The effects of temperature and strain-enhanced coarsening of intermetallic compounds (IMCs) on the cyclic strain-hardening exponent of SnAgCu microsolder joints were investigated. The effect of temperature on the exponent is described by the Arrhenius function, and the cyclic strain-hardening exponent is proportional to the reciprocal square root of the average radius of the IMCs. Ag 3 Sn and Cu 6 Sn 5 IMCs coarsened with time, temperature, and inelastic strain. In the growth process with time and temperature, the phase-size exponent and activation energy for a SnAgCu microsolder joint were ³3 and 50 kJ/mol, respectively. Ag 3 Sn and Cu 6 Sn 5 growth with isothermal aging was controlled by the diffusion of Ag and Cu in the Sn matrix. In addition, the strain-enhanced coarsening of the IMCs can be described by the growth model with consideration of isothermal aging and inelastic strain-enhanced growth. Therefore, the cyclic strain-hardening exponent decreases with temperature, and the strain-enhanced coarsening of IMCs can be described by the reciprocal square root of the average radius of the IMCs and the strain-enhanced growth model.
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