Controlling porosity during transient liquid phase bonding for high-temperature soldering processes
2023-01-01,
Nurul Razliana Abdul Razak,
Tan X.F.,
McDonald S.D.,
Bermingham M.J.,
Venezuela J.,
Nishimura T.,
Nogita K.
Exploiting the growth rate dependency of intermetallic compounds (IMCs) on the substrate composition, the possibility of controlling porosity during transient liquid phase (TLP) bonding via a composition gradient is investigated. A Cu substrate with a variable Ni concentration was prepared through selective electroplating and subsequent heat treatment. When this substrate reacted with a molten Sn-rich alloy, there was a non-uniform growth of the Cu6Sn5 IMC. It is proposed that by tailoring the direction of the composition gradient in the substrate, the IMC growth rate can be controlled in such a way as to progressively move the solid-liquid front to redistribute any porosity away from the central region of the joint and thereby improve reliability.