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Evaluation of the microstructure and whisker growth in Sn–Zn–Ga solder with Pr content

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Abstract

In spite of previous reports documented that many beneficial effects can be obtained by adding rare earth (RE) elements to Pb-free solders, this paper presents the risk of Sn whisker growth in the Sn–9Zn–0.5Ga Pb-free solders due to the addition of RE Pr. Results showed that solder microstructures are refined with the addition of trace amount of Pr. However, excessive Pr addition led to the formation of Pr–Sn intermetallic compounds (IMCs) and spontaneous growth of Sn whiskers on the IMC surfaces. It was found that the IMC size has a dramatic impact on whisker growth. Sn whiskers grew in slow-cooled solder with larger IMC particles are much longer and more prolific than that in fast-cooled solder with smaller IMC size. It was proposed that the driving force for whisker growth is originated from the oxidation of the RE-rich Pr–Sn IMCs. Our results indicated that the effects of RE on Pb-free solders should be reevaluated.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Funding for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation in NUAA (Project No. BCXJ11-08), and Funding of Jiangsu Innovation Program for Graduate Education (Project No. 8CXZZ11-0208). The first author also thanks the China Scholarship Council for financial support and Arvind Sai Sarathi Vasan for language help.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Materials Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 210016, China

    Huan Ye & Songbai Xue

  2. Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 20742, USA

    Huan Ye & Michael Pecht

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  1. Huan Ye
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Correspondence to Huan Ye.

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Ye, H., Xue, S. & Pecht, M. Evaluation of the microstructure and whisker growth in Sn–Zn–Ga solder with Pr content. Journal of Materials Research 27, 1887–1894 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2012.144

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