Investigation and Comparison of Aging Effects in SAC+X Solders Exposed to High Temperatures

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 recent papers presented at ECTC 2018 and 2019, the developed approach was used to observe the microstructure evolutions in SAC305 (96.5Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu) and SAC_Q (SAC+Bi) solder joint samples for up to 2000 hours of aging at T = 125 °C. In the current study, we have extended this work for longer aging times up to 7000 hours, and we have also examined microstructural changes for aging at another temperature (T = 100 °C). Finally, a more extensive study has been performed for short term aging up to 270 hours, which is when the majority of aging induced changes occur. 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_Q microstructures showed a significant amount of diffusion of silver and bismuth in the beta-tin matrix during aging. In particular, Ag
₃
Sn particles coalesced during aging leading to a decrease in the number of particles. Any bismuth in the SAC_Q 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 Ag
₃
Sn intermetallic rich regions between dendrites. The presence of bismuth in was also found to slow the diffusion process that coarsens the Ag
₃
Sn 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 mechanical behavior degradations in the two alloys were also investigated. Before testing, the solder uniaxial specimens were aged (preconditioned) at T = 125 °C. At each aging temperature, several durations of aging were considered including 0, 2, 6, 12, and 24 hours. Uniaxial tensile tests were then performed on the aged specimens at high temperature (T = 125 °C). Using the measured data, the evolutions of the high temperature stress-strain behavior were determined as a function of aging temperature and aging time, and models describing the evolution of the mechanical properties with extreme aging were established.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.