the influence of heat treatment on properties of lead-free solders

The article is focused on the analysis of degradation of properties of two eutectic lead-free solders SnCu0.7 and SnAg3.5Cu0.7. The microstructures of the intermetallic compound (IMC) layers at the copper substrate - solder interface were examined before and after heat treatment at 150°C for 50, 200, 500 and 1000 hours. The thickness of IMC layers of the Cu6Sn5 phase was growing with the increasing time of annealing and shown the typical scallops. For the heat treatment times of 200 hours and longer, the Cu3Sn IMC layers located near the Cu substrate were also observed. The experiments showed there is a link between the thickness of IMC layers and decrease of the shear strength of solder joints. In general, the joints made of the ternary solder showed higher shear strength before and after heat treatment in comparison to joints from solder SnCu0.7.