Rare earth (RE) Y has been incorporated into eutectic SnZn solders to study the wettability, mechanical properties, oxidation resistance, microstructures and thermal fatigue behaviours. The results indicate that adding trace amount of RE Y can remarkably improve the wettability of SnZn solders. When the content of RE Y is 0·06 wt-%, the tensile and shear forces of SnZn-xY solder joints give 24·1% and 27·2% increase after soldering. In addition, it is found that SnZn0·06Y has better oxidation resistance than that of SnZn solder, and the microstructures of SnZn solders can be refined by the addition of RE Y; the size of Zn rich phase can be reduced obviously. Moreover, SnZn0·06Y shows superior thermal fatigue property over SnZn solders. It can be concluded that the optimum content of RE Y is 0·06 wt-% for SnZn solders.
MaHT, LeeTK, KimDH, ParkHG, KimSH, LiuKC: ‘Isothermal aging effects on the mechanical shock performance of lead-free solder joints’, IEEE Trans. Compon. Packag. Manuf. Technol., 2011, 1, (5), 714–721.
2.
ZouCD, GaoYL, YangB, ZhaiQJ: ‘Melting and solidification properties of the nanoparticles of Sn3·0Ag0·5Cu lead-free solder alloy’, Mater. Charact., 2010, 61, (4), 474–480.
3.
ChiangSY, WeiCC, ChiangTH, ChenWL: ‘How can electronics industries become green manufacturers in Taiwan and Japan’, Clean Technol. Environ. Policy, 2011, 13, (1), 37–47.
4.
ZhangL, XueSB, GaoLL, DaiW, JiF, ChenY, YuSL: ‘Microstructure characterization of SnAgCu solder bearing Ce for electronic packaging’, Microelectron. Eng., 2011, 88, (9), 2848–2851.
5.
GarciaLR, OsórioWR, PeixotoLC, GarciaA: ‘Mechanical properties of Sn–Zn lead-free solder alloys based on the microstructure array’, Mater. Charact., 2010, 61, (2), 212–220.
6.
HuJ, HuAM, LiM, MaoDL: ‘Depressing of 0·1 wt-% Cr addition into Sn–9Zn solder alloy on the intermetallic growth with Cu substrate during isothermal aging’, Mater. Charact., 2010, 61, (3), 355–361.
7.
ChenWX: ‘Effects of Ag, Ga, Al and Ce on the properties of Sn–9Zn lead-free solders’; 2010, Nanjing, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
8.
MahmudiR, GeranmayehAR, ZahiriB, MarvastiMH: ‘Effect of rare earth element additions on the impression creep of Sn–9Zn solder alloy’, J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Electron., 2010, 21, (1), 58–64.
9.
LiLF, QiuT, YangJ, FengYB: ‘Effects of rare earth La on the microstructure and melting property of (Ag–Cu28)–30Sn alloys prepared by mechanical alloying’, Rare Met., 2011, 30, (1), 49–52.
10.
HuYH, XueSB, WangH, YeH, XiaoZX, GaoLL: ‘Effects of rare earth element Nd on the solderability and microstructure of Sn–Zn lead-free solder’, J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Electron., 2011, 22, (5), 481–487.
11.
XiaoZX, XueSB, HuYH, YeH, GaoLL, WangH: ‘Properties and microstructure of Sn–9Zn lead-free solder alloy bearing Pr’, J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Electron., 2011, 22, (6), 659–665.
12.
ChenWX, XueSB, WangH, HuYH, WangJX: ‘Effects of rare earth Ce on properties of Sn–9Zn lead-free solder’, J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Electron., 2010, 21, (7), 719–725.
13.
ZhangL, XueSB, GaoLL, ZengG, YuSL, ShengZ: ‘Effect of thermal cycling on properties and microstructure of SnAgCuCe soldered joints in QFP devices’, Chin. J. Mech. Eng., 2011, 24, (4), 561–566.
14.
HuYF, XueSB, WuYX: ‘FEM analysis of stress and strain and evaluation on reliability of soldered BGA joints under thermal cycling’, Trans. Nonferrous Met. Soc. China, 2005, 15, (S3), 317–322.
15.
YoonJW, NohBI, KimBK, ShurCC, JungSB: ‘Wettability and interfacial reactions of Sn–Ag–Cu/Cu and Sn–Ag–Ni/Cu solder joints’, J. Alloys Compd, 2009, 486, (1–2), 142–147.
16.
ZhangL, XueSB, ZengG, GaoLL, ChenY, ShengZ, YuSL: ‘Effects of Cerium on microstructure and properties of SnAgCu solders’, J. Chin. Rare Earth Soc., 2009, 27, (2), 246–250.
17.
ZhaoY, BasaranC, CartwrightA, DishonghT: ‘Thermomechanical behavior of micro scale solder joints under dynamic loads’, Mech. Mater., 2000, 32, (3), 161–173.
18.
LinKL, ChenKI, ShiPC: ‘A potential drop-in replacement for eutectic Sn–Pb solder – the Sn–Zn–Ag–Al–Ga solder’, J. Electron. Mater., 2003, 32, (12), 1490–1495.
19.
ChenWX, XueSB, WangH, WangJX, HanZJ, GaoLL: ‘Effects of Ag on microstructures, wettabilities of Sn–9Zn–xAg solders as well as mechanical properties of soldered joints’, J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Electron., 2010, 21, (5), 461–467.
20.
ZhouJ, HuangD, FangYL, XueF: ‘Investigation on properties of Sn–8Zn–3Bi lead-free solder by Nd addition’, J. Alloys Compd, 2009, 480, (2), 903–907.
21.
ChenX, HuAM, LiM, MaoDL: ‘Study on the properties of Sn–9Zn–xCr lead-free solder’, J. Alloys Compd, 2008, 460, (1–2), 478–484.
22.
WangH, XueSB, ZhaoF, ChenWX: ‘Effects of Ga, Al, Ag and Ce multi-additions on the wetting characteristics of Sn–9Zn lead-free solder’, Rare Met., 2009, 28, (6), 600–605.
WuCML, YuDQ, LawCMT, WangL: ‘The properties of Sn–9Zn lead-free solder alloys doped with trace rare earth elements’, J. Electron. Mater., 2002, 31, (9), 921–927.
25.
ASM International: ‘Alloy phase diagrams’; 1992, Materials Park, OH, The Materials Information Company.
26.
NguyenTT, YuD, ParkSB: ‘Characterizing the mechanical properties of actual SAC105, SAC305, and SAC405 solder joints by digital image correlation’, J. Electron. Mater., 2011, 40, (6), 1409–1415.
27.
QianZF, LiuS: ‘On the life prediction and accelerated testing of solder joints’, Int. J. Microcircuits Electron Packag., 1999, 22, (4), 288–304.
28.
ZhangL, XueSB, GaoLL, ZengG, YuSL, ShengZ: ‘Thermal fatigue behavior of SnAgCu soldered joints in fine pitch devices’, Rare Met. Mater. Eng., 2010, 39, (3), 382–387.
