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Thermal creep and fracture behaviors of the lead-free Sn–Ag–Cu–Bi solder interconnections under different stress levels

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Abstract

In our previous study, the creep behavior of the lead-free Sn–Ag–Cu–Bi solder joints has been proven to follow the Arrhenius power-law relationship, and the thermal fatigue behavior of the solder joints exhibits the typical creep deformation characteristics with a superposition of the pulsating features. In this study, the thermal creep and fracture behaviors of the lead-free Sn–Ag–Cu–Bi solder interconnections were characterized under different stress levels, with a systematical comparison to that of a traditional Sn60Pb40 near-eutectic solder. The results show that the creep strain rate of both solder connections follows Weertman-Dorn equation, and the calculated creep stress exponent for two solders is reasonably close to other published data. The SEM inspection and analysis of fractographies of creep fractured solder joints manifest that the creep failure of the lead-free Sn–Ag–Cu–Bi solder joint shows obviously intergranular fracture mechanism, while the Sn60Pb40 joint ruptures dominantly by a transgranular sliding mechanism.

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Acknowledgments

This research is supported by, the Ministry of Education, China, through a program of NCET (04–0824) and the matching grant, and the Natural Science Foundation of China under a grant No.50471038. XPZ is grateful to Prof. L. Dorn and Dr.-Ing S. Shrestha at Technical University Berlin, Germany, for the valuable discussion.

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  1. Institute of Materials Science and Technology, School of Mechanical Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    X. P. Zhang, L. M. Yin & C. B. Yu

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  1. X. P. Zhang
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  2. L. M. Yin
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  3. C. B. Yu
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Correspondence to X. P. Zhang.

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Zhang, X.P., Yin, L.M. & Yu, C.B. Thermal creep and fracture behaviors of the lead-free Sn–Ag–Cu–Bi solder interconnections under different stress levels. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 19, 393–398 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-007-9351-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-007-9351-0

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