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Interfacial Behaviors in Cu/Molten Sn–58Bi/Cu Solder Joints Under Coupling with Thermal and Current Stressing

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Abstract

The interfacial behaviors of Cu/molten Sn–58Bi/Cu solder joints under the coupling effect of a temperature gradient and the current stressing have been investigated. The most obvious change of the interfacial behaviors under the individual electromigration (EM) and thermomigration (TM) in molten solder was the asymmetrical growth of interfacial Cu–Sn intermetallic compounds (IMCs), which grew rapidly as the stressing time prolonged. The growth rates of the interfacial IMCs induced by TM under a temperature gradient of 40 °C/cm were slightly faster than EM under the current density of 0.5 × 104 A/cm2. However, the microstructure evolution and interfacial behaviors changed obviously when the thermal was distributed unevenly across the entire solder stripe under current stressing. It was found that there was a Bi-rich layer adhered to the anode side and a distributed Cu6Sn5 phase existed in the solder matrix when the anode and the cold end were at the same end. Additionally, a large number of Bi-blocks and Cu–Sn IMCs were dramatically observed in the solder matrix when the anode and the hot end were on the same side. The main reason for this result may be attributed to the significant change of the diffusion of Bi atoms under the thermo-electric coupling conditions. In the initial melting stage of solder, the Bi atoms in molten Sn–58Bi solder rapidly diffused to the anode and then began to be reversely dissolved into the solder matrix. The experimental results proved the additional temperature gradient played a positive or negative role on the reverse dissolution of Bi atoms in the heat preservation process.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the support provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51875269) and the Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province (Grant No. KYCX17_1835).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding Technology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, 212003, China

    Fengjiang Wang, Hong Chen, Dongyang Li, Zhijie Zhang & Xiaojing Wang

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  1. Fengjiang Wang
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  2. Hong Chen
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Correspondence to Fengjiang Wang.

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Wang, F., Chen, H., Li, D. et al. Interfacial Behaviors in Cu/Molten Sn–58Bi/Cu Solder Joints Under Coupling with Thermal and Current Stressing. Electron. Mater. Lett. 15, 36–48 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13391-018-00102-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13391-018-00102-x

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