Interfacial IMC evolution and shear strength of MWCNTs-reinforced Sn–5Sb composite solder joints: Experimental characterization and artificial neural network modelling

The continuous miniaturization of electronic products and the constantly rising functionality demand by final users necessitate major challenges for the academia and the industry to produce reliable lead-free solders for long-term service. In the present study, an analysis on the influence of MWCNTs (multi-walled carbon nanotubes) on the interfacial IMC (intermetallic compound) evolution and shear strength of Sn–5Sb solder joint was performed. The composite solder joint samples were developed through the reflow soldering process and thereafter subjected to isothermal aging at different temperatures (120 °C, 150 °C and 170 °C). Given the promising properties of MWCNTs, empirical findings showed that inhibited interfacial IMC evolution and enhanced shear strength were markedly achieved due to the presence of MWNCTs in the Sn–5Sb solder alloy. Artificial neural network (ANN) model was developed by making use of the experimental data to characterize the composite solder joints. Various influential parameters that affect the thickness of the IMC layer and the shear strength performance of the composite solder joints including the MWCNTs content, aging temperature and aging time were considered as the input parameters for the ANN model. Having used the statistical parameters such as the coefficient of determination (R2) and root mean square error (RMSE) to evaluate the model, the ANN model developed in this study adequately predicted the IMC layer thickness (R2 = 0.9913; RMSE = 0.0234) and shear strength (R2 = 0.9798; RMSE = 0.0314) of the composite solder joints.