The characteristics of interfacial intermetallic compounds (IMCs) can have serious impact on the reliability of solder joints. In this study, Ni nanoparticles (NPs) were added to SAC305 solder/Cu substrate interface by flux mixing. The effects of Ni NP addition on electromigration (EM) under high current density were investigated. EM tests with a maximum duration of 1128 h were conducted under a current density of 1 9 10 4 A/cm 2 , at 80 ± 3°C on the solders prepared using 0 and 2 wt% Ni NPs-doped flux. At 2 wt% Ni NPs addition to flux, the growth rate of interfacial IMC at the anode side decreased by more than five times. No significant change in electrical resistance was observed in 2 wt% samples for up to 1128 h. Ni NP addition at the solder/substrate through flux mixing is, therefore, expected to lead to more reliable solder joints.

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As‐annealed Fe–1.5 wt%Cu alloys were deformed by cold rolling. Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) and Doppler broadening spectra (DBS) were used to analyze the microdefects in the alloy induced by deformation. Cu precipitates were formed uniformly in the alloy after annealing at 1173 K. To investigate the effects of Cu precipitates on the formation and migration of defects, well‐annealed pure Fe samples were prepared as a reference. PALS results show that the value of positron lifetime (both long lifetime τ2 and mean lifetime τm) in the alloy is smaller than in pure Fe during deformation. This indicates that Cu precipitates restrain the growth of vacancy clusters. Results of DBS show that the S parameter in pure Fe is larger than in the alloy, and more deformation is needed for the S parameter to be saturated in the alloy.