Intermetallic compounds growth suppression in ZSCB solder with RE addition on Cu substrate

Growth kinetics of triple structure (epsilon, gamma and beta) layers at ZSCB-RE/Cu interface and the effect on the shear strength of solder joints were studied at various temperatures. In particular, the role of RE addition in suppressing layers growth on Cu substrate has been determined. The results showed that the growth of epsilon and gamma layers can be described by kinetic theory for diffusional growth with relatively higher activation energy with RE addition at ZSCB-RE/Cu interface, which effectively inhibited the growth of intermetallic compounds and lead to the improvement of the reliability of solder joints. Furthermore, the ripening suppression mechanism of e grains at ZSCB-0.05RE/Cu interface was also discussed. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.