Multiphase Characterization of Cu-In-Sn Alloys with 17 at.% Cu and Comparison with Calculated Phase Equilibria

Abstract

Cu-In-Sn alloys are among the suggested materials to replace Pb-Sn alloys traditionally used in joining processes by the electronic industry. Thorough thermodynamic understanding is required for the selection/design of adequate and efficient alloys for specific applications. Understanding the effects that high cost elements such as In have on microstructure and phase stability is imperative for industrial use. In this work ternary alloys were prepared by melting high purity elements (5N) for selected compositions of the 17 at.% Cu isopleth, and cooling down to reproduce process conditions. Chemical composition was determined using scanning electron microscopy equipped with electron probe microanalysis. Measurements of transition temperatures were done by heat-flux differential scanning calorimetry. We present a comprehensive comparison between our experimental results and phase diagram calculations using Liu et al. (J Electron Mater 30:1093, 2001) thermodynamic description based in the CALPHAD method, available in the literature.