Investigation and Comparison of Aging Effects in SAC305 and Doped SAC+X Solders Exposed to Isothermal Aging
Authors: Wu Jing , Alam Mohammad S. , Hassan KM Rafidh , Suhling Jeffrey C. , Lall Pradeep 
Published: December 2020

Microstructural evolution occurs in lead free Sn-Ag-Cu (SAC) solder joints exposed to isothermal aging. Such changes lead to degradations in the mechanical properties and creep behavior of the solder, and can result in dramatic reductions in the board level reliability of lead-free electronic assemblies subjected to aging. In our recent research, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) has been used to: (1) monitor aging induced microstructural changes occurring within fixed regions in selected lead-free solder joints, (2) create time-lapse imagery of the microstructure evolution, and (3) analyze the microstructural changes quantitatively and correlate to the observed mechanical behavior evolution. This approach has removed the limitations of many prior studies where aged and non-aged microstructures were taken from two different samples and could only be qualitatively compared.

In our current study, the microstructural evolutions were observed in SAC305 (96.5Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu) and SAC_Q (SAC+Bi) exposed to isothermal conditions at T = 100 °C and 125 °C for several different regions from several different joints. The microstructures in several fixed regions of interest were recorded after predetermined time intervals of aging, which were 1 hour (up to 270 hours) and 250 hours (up to 7000 hours) for the long-term aging samples. The aging induced changes in microstructure have been correlated with the changes in mechanical behavior measured using uniaxial tensile testing.

The area and diameter of each IMC particle were tracked during the aging process using the recorded images and imaging processing software. As expected, the analysis of the evolving SAC305 and SAC+X microstructures showed a significant amount of diffusion of silver and bismuth in the beta-tin matrix during aging. In particular, Ag3Sn particles coalesced during aging leading to a decrease in the number of particles. Any bismuth in the SAC+X microstructure was observed to quickly go into solution, resulting in solid solution strengthening. This primary occurred within the beta-Sn dendrites, but also in the Ag3Sn intermetallic rich regions between dendrites. The presence of bismuth in was also found to slow the diffusion process that coarsens the Ag3Sn IMC particles. The combination solid solution strengthening and a lower diffusion rate for Ag lead to reduced aging effects in the SAC+Bi alloy relative to the SAC305 solder alloy.

The SAC_Q alloy was found to have significantly better high temperature mechanical properties relative to SAC305 at all prior aging conditions. In particular, the initial modulus and ultimate tensile strength of SAC305 experienced large degradations during high temperature aging, whereas the same properties of SAC_Q changed only slightly. These changes in mechanical behavior correlated well with the observed increases in the average IMC particle diameter and decreases in the number of IMC particles. The microstructural and material property degradations were especially large for SAC305 during the initial 50 hours of aging.