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PublicationInfluence of 1.5 wt.% Bi on the microstructure, hardness, and shear strength of Sn-0.7Cu solder joints after isothermal annealing( 2021)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.
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PublicationFormation and growth of intermetallic compounds in Lead-Free solder joints: A review( 2022)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.
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PublicationCharacterization of SnO 2/TiO 2 with the addition of polyethylene glycol via Sol-Gel method for Self-Cleaning application( 2022)TiO2 is one of the most widely used metal oxide semiconductors in the field of photocatalysis for the self-cleaning purpose to withdraw pollutants. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is recommended as a stabilizer and booster during preparation of water-soluble TiO2. Preparation of SnO2/TiO2 thin film deposition on the surface of ceramic tile was carried out by the sol-gel spin coating method by adding different amount of PEG (0g, 0.2g, 0.4g, 0.6g, 0.8g) during the preparation of the sol precursor. The effects of PEG content and the annealing temperature on the phase composition, crystallite size and the hydrophilic properties of SnO2/TiO2 films were studied. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra revealed different phases existed when the films were annealed at different annealing temperatures of 350°C, 550°C and 750°C with 0.4 g of PEG addition. The crystallite sizes of the films were measured using Scherrer equation. It shows crystallite size was dependent on crystal structure existed in the films. The films with mixed phases of brookite and rutile shows the smallest crystallite size. In order to measure the hydrophilicity properties of films, the water contact angles for each film with different content of PEG were measured. It can be observed that the water contact angle decreased with the increasing of the content of PEG. It shows the superhydrophilicity properties for the films with the 0.8 g of PEG annealed at 750°C. This demonstrates that the annealed temperature and the addition of PEG affect the phase composition and the hydrophilicity properties of the films
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PublicationMicrostructure evolution of Ag/TiO2 thin film( 2021)Ag/TiO2 thin films were prepared using the sol-gel spin coating method. The microstructural growth behaviors of the prepared Ag/TiO2 thin films were elucidated using real-time synchrotron radiation imaging, its structure was determined using grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), its morphology was imaged using the field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and its surface topography was examined using the atomic force microscope (AFM) in contact mode. The cubical shape was detected and identified as Ag, while the anatase, TiO2 thin film resembled a porous ring-like structure. It was found that each ring that coalesced and formed channels occurred at a low annealing temperature of 280 °C. The energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) result revealed a small amount of Ag presence in the Ag/TiO2 thin films. From the in-situ synchrotron radiation imaging, it was observed that as the annealing time increased, the growth of Ag/TiO2 also increased in terms of area and the number of junctions. The growth rate of Ag/TiO2 at 600 s was 47.26 µm2/s, and after 1200 s it decreased to 11.50 µm2/s and 11.55 µm2/s at 1800 s. Prolonged annealing will further decrease the growth rate to 5.94 µm2/s, 4.12 µm2/s and 4.86 µm2/s at 2400 s, 3000 s and 3600 s, respectively.
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PublicationEffectiveness of dimple microtextured copper substrate on performance of Sn-0.7Cu solder alloy( 2022)This paper elucidates the influence of dimple-microtextured copper substrate on the performance of Sn-0.7Cu solder alloy. A dimple with a diameter of 50 µm was produced by varying the dimple depth using different laser scanning repetitions, while the dimple spacing was fixed for each sample at 100 µm. The dimple-microtextured copper substrate was joined with Sn-0.7Cu solder alloy using the reflow soldering process. The solder joints’ wettability, microstructure, and growth of its intermetallic compound (IMC) layer were analysed to determine the influence of the dimple-microtextured copper substrate on the performance of the Sn-0.7Cu solder alloy. It was observed that increasing laser scan repetitions increased the dimples’ depth, resulting in higher surface roughness. In terms of soldering performance, it was seen that the solder joints’ average contact angle decreased with increasing dimple depth, while the average IMC thickness increased as the dimple depth increased. The copper element was more evenly distributed for the dimple-micro-textured copper substrate than its non-textured counterpart.