文摘
We have investigated the effect of small amounts of Cu on suppression of metastable βSn-NiSn4 eutectic growth in solder joints between Sn-3.5Ag-xCu solders and Ni-based substrates. For Sn-3.5Ag/electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG) and Sn-3.5Ag/Ni solder joints we showed that the eutectic mixture contains βSn, Ag3Sn, and metastable NiSn4. It was found that addition of only 0.005 wt.% Cu to Sn-3.5Ag-xCu/ENIG or Sn-3.5Ag-xCu/Ni joints promoted formation of a stable βSn-Ni3Sn4 eutectic and that both Ni3Sn4 and NiSn4 occur in the eutectic at this Cu level. We also showed that for complete prevention of formation of metastable NiSn4 during eutectic solidification of the solder joint, addition of at least 0.3 wt.% Cu was required.