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Effects of high temperature aging on the microstructural evolution and mechanical behavior of SAC305 solder joints using synchrotron X-ray microdiffraction and nanoindentation

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Abstract

Isothermal aging causes degradation in the mechanical behavior of lead-free solder materials used in microelectronic packaging, leading to significant reductions in product reliability. In this work, we have characterized the aging-induced changes that occur in the mechanical properties and creep behavior of actual solder joints. These changes occur due to microstructure evolution and residual strains/stresses in the solder material, and measurement of these evolutions are critical to developing a fundamental understanding of solder aging phenomena. The enhanced high-energy X-ray microdiffraction beamline present at the synchrotron at the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory was employed to characterize the solder joints after various aging times at 125 °C. Aging-induced changes in the Sn grain orientation, Sn grain distribution, and residual strain distribution were measured. The observed microstructural evolution was then correlated with changes in the mechanical response of the solder joints measured using nanoindentation.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the NSF Center for Advanced Vehicle Electronics and Extreme Environment (CAVE3). We thank the members of iNEMI for providing the joint samples tested in this work. We also gratefully acknowledge and thank Dr. Nobumichi Tamura and Dr. Martin Kunz for assistance with the microdiffraction measurements and data extraction, and for valuable discussions. We acknowledge a grant from the DOE for access to beamline 12.3.2 of the Advanced Light Source (ALS), which is supported by the Office of Basic Energy Science, Material Science Division, of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contact DE-AC02-05Ch11231 at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Physics, Center for Advanced Vehicle and Extreme Environment Electronics (CAVE3), Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA

    Md Hasnine, Jeffrey C. Suhling & Michael J. Bozack

  2. Kester, Inc., 800 W Thorndale Avenue, Itasca, IL, 60143, USA

    Md Hasnine

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  1. Md Hasnine
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  2. Jeffrey C. Suhling
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  3. Michael J. Bozack
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Correspondence to Md Hasnine.

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Hasnine, M., Suhling, J.C. & Bozack, M.J. Effects of high temperature aging on the microstructural evolution and mechanical behavior of SAC305 solder joints using synchrotron X-ray microdiffraction and nanoindentation. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 28, 13496–13506 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-017-7189-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-017-7189-7

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