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A Study on the Effect of Ageing and Intermetallic Compound Growth on the Shear Strength of Surface Mount Technology Solder Joints

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Abstract

The effect of ageing and intermetallic compound formation on the surface mount solder joints and its shear strength behavior under extreme mechanical and thermal conditions have been discussed in this paper. The specimens used are solder paste (Sn3.8Ag0.7Cu), bench marker II printed circuit boards (PCB), resistors 1206 and the fabrication of solder joints makes use of conventional surface mount technology (SMT). Reflow process was carried out at a peak temperature of 250 °C and the test samples were exposed to isothermal ageing at a constant temperature of 150 °C for a period of 600 h. Shear test was conducted on the PCB’s. The shear strength of the solder joints rapidly increased during isothermal ageing to a certain time period and then started decreasing. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) micrograph of the solder joint and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) was performed on the solder sample to verify the formation of intermetallic compounds.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge Central Instruments Facility (CIF), Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati and CIF, Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology Guwahati for providing the FESEM and EDX facilities for this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering, University of Greenwich, Chatham Maritime, Kent, ME4 4TB, UK

    Jyotishman Nath & Sabuj Mallik

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Assam Engineering College, Jalukbari, Guwahati, 781013, India

    Anil Borah

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  1. Jyotishman Nath
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  2. Sabuj Mallik
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  3. Anil Borah
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Correspondence to Jyotishman Nath.

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Nath, J., Mallik, S. & Borah, A. A Study on the Effect of Ageing and Intermetallic Compound Growth on the Shear Strength of Surface Mount Technology Solder Joints. J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. D 96, 1–6 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40033-014-0063-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40033-014-0063-3

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