Microstructural and segregation effects affecting the corrosion behavior of a high‐temperature Bi‐Ag solder alloy in dilute chloride solution

Abstract

In electronic devices the solder joint is exposed not only to the air but also to moistures and other corrosive media such as chlorine and sulfur compounds. Bi–Ag alloys meet the melting temperature requirement to be classified as high-temperature solders, therefore, knowledge of corrosion behavior is important for a long-term reliability of Bi–Ag solder connections. However, corrosion studies of Bi–Ag alloys are quite restricted in the literature. In this study, the role of the representative length scale of the microstructure as well as of the effects of Ag segregation on the resulting corrosion behavior of Bi–4 wt% Ag alloy samples are investigated. Cyclic potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements were performed, and an equivalent circuit was also proposed to simulate the electrochemical corrosion behavior. All the used techniques indicated a tendency of better corrosion resistance associated with the sample having coarser microstructure and less Ag content.