Search Results (2)

The surface finish (SF) becomes a part of the solder joint during assembly and improves the component’s reliability. Furthermore, the SF influences the solder joint’s reliability by affecting the thickness of the intermetallic compound (IMC) layer at the solder interface and copper pads. In this experiment, five different alloys are used and compared with the SAC305 alloy, two of which, Innolot and SAC-Bi, are bi-based solder alloys. This study includes three common SFs: electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG), immersion silver (ImAg), and organic solderability preserve (OSP). The performance of three surface finishes is examined in terms of component characteristic life. All of the boards were isothermally aged for twelve months at 125 °C. The boards were then exposed to 5000 cycles of thermal cycling at temperatures ranging from −40–+125 °C. Most of the current research considers only one or two factors affecting the reliability of the electronic package. This study combines the effect of multiple factors, including solder paste content, SF, isothermal aging, and thermal cycling, to ensure that the test conditions represent real-world applications. In addition, the electronics packages are assembled using commercialized alloys. The current study focuses on a high-performance alloy already present in the electronic market. The failure data were analyzed statistically using the Weibull distribution and design of experiments (DOE) analysis of variance (ANOVA) techniques. The findings reveal that the micro and uniformly distributed precipitates in solder microstructures are critical for high-reliability solder joints. Re-crystallization of the thermally cycled solder joints promotes the local formation of numerous new grains in stress-concentrated zones. As the fracture spreads along these grain boundaries and eventually fails, these new grains participate in crack propagation. Aging significantly worsens this situation. Finally, although the ENIG surface finish with its Ni layer outperforms other SFs, this does not imply that ENIG is more reliable in all solder paste/sphere/finish combinations. Full article

In this study, Al/5 Ni/0.2 GNPs/x SiC (x = 5, 10, 15, and 20 wt%) nanocomposites were constituted using the powder metallurgy–hot pressing technique. The SiC particles and GNPs were coated with 3 wt% Ag using the electroless deposition technique then mixed with an Al matrix and 5% Ni using ball milling. The investigated powders were hot-pressed at 550 °C and 600 °C and 800 Mpa. The produced samples were evaluated by studying their densification, microstructure, phase, chemical composition, hardness, compressive strength, wear resistance, and thermal expansion. A new intermetallic compound formed between Al and Ni, which is aluminum nickel (Al₃Ni). Graphene reacted with the Ni and formed the nickel carbide Ni₃C. Additionally, it reacted with the SiC and formed the nickel–silicon composite Ni31Si12 at different percentages. A proper distribution for Ni, GNs, and SiC particles and excellent adhesion were observed. No grain boundaries between the Al matrix particles were discovered. Slight increases in the density values and quite high convergence were revealed. The addition of 0.2 wt% GNs to Al-5Ni increased the hardness value by 47.38% and, by adding SiC-Ag to the Al-5Ni-0.2GNs, the hardness increased gradually. The 20 wt% sample recorded 121.6 HV with a 56.29% increment. The 15 wt% SiC sample recorded the highest compressive strength, and the 20 wt% SiC sample recorded the lowest thermal expansion at the different temperatures. The five Al-Ni-Gr-SiC samples were tested as an electrode for electro-analysis processes. A zinc oxide thin film was successfully prepared by electrodeposition onto samples using a zinc nitrate aqueous solution at 25 °C. The electrodeposition was performed using the linear sweep voltammetric and potentiostatic technique. The effect of the substrate type on the deposition current was fully studied. Additionally, the ohmic resistance polarization values were recorded for the tested samples in a zinc nitrate medium. The results show that the sample containing the Al-5 Ni-0.2 GNs-10% SiC composite is the most acceptable sample for these purposes. Full article