Impact of Cooling Rate-Induced Recrystallization on High G Mechanical Shock and Thermal Cycling in Sn-Ag-Cu Solder Interconnects

ABSTRACT The mechanical stability and thermo-mechanical fatigue performance of solder joints with low silver content Sn-1.0Ag-0.5Cu (wt.%) (SAC105) alloy based on different cooling rates are investigated in high G level shock environment and thermal cycling conditions. The cooling rate-controlled samples ranging from 1°C/min to 75°C/min cooling rate, not only show differences in microstructure, where a fine poly-granular microstructure develops in the case of fast cooling versus normal cooling, but also show various shock performances based on the microstructure changes. The fast cooling rate improves the high G shock performance by over 90% compared to the normal cooled SAC105 alloy air-cooling environment commonly used after assembly reflow. The microstructure effect on thermal cycling performance is also discussed, which is analyzed based on the Sn grain orientation, interconnect stability, and solder joint bulk microstructure.