting of these solder balls was clarified to start at the almost same temperature as that of Sn-2Ag-0.75Cu-3Bi solder. A microstructure composing of (Sn), Ag$_3$Sn, Bi and Cu$_{6}$Sn$_{5}$ phases was found to form in the solder ball, and a reaction layer containing primarily η'-(Au, Co, Cu, Ni)$_{6}$Sn$_{5}$ was found at the interface with Ni/Au coated Cu pad after reflow soldering. By conducting shear test, it was found that the BGA joints using this Cu-core solder balls hardly degraded their joint shear strength during aging at 423K due to the slower growth rate of the η'-(Au, Cu, Ni)$_{6}$Sn$_{5}$ reaction layer at the solder/pad interface.he solder/pad interface.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.239-245
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• 2001

Microstructure and mechanical properties of Sn-3.1 wt.%Ag-6.9 wt.%Bi system solders on Cu-substrate were studied. The Sn3.1 wt.%Ag-6.9 wt.%Bi alloy was designed by phase diagram and chemical properties and was prepared by melting in argon atmosphere. The mechanical properties of solder/Cu joints were examined by shear strength test, and also creep test. The microstructure of Sn-3.1 wt.%Ag-6.9 wt.%Bi alloy consists of Bi-rich phase and $Ag_3Sn$ precipitate in {\beta}-Sn$ matrix phase. The shear strength of the joint was decreased with aging treatment. Crack path under shear test was through the solder. Similar crack path change mode was observed at the creep test of solder/Cu joint. The creep behavior of Sn-3.1 wt.%Ag-6.9 wt.%Bi alloy represented the inverse primary creep behavior at all test condition. It is suggested that the inverse primary creep behavior is induced from Bi solute atoms in Sn-matrix. The creep resistance of Sn-3.1Ag-6.9Bi alloy is better than that of Sn-3.5 wt.%Ag alloy at all test conditions.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.19-27
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• 2003

Surface finishes of PCB laminates are important in the solder joint reliability of flip chip package because the types and thicknesses of intermetallic compound(IMC), and compositions and hardness of solders are affected by them. In this study, effects of surface finishes of PCB on the low cycle fatigue resistance of Sn-based lead-free solders; Sn-3.5Ag, Sn-3.5Ag-XCu(X=0.75, 1.5), Sn-3.5Ag-XBi(X=2.5, 7.5) and Sn-0.7Cu were investigated for the Cu and Au/Ni surface finish treatments. Displacement controlled room temperature lap shear fatigue tests showed that fatigue resistance of Sn-3.5Ag-XCu(X=0.75, 1.5), Sn-3.5Ag and Sn-0.7Cu alloys were more or less the same each other but much better than that of Bi containing alloys regardless of the surface finish layer used. In general, solder joints on the Au/Ni finish showed better fatigue resistance than those on the Cu finish. Cross-sectional fractography revealed microcracks nucleation inside of the interfacial IMC near the solder mask edge, more frequently on the Cu than the Au/Ni surface finish. Macro cracks followed the solder/IMC interface in the Bi containing alloys, while they propagated in the solder matrix in other alloys. It was ascribed to the Bi segregation at the solder/IMC interface and the solid solution hardening effect of Bi in the $\beta-Sn$ matrix.