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Growth behavior of IMCs in Sn–1.0Ag–0.5Cu–xBi/Ni joints during isothermal aging

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Abstract

In order to investigate the effect of Bi on the microstructure of Sn–Ag–Cu/Ni interface, the shear forces of Sn–1.0Ag–0.5Cu–xBi (x = 0, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3 wt%) joints after various aging treatments were tested, and the fracture behavior of joints were researched simultaneously. The results show that a prismatic (Cu, Ni)6Sn5 layer and a slender rod-shaped (Ni, Cu)3Sn4 layer are formed between the Sn–Ag–Cu solder and the Ni substrate after reflow at 250 °C for 60 s, and (Ni, Cu)3Sn4 is close to the side of the substrate, while (Cu, Ni)6Sn5 is close to the side of the solder. The thickness of IMCs increases with the extend of aging time, but the IMC layers become thinner and the grain size becomes smaller with the Bi addition. It is also found that the diffusion rate of interfacial elements is reduced, thus, the growth activation energy of IMCs is enhanced with the increase of Bi addition. Furthermore, with the increase of Bi content, the shear forces of solder joints are improved. However, due to the brittleness of Bi, the shear fracture mode changes from ductile fracture to ductile–brittle mixed fracture when the Bi content is more than 1.5 wt%. Combined with the shear force, fracture morphology and IMC microstructure, the optimal amount of Bi addition is about 1.5 wt% in this study.

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Acknowledgements

This work was carried out with the support of the Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China (18KJA460002), and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BX2019071, BX2020079).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jiangsu Provincial Key Lab of Advanced Welding Technology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, 212003, China

    Jianxin Wang, Hao Su, Xingda Kong, Yiming Jin & Xixi Shi

  2. Institute of Manufacturing Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, China

    Dekui Mu

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  1. Jianxin Wang
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  2. Hao Su
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Correspondence to Jianxin Wang.

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Wang, J., Su, H., Mu, D. et al. Growth behavior of IMCs in Sn–1.0Ag–0.5Cu–xBi/Ni joints during isothermal aging. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 32, 20777–20792 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-021-06591-1

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