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Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Tin-Bismuth Solder Reinforced by Aluminum Borate Whiskers

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Abstract

Tin-bismuth solder has emerged as a promising lead-free alternative to tin-lead solder, especially for low-temperature packaging applications. However, the intrinsic brittleness of tin-bismuth solder alloy, aggravated by the coarse bismuth-rich phase and the thick interfacial intermetallic layer, notably limits the mechanical performance of the bonded joints. In this work, the microstructure and mechanical performance of solder joints were improved by adding 3.2 vol.% aluminum borate whiskers to the tin-bismuth solder alloy. This whisker-reinforced composite solder was fabricated through a simple process. Typically, 25-μm to 75-μm tin-bismuth particles were mixed with a small amount of aluminum borate whiskers with diameter of 0.5 μm to 1.5 μm and length of 5 μm to 15 μm. The addition of whiskers restrained the formation of coarse brittle bismuth-rich phase and decreased the lamellar spacing from 0.84 μm to 7.94 μm to the range of 0.22 μm to 1.80 μm. Moreover, the growth rate of the interfacial intermetallic layer during the remelting treatment decreased as well. The joint shear strength increased from 19.4 MPa to 24.7 MPa, and only declined by 4.9% (average, −5.9% to 15.8%) after the tenth remelting, while the shear strength of the joint without whiskers declined by 31.5% (average, 10.1–44.1%). The solder alloy was reinforced because of their high strength and high modulus and also the refinement effect on the solder alloy microstructure.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, Grant Nos. 51275135, 51474081, 51475103, and 51321061), and The Funds for Distinguished Young Scientists of Heilongjiang Province. The authors thank Mr. Sigurd R. Pettersen (Department of Structural Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology) and Dr. Chunhui Wu (The Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research, Osaka University) for important advice during manuscript preparation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China

    Jun Wang, Hongmei Wei, Peng He & Tiesong Lin

  2. Shuangliang Eco-Energy Systems Co., Ltd., Jiangyin, 214444, China

    Fengjiao Lu

Authors
  1. Jun Wang
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  2. Hongmei Wei
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  3. Peng He
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  4. Tiesong Lin
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  5. Fengjiao Lu
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Correspondence to Peng He.

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Wang, J., Wei, H., He, P. et al. Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Tin-Bismuth Solder Reinforced by Aluminum Borate Whiskers. J. Electron. Mater. 44, 3872–3879 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-015-3896-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-015-3896-0

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