In situ tensile creep behaviors of Sn-4Ag/Cu solder joints revealed by electron backscatter diffraction

In this study, the in situ tensile creep behaviors of Sn-4Ag/Cu solder joints were observed, and microstructural evolutions of the solder during the deformation processes were characterized by electron backscatter diffraction. The results reveal that slow plastic deformation or grain rotation occurs inside different solder grains, depending on their orientations and distance from the joint interface. When the strain increases to a certain extent, dynamic recovery occurs inside some solder grains, resulting in polygonization and grain subdivision. (C) 2012 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.