Effect of Zinc additions on Sn-0.7Cu-0.05Ni lead free solder alloy

Abstract

This project is focusing on the effect of zinc additions on Sn-0.7Cu-0.05Ni lead free solder alloy. The additional of micro-alloying have been developed by using casting technique with different percentage of zinc which is 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 wt.%. This casting technique is used by melting the different percentage of zinc with Sn-0.7Cu-0.05Ni above their melting point. This research project sample is divided into two types which are in bulk solder and substrate solder. Bulk solder samples are prepared in button shape only but for the substrate solder, it needs through the reflow soldering process between the solder alloy and copper pads. In this process, flux (Rosin) is used as a medium to eliminate oxide. The substrate solder was cross-sectioned before it has been analysis. In order to find the suitable method for this research project, the data collection is done by reviewing the data that were found in others research project. The Sn-0.7Cu-0.05Ni solder alloy samples were analyzed using optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Vickers hardness testing. All the method is carried out to investigate the microstructure, thickness of intermetallic compounds (IMCs), wettability, phase, thermal and hardness of Sn-0.7Cu-0.05Ni solder alloys. From this study, it is found that different composition of zinc affected the physical and mechanical properties of Sn-0.7Cu-0.05Ni solder alloys.