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Acta Metall Sin  2015, Vol. 51 Issue (6): 685-692    DOI: 10.11900/0412.1961.2014.00495
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WHISKER MITIGATION FOR Sn-BASED Pb-FREE SOLDERS BY POSS ADDITION
Yong ZUO,Limin MA,Sihan LIU,Yutian SHU,Fu GUO()
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124
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Yong ZUO, Limin MA, Sihan LIU, Yutian SHU, Fu GUO. WHISKER MITIGATION FOR Sn-BASED Pb-FREE SOLDERS BY POSS ADDITION. Acta Metall Sin, 2015, 51(6): 685-692.

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Abstract  

Whisker growth in Pb-free solder joints is one of the most reliability concerns in electronic industry. Several theories and models were developed to elaborate whisker growth, and many attempts were made to find solutions to solve this issue. Micro alloying, such as introducing Cu, Bi, Ag etc. into solders, is considered to be one of effective method to mitigate whisker growth. However, when alloying with these metal elements, the structure of solders will be changed, therefore the reliability of solders needs to be reevaluated. The purpose of this research is to explore the possibility to mitigate whisker growth by reinforce strategy without destroying the structure of solders. In this study, a novel reinforcement, nano-structured cage-type polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS), was employed and expected to mitigate whisker growth. POSS was added into Sn, Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu and Sn58Bi solders respectively. Whisker growth behaviors of these modified solders under high humidity and temperature environment (85 ℃, 85% relative humidity) were analyzed and discussed. The results indicated that, the driving force of whisker growth was compressive stress generated by the volume expanding of tin oxides. The high humidity and temperature condition facilitated the formation of tin oxides and therefore provided continuous driving force for whisker growth. POSS addition could inhibit oxidation process of metal tin effectively, and reduce the amount of tin oxides formation, consequently whisker growth was mitigated. Among Sn, Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu and Sn58Bi solders, Sn solders was the easiest one to grow whiskers, while Sn58Bi was at the lowest risk to grow whis-kers.

Key words:  Pb-free solder      whisker growth      polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS)     
Fund: Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.51301007), Joint Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (No.20131103120030) and Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation (No.2144044)

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https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/10.11900/0412.1961.2014.00495     OR     https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/Y2015/V51/I6/685

Fig.1  SEM images of surface morphologies of Sn and Sn+POSS aged for different times under 85 ℃ and 85% relative humidity

(a) Sn for 450 h

(b) Sn+POSS for 450 h

(c) Sn for 750 h

(d) Sn+POSS for 750 h

Fig.2  SEM images of whisker morphologies of Sn and Sn+POSS aged for different times under 85 ℃ and 85% relative humidity

(a~c) Sn for 450 h (d~f) Sn for 750 h (g, h) Sn+POSS for 750 h

Fig.3  Cross-sectional SEM images of Sn (a) and Sn+POSS (b) aged for 750 h under 85 ℃ and 85% relative humidity
Position O Sn Cu Total
1 69.17 28.56 2.27 100
2 87.71 10.79 1.49 100
3 73.16 22.88 3.96 100
  
Fig.4  SEM images of surface morphologies of SAC305 and SAC305+POSS aged for different times under 85 ℃ and 85% relative humidity

(a) SAC305 for 450 h (b) SAC305+POSS for 450 h (c) SAC305 for 750 h

(d) SAC305+POSS for 750 h (e) magnified image of SAC305 for 750 h

(f) magnified image of SAC305+POSS for 750 h

Fig.5  Cross-sectional SEM images of SAC305 (a) and SAC305+POSS (b) aged for 750 h under 85 ℃ and 85% relative humidity
Fig.6  SEM images of surface morphologies of Sn58Bi and Sn58Bi+POSS aged for different times under 85 ℃ and 85% relative humidity (Square areas in Fig.6e show short and thick whiskers and inset shows the magnified image)

(a) Sn58Bi for 450 h (b) Sn58Bi+POSS for 450 h (c) Sn58Bi for 750 h (d) Sn58Bi+POSS for 750 h

(e) magnified image of Sn58Bi for 750 h (f) magnified image of Sn58Bi+POSS for 750 h

Fig.7  Cross-sectional SEM images of Sn58Bi (a) and Sn58Bi+POSS (b) aged for 750 h under 85 ℃ and 85% relative humidity
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