The effect of graphene on the intermetallic and joint strength of Sn-3.5Ag lead-free solder

Abstract

Solder has been widely used in electronic industry as interconnection for electronic packaging. European Union and Japan have restricted the use of Sn-Pb solder as it contains lead which can harmful to human health and environment. Due to this, many researches have been done in order to find a suitable replacement for the lead solder. Although many lead-free solders are available, the Sn-3.5Ag solder with the addition of graphene seem to be a suitable candidate. In this study, a 0.07 wt% graphene nanosheet was added into the Sn-3.5Ag solder and this composite solder was prepared under powder metallurgy method. The solder was reacted with copper substrate at 250 °C for one minute. For joint strength analysis, two copper strips were soldered together. The solder joint was aged at temperature 100 °C for 500 hours. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) was used to observe the interfacial reaction and Instron machine was used to determine the joint strength. Cu6Sn5 intermetallic layer was formed at the interface ...