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Effects of rare earth additions on the microstructural evolution and microhardness of Sn30Bi0.5Cu and Sn35Bi1Ag solder alloys

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Abstract

The effects of trace amounts of rare earth (RE) additions on the melting property, microstructural evolution and microhardness of SnBiCu and SnBiAg solder alloys were studied by differential scanning calorimetric tester, Vickers hardness tester and microstructural observation. The results indicated that with the additions of RE, the melting property of the SnBiCu–xRE and SnBiAg–xRE (x = 0, 0.25 and 0.5) solder alloys changed slightly. The microstructures of the β-Sn phase, Cu6Sn5 and Ag3Sn intermetallic compounds (IMCs) in the solder matrices were refined due to the surface adsorption effect of RE. In addition, the microhardness of the solder alloys increased remarkably with the additions of RE because of the refined microstructures. Moreover, the formed Cu6Sn5 IMC layers in SnBiCu–xRE/Cu and SnBiAg–xRE/Cu solder joints were much thinner than those in the undoped-RE SnBiCu/Cu and SnBiAg/Cu solder joints after reflowing and aging tests. This is because the RE decreased the interfacial energy of Cu6Sn5 IMC layer and then suppressed the Cu atoms to react with Sn atoms to form Cu6Sn5 IMC layer.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financial supported by a Key Scientific and Technological Project of Chongqing (Project No. CSTC, 2009AC4046), a Natural Science Foundation Project of CQ CSTC (Project No. CSTC, 2010BB4039), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of P. R. China (Project No. CDJZR10130010) and (Project No. CDJXS10131155).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Material Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China

    Jun Shen, Cuiping Wu & Shizeng Li

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  1. Jun Shen
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  2. Cuiping Wu
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  3. Shizeng Li
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Correspondence to Jun Shen.

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Shen, J., Wu, C. & Li, S. Effects of rare earth additions on the microstructural evolution and microhardness of Sn30Bi0.5Cu and Sn35Bi1Ag solder alloys. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 23, 156–163 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-011-0566-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-011-0566-8

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