Reliability evaluation of SnAgCu/SnAgCuCe solder joints based on finite element simulation and experiments

Abstract

2012),"The effect of praseodymium (Pr) additions on shear strength and microstructure of SnAgCu joints during the ageing process", Soldering & Surface Mount Technology, Vol. 24 Iss 3 pp. 216-222 http://dx.If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to numerically evaluate the reliability of SnAgCuCe solder joints compared with that of SnAgCu. A trace amount of the rare earth (RE) element Ce was added into SnAgCu solder in order to improve the reliability of lead-free solder joints, which was evaluated based on finite element simulation and experiments. Design/methodology/approach -A finite element method and an Anand constitutive model were employed to analyze the reliability of SnAgCuCe and SnAgCu solder joints in fine pitch quad flat packages under thermal cycling. The mechanical properties and reliability of solder joints were characterized by using thermal fatigue and creep tests, while the microstructure of the solder alloy and SnAgCu/SnAgCuCe solder joints were also investigated in the experimental procedure. Findings -The simulation results indicated that SnAgCuCe solder joints had better reliability than SnAgCu. In addition, the experimental results accorded well with those of simulation, the thermal fatigue property and creep resistance of solder joints was increased by adding cerium. SnAgCuCe alloy can get its microstructure refinement improved and the thickness of the intermetallic compound layer at the solder/Cu interface decreased significantly compared to that of SnAgCu. Originality/value -The findings provide certain guidelines to the reliability evaluation of solder joints when applying novel RE containing solder alloys in practical electronics industry applications. In the meantime, the reason for the superior reliability of SnAgCuCe solder joints can be explained from the property and microstructural point-of-view.

Finite element analyses and lifetime predictions for SnAgCu solder interconnections in thermal shock tests

“…Li et al (2009) carried out finite element analyses to assess the reliability of SnAgCu solder interconnections under TC, as well as power cycling. Zhang et al (2010) and Zeng et al (2010) investigated the effects of Ce on the microstructures of SnAgCu solder alloys and evaluated their reliability by finite element simulations and TC tests.…”

Simulation of dynamic recrystallization in solder interconnections during thermal cycling

“…Since failure of solder interconnections is a typical failure mode in many electronic devices, the reliability and life time prediction of solder interconnections become crucial. Various reliability test and computer-aided simulations have been carried out to study the solder interconnection reliability [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. With the experimental and simulation results, a number of lifetime prediction models have been established and they can be classified into two main categories: strain-based and energy-based.…”