Effects of Zn and Sb additions on micro-structure, creep behavior and thermal properties of binary eutectic Sn-0.7%Cu lead-free solder

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Physics department, faculty of Education, Ain Shams University. Cairo - Egypt

Abstract

The effects of Zn and Sb additions on microstructure, creep behavior and thermal properties of binary eutectic Sn-0.7%Cu lead-free solder were investigated. Results show that Zn-addition reduced the melting temperature of Sn-0.7Cu and enhanced the creep resistance due to the formation of Cu5Zn8 intermetallic compound (IMC) and reduction of Cu6Sn5 phase in β-Sn matrix. Conversely, the Sb-addition showed negative effect on both the creep resistance and melting temperature compared to the plain Sn-0.7Cu and Sn-0.7Cu-2.0Zn alloys due to the formation of SnSb IMC particles and coarse Cu6Sn5 phase through the β-Sn rich phase. The average stress exponents of 4.9 - 6.0 and activation energies of 50-60 KJ/mol were obtained for three solders; suggesting that the dislocation climb controlled by lattice diffusion is the dominant creep mechanism. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed that the lattice parameters (a), (c), the axial rate (c/a) and the peak height intensities (hkl) of some crystallographic planes are changed with alloying additions and the crystallite size is decreased.

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