Distribution and Microstructure Analysis of Ceramic Particles in the Lead-Free Solder Matrix

Abstract The Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu solder alloy is a prominent candidate for the Pb-free solder, and SAC305 solder is generally employed in today’s electronic enterprise. In this study, the formation of intermetallic compounds (Cu6Sn5 and Ag3Sn) at the interface, average neighbour’s particle distance, and the morphological mosaic are examined by the addition of SiC and nickel-coated silicon carbide reinforcements within Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu solder. Results revealed that the addition of SiC and SiC(Ni) particles are associated with a small change to the average neighbor’s particle distance and a decrease of clustering rate to a certain limit of the Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu solder composites. Moreover, the development of the Cu6Sn5 and the structure of the Ag3Sn are improved with the addition of SiC and Ni coated SiC.