Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Relationship between free solder thickness to the solderability of Sn–0.7Cu–0.05Ni solder coating during soldering

  • Published:
Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The relationships between solderability, free solder thickness and intermetallic thickness of Sn–0.7Cu–0.05Ni solder coatings on Cu substrate has been investigated. The annealing method was proposed to control free solder thickness by controlling the ratio of free solder and interfacial intermetallics (IMCs). The solderability of solder coating has investigated using a purpose-designed microwetting balance. The interfacial intermetallic microstructure was analysed and the thickness measured in the as-coated condition with aging process. Results indicate that the solderability is related to free solder thickness, where the increase of aging time and temperature thickness of the free solder is reduced by the interfacial intermetallic compound growth. Onwards, the different composition of germanium (Ge) was added into Sn–0.7Cu–0.05Ni as an antioxidant to control drossing of the molten solder. The effect on solderability of a Ge addition to the coating alloy was measured. These results may be used as a basis to obtain an optimum wettability of solder coating during soldering.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. S.H. Kim, J.M. Kim, S. Yoo, Y.B. Park, Effects of surface finishes and current stressing on the interfacial reaction characteristics of Sn-1.2Ag-0.7Cu-0.4In solder bumps. Curr. Appl. Phys. 13, 103–107 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. K. Sweatman, Hot air solder leveling in the lead-free era, in Global SMT & Packaging, pp. 10–18 (2009)

  3. J.-W. Yoon, S.-B. Jung, Effect of surface finish on interfacial reactions of Cu/Sn-Ag-Cu/Cu (ENIG) sandwich solder joints. J. Alloys Compd. 448, 177–184 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. K. Sweatman, K. Howell, R. Coyle, R. Parker, G. Henshall, J. Smetana, E. Benedetto, W. Lui, R.S. Pandher, D. Daily, iNEMI Pb-free alloy characterization project report: part III–thermal fatigue results for low Ag alloys, in Proceeding of SMTAi (2012)

  5. K. Nogita, Stabilisation of Cu6Sn5 by Ni in Sn-0.7Cu-0.05Ni lead-free solder alloys. Intermetallics 18, 145–149 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. T. Ventura, C.M. Gourlay, K. Nogita, T. Nishimura, M. Rappaz, A.K. Dahle, The influence of 0-0.1 wt.% Ni on the microstructure and fluidity length of Sn0.7Cu-xNi. J. Electron. Mater. 37, 32–39 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. R. Schueller, Creep corrosion on lead-free printed circuit boards in high sulfur environments. SMTA News J. Surf. Mount Technol. 21, 21 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  8. M.F. Arenas, V.L. Acoff, Contact angle measurements of Sn-Ag and Sn-Cu lead-free solders on copper substrates. J. Electron. Mater. 33, 1452–1459 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. J. Pstrus, P. Fima, T. Gancarz, Wetting of Cu and Al by Sn-Zn and Zn-Al eutectic alloys. J. Mater. Eng. Perform. 21, 606–613 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. W. Li, Failure analysis on bad wetting of ENIG surface finish pads, in 2015 16th International Conference on Electronic Packaging Technology (ICEPT), IEEE, 2015, pp. 538–541

  11. S. Zhang, S.-H. Kim, T.-W. Kim, Y.-S. Kim, K.-W. Paik, A study on the solder ball size and content effects of solder ACFs for flex-on-board assembly applications using ultrasonic bonding. IEEE Trans. Compon. Packag. Manuf. Technol. 5, 9–14 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. C.C. Tu, M.E. Natishan, Wettability test method for surface mount technology assessment. Solder. Surf. Mount Technol. 12, 10–15 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Q. Zeng, J. Guo, X. Gu, X. Zhao, X. Liu, Wetting behaviors and interfacial reaction between Sn-10Sb-5Cu high temperature lead-free solder and Cu substrate. J. Mater. Sci. Technol. 26, 156–162 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. G. Kumar, K.N. Prabhu, Review of non-reactive and reactive wetting of liquids on surfaces. Adv. Colloid Interface Sci. 133, 61–89 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. K.M. Martorano, M.A. Martorano, S.D. Brandi, Optimal conditions for the wetting balance test. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 209, 3089–3095 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. T. Takemoto, M. Miyazaki, Effect of excess temperature above liquidus of lead-free solders on wetting time in a wetting balance test. Mater. Trans. 42, 745–750 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. F.A.M. Sobri, M.A.A.M. Salleh, C.M. Ruzaidi, P. Narayanan, The effect of dipping time to the intermetallic compound and free solder thickness of Sn-Cu-Ni (SN100C) lead-free solder coating. Appl. Mech. Mater. 754, 493–497 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. L. Mo, Z. Chen, F. Wu, C. Liu, Microstructural and mechanical analysis on Cu–Sn intermetallic micro-joints under isothermal condition. Intermetallics 66, 13–21 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. D.Q. Yu, C.M.L. .Wu, C.M.T. Law, L. Wang, J.K.L. Lai, Intermetallic compounds growth between Sn-3.5 Ag lead-free solder and Cu substrate by dipping method. J. Alloys Compd. 392, 192–199 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. M. Hasnine, B. Tolla, M. Karasawa, Effect of Ge addition on wettability, copper dissolution, microstructural and mechanical behavior of SnCu–Ge solder alloy. J. Mater. Sci.: Mater. Electron. 28, 16106–16119 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  21. C. Yu, Y. Yang, P. Li, J. Chen, H. Lu, Suppression of Cu3Sn and Kirkendall voids at Cu/Sn-3.5 Ag solder joints by adding a small amount of Ge. J. Mater. Sci.: Mater. Electron. 23, 56–60 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  22. A.T. Wu, M.H. Chen, C.N. Siao, The effects of solid-state aging on the intermetallic compounds of Sn-Ag-Bi-In solders on Cu substrates. J. Electron. Mater. 38, 252–256 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. M.A.A.M. Salleh, S.D. McDonald, K. Nogita, Effects of Ni and TiO2 additions in as-reflowed and annealed Sn0.7Cu solders on Cu substrates. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 242, 235–245 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. C. Yu, J. Chen, Z. Cheng, Y. Huang, J. Chen, J. Xu, H. Lu, Fine grained Cu film promoting Kirkendall voiding at Cu3Sn/Cu interface. J. Alloys Compd. 660, 80–84 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. F. Cheng, Z. Ma, Y. Wang, Q. Zou, Creep behaviors of Sn0.7Cu0.1Co0.05Ni/Cu soldering joints. IEEE Trans. Compon. Packag. Manuf. Technol. 4, 2058–2065 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge Nihon Superior (Grant No: 2016/10/0001) and fundamental research grant scheme (FRGS) (FRGS/1/2017/TK05/UNIMAP/02/7) (9003-00635) for the materials and finance support. Wetting balance test were conducted at Nihon Superior (M) Sdn Bhd, Ipoh, Malaysia.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center of Excellence Geopolymer & Green Technology (CeGeoGTech), School of Materials Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Taman Muhibbah, Jejawi, 02600, Arau, Perlis, Malaysia

    M. I. I. Ramli, M. A. A. Mohd Salleh & F. A. Mohd Sobri

  2. Nihon Superior (M) Sdn Bhd, Lot 17, Jalan Industri 1, Free Industrial Zone Jelapang 2, 30020, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

    P. Narayanan

  3. Nihon Superior Co., Ltd, Suita City, Osaka, 564-0063, Japan

    K. Sweatman

  4. Nihon Superior Centre for the Manufacture of Electronic Materials (NS CMEM), School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia

    K. Nogita

Authors
  1. M. I. I. Ramli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. A. A. Mohd Salleh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. F. A. Mohd Sobri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. P. Narayanan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. K. Sweatman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. K. Nogita
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. A. A. Mohd Salleh.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ramli, M.I.I., Mohd Salleh, M.A.A., Mohd Sobri, F.A. et al. Relationship between free solder thickness to the solderability of Sn–0.7Cu–0.05Ni solder coating during soldering. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 30, 3669–3677 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-018-00647-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-018-00647-5

Search

Navigation