High performance Cu/SAC305 solder low temperature bonding using Ti3C2 MXene interlayer

•Ti3C2 MXene as interlayer is used for Cu/SAC305 solder low-temperature bonding.•MXene interlayer inhibits the overgrowth of IMCs at the bonding interface.•The reliability of the bonding with MXene layer is improved. Ti3C2 MXene (MX) was introduced as the interlayer between the Cu film and Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu (SAC) solder to inhibit the overgrowth of intermetallic compounds (IMCs) at the bonding interface of Cu and SAC solder. The Cu-MX-SAC bonding was fabricated at 160 °C for 6 mins under a load of 10 MPa. Compared with Cu-SAC bonding, after 72 h aging, the average thickness of the IMCs layer in the Cu-MX-SAC structure is about 47 % thinner. As aging time increases, the diffusion rate of Cu atoms is limited due to the introduction of MXene interlayer, and the growth of IMCs in the Cu-MX-SAC structure is controlled by volume diffusion. For the Cu-MX-SAC solder bonding, after prolonged aging, the shear strength increases, and contact resistance at the bonding interface is almost no change compared with Cu-SAC solder bonding.