SAC–xTiO₂ nano-reinforced lead-free solder joint characterizations in ultra-fine package assembly

Abstract

Purpose-This paper aims to investigate the characteristics of ultra-fine lead-free solder joints reinforced with TiO 2 nanoparticles in an electronic assembly. Design/methodology/approach-This study focused on the microstructure and quality of solder joints. Various percentages of TiO 2 nanoparticles were mixed with a lead-free Sn-3.5Ag-0.7Cu solder paste. This new form of nano-reinforced lead-free solder paste was used to assemble a miniature package consisting of an ultra-fine capacitor on a printed circuit board by means of a reflow soldering process. The microstructure and the fillet height were investigated using a focused ion beam, a high-resolution transmission electron microscope system equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS), and a field emission scanning electron microscope coupled with an EDS and X-ray diffraction machine. Findings-The experimental results revealed that the intermetallic compound with the lowest thickness was produced by the nano-reinforced solder with a TiO 2 content of 0.05 Wt.%. Increasing the TiO 2 content to 0.15 Wt.% led to an improvement in the fillet height. The characteristics of the solder joint fulfilled the reliability requirements of the IPC standards. Practical implications-This study provides engineers with a profound understanding of the characteristics of ultra-fine nano-reinforced solder joint packages in the microelectronics industry. Originality/value-The findings are expected to provide proper guidelines and references with regard to the manufacture of miniaturized electronic packages. This study also explored the effects of TiO 2 on the microstructure and the fillet height of ultra-fine capacitors.

Effect Of 3% Molybdenum (Mo) Nanoparticles on The Melting, Microstructure and Hardness Properties of As- Reflowed Low Mass Sn-58Bi (SB) Solder Alloy

“…The drop in the tensile strength was attributed by the presence of many Ni-CNT, which forms cluster and leave gaps/pores that acts as the stress concentrator. Ani et al, [11] also provided similar observation with the additions of TiO2 in the SnAgCu solder alloy. In another study, SiO2 nanoparticles were added to Sn0.7Cu solder alloy where there was an increment in tensile stress (43.4MPa) for 1.5wt% additions which was 25% higher than the bare Sn0.7Cu [26].…”

Effect of Peak Temperature on SAC Nano-Reinforced Fillet Height

“…From the Table 5, there are slight differences exist on the nano-particles distributions due to the effect of changing the peak temperature on the soaking region. The nanoparticles trajectory motions are expected to be dispersed randomly at lower temperature due to the very low Stoke's number of less than 1 [24]. The nanoparticles and the molten solder move simultaneously to the terminal of the 01005 capacitor and the base terminal of the PCB board due to the wetting mechanism.…”

Investigating the impact of different solder alloy materials during laser soldering process

“…Numerous research papers have explored methods and parameters to enhance the quality and reliability of solder joints in reflow processes (Bachok et al. , 2018; Che Ani et al. , 2018a, 2018b, 2019; Mohamed Muzni et al.…”