Recently, research into the factors that influence the formation and growth of intermetallic compounds (IMCs) layer in lead-free solders has piqued interest, as IMCs play an important role in solder joints. The reliability of solder joints is critical to the long-term performance of electronic products. One of the most important factors which are known to influence solder joint reliability is the intermetallic compound (IMC) layer formed between the solder and the substrate. Although the formation of an IMC layer signifies good bonding between the solder and substrate, its main disadvantage is due to its brittle nature. This paper reviews the formation and growth of IMCs in lead-free solder joints detailing the effect of alloying additions, surface finishes, aging time, aging temperature and solder volume. The formation and growth of the brittle IMCs were significantly affected by these factors and could be possibly controlled. This review may be used as a basis in understanding the major factors effecting the IMC formation and growth and relating it to the reliability of solder joints.

The growth and formation of primary intermetallics formed in Sn-3.5Ag soldered on copper organic solderability preservative (Cu-OSP) and electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG) surface finish after multiple reflows were systematically investigated. Real-time synchrotron imaging was used to investigate the microstructure, focusing on the in situ growth behavior of primary intermetallics during the solid–liquid–solid interactions. The high-speed shear test was conducted to observe the correlation of microstructure formation to the solder joint strength. Subsequently, the experimental results were correlated with the numerical Finite Element (FE) modeling using ANSYS software to investigate the effects of primary intermetallics on the reliability of solder joints. In the Sn-3.5Ag/Cu-OSP solder joint, the well-known Cu₆Sn₅ interfacial intermetallic compounds (IMCs) layer was observed in each reflow, where the thickness of the IMC layer increases with an increasing number of reflows due to the Cu diffusion from the substrate. Meanwhile, for the Sn-3.5Ag/ENIG solder joints, the Ni₃Sn₄ interfacial IMC layer was formed first, followed by the (Cu, Ni)₆Sn₅ IMC layer, where the formation was detected after five cycles of reflow. The results obtained from real-time imaging prove that the Ni layer from the ENIG surface finish possessed an effective barrier to suppress and control the Cu dissolution from the substrates, as there is no sizeable primary phase observed up to four cycles of reflow. Thus, this resulted in a thinner IMC layer and smaller primary intermetallics, producing a stronger solder joint for Sn-3.5Ag/ENIG even after the repeated reflow process relative to the Sn-3.5Ag/Cu-OSP joints.

This manuscript reports the isothermal annealing effect on the mechanical and microstructure characteristics of Sn-0.7Cu-1.5Bi solder joints. A detailed microstructure observation was carried out, including measuring the activation energy of the intermetallic compound (IMC) layer of the solder joints. Additionally, the synchrotron µX-ray fluorescence (XRF) method was adopted to precisely explore the elemental distribution in the joints. Results indicated that the Cu₆Sn₅ and Cu3Sn intermetallic layers thickness at the solder/Cu interface rises with annealing time at a rate of 0.042 µm/h for Sn-0.7Cu and 0.037 µm/h for Sn-0.7Cu-1.5Bi. The IMC growth’s activation energy during annealing is 48.96 kJ mol-1 for Sn-0.7Cu, while adding Bi into Sn-0.7Cu solder increased the activation energy to 55.76 kJ mol⁻¹. The µ-XRF shows a lower Cu concentration level in Sn-0.7Cu-1.5Bi, where the Bi element was well dispersed in the β-Sn area as a result of the solid solution mechanism. The shape of the IMC layer also reconstructs from a scallop shape to a planar shape after the annealing process. The Sn-0.7Cu hardness and shear strength increased significantly with 1.5 wt.% Bi addition in reflowed and after isothermal annealing conditions.

The effect of different surface finish with Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu (SAC305) solder was successfully investigated. The SAC305 solder was fabricated by using casting method and solder was placed on copper substrate that coated with different surface finish. The soldering process was carried out by using F4N reflow oven followed up with the mounted and metallographic steps. Wettability of SAC305 solder was observed through contact angle formed between solder and four different surface finish located on the copper substrate. Subsequently, the electrical resistivity of solder was studied by conducted the four-point probes. The results of wettability test was found to be in the accepted range which is below 45° for all different surface finish. In terms of electrical resistivity, the results showed that the ImAg surface finish had enhanced the electrical conductivity of SAC305 lead-free solder.