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Sn‐Zn based lead free solders with a melting temperature around 199°C are an attractive alternative to the conventional Sn‐Pb solder and the addition of bismuth improves its wetability. Whilst lead‐free soldering with Sn‐8Zn‐3Bi has already been used in the electronics assembly industry, it is necessary to study its low cycle fatigue properties since such data have not been reported up to now.

In this study, displacement‐controlled low cycle fatigue testing of Sn‐8Zn‐3Bi and Sn‐37Pb solder joints was done on lap shear samples. The test amplitude was varied whilst the frequency was kept constant at 0.2 Hz and failure was defined as a 50 per cent load reduction. Finite element (FE) modelling was used for analysis and the results were compared to the experimental data.

The microstructure of the Sn‐8Zn‐3Bi solder showed a mixed phase of small cellular‐shaped and coarser needle‐shaped areas. Au‐Zn intermetallic compounds were observed near the interface from the SEM‐EDS observation. The average lifetime for the Sn‐8Zn‐3Bi solder joints was 17 per cent longer compared to the Sn‐37Pb solder joints. The cross section observation indicated that the fatigue cracks propagated along the interface between the solder bulk and the Au/Ni layer. The locations of maximum equivalent stress from the FE simulation were found to be at the two opposite corners of the solder joints, coinciding with the experimental observations of crack initiation.

This is believed to be the first time, the low cycle fatigue properties of Sn‐8Zn‐3Bi solder have been reported.

The lifetime of flip chip solder joints can be greatly increased by applying underfill encapsulation. This paper presents a case study where the thermal cycle lifetime was increased by more than 20 times, that is from ∼100 cycles to more than 2,000 cycles for a chip size of 5.6mm × 6.3mm. By combining electrical, acoustic and metallographic investigation, the degradation of the solder joints was monitored, some important factors relevant to solder joint reliability were analysed and discussed. Delamination was found not to be the dominant failure mode.

To determine the Coffin‐Manson (CM) equation constants for fatigue life estimation of Sn‐8Zn‐3Bi solder joints, since Sn‐8Zn‐3Bi solder has a melting temperature of around 199°C which is close to that of the conventional Sn‐Pb solder which has previously been used in the electronics assembly industry.

Three dimensional finite element (FE) simulation analysis was used for comparison with the experimentally measured data and to determine the CM constants. Low cycle fatigue tests and FE simulations were carried out for these lead‐free solder joints, and eutectic Sn‐37Pb solder was used as a reference.

The CM equation for Sn‐8Zn‐3Bi solder joints was fitted to the lifetimes measured and the shear strains simulated. The constants were determined to be 0.0294 for C, the proportional constant, and for the fatigue exponent, β, −2.833.

The CM equation can now be used to predict the reliability of Sn‐8Zn‐3Bi solder joints in electronics assembly and the knowledge base for the properties of the Sn‐Zn solder system has been increased.

The purpose of this paper is to compare the growth kinetics of interfacial intermetallic compound (IMC) layer and its effect on the tensile strength of two solder (Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu and Sn0.4Co0.7Cu) joints.

The samples annealed, respectively, at 85, 120 and 150°C up to 1,000 h were tensile tested and their cross‐sections were observed by scanning electron micrography.

The results showed that, for both solder joints, an approximately linear reduction in tensile joint strength with an increase in the IMC layers' thickness occurred. The tensile strength of Cu/Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu solder joints is slightly better than that of Cu/Sn‐0.7Co‐0.4Cu solder joints under analogous aging conditions. In addition, the growth kinetics of the overall interfacial IMC layer in Sn0.4Co0.7Cu solder joints can be simply described by the classical growth kinetic theory for solid‐state diffusion with an activation energy of 2,996.85 J/mol and interdiffusion constant of 4.15×0⁻¹⁷ m²/s which are relatively lower, compared with Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu solder on copper with 14,167.8 J/mol and 65.33×10⁻¹⁷ m²/s, respectively.

The paper is of value in evaluating the growth kinetics of Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu and Sn0.4Co0.7Cu solder joints, and in discussing and contrasting the influence of IMC growth on their tensile strength.