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912 of Electronic Materials, Vol. 28, No.

7, 1999
Journal Palmer, Alexander,Regular
and Nguyen
Issue Paper

Forming Solder Joints by Sintering Eutectic


Tin-Lead Solder Paste
MARK A. PALMER,1,2 CHRISTY N. ALEXANDER, 2 and BRIAN NGUYEN2,3
1.—Currently Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth
University, Richmond, VA. 2.—Center for Integrated Electronics, Electronic Manufacturing, and
Electronic Media; and Materials Science and Engineering Department, Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute, Troy, NY, 12180. 3.—Currently Design Engineer, General Electric Company

It is possible to form solder joints with mechanical integrity, but not mechanical
strength comparable to that achieved by melting the solder, by sintering eutectic
tin-lead solder paste where small amounts of eutectic Sn-Bi powder are added to
the paste. This increases the rate of sintering through liquid-phase sintering.

Key words: Sn-Pb paste, sintering, solder joints

(superalloys, ceramics, and refractory metals). It may


INTRODUCTION be possible to sinter solder paste because solder paste
Alternatives to eutectic tin-lead solder are being is a collection of flux, binder and metal powder. If this
considered in response to: 1) concerns about the tox- proves to be viable, then it may be possible to use
icity of lead, which could lead to restrictions making higher melting solder materials as alternatives to
its use less attractive, 2) the desire to operate at eutectic tin-lead, without altering the materials used
temperatures exceeding 125°C,1 and 3) the need for in electronic packages or manufacturing equipment.
higher performance solders which typically have In this exploratory work we assessed the viability of
melting temperatures of 220°C or higher. Two of forming solder joints from lead-tin solder paste through
three solders recently identified as potential alterna- sintering. First, the feasibility of forming sintered
tives to eutectic tin-lead had melting temperatures in compacts from eutectic Sn-Pb solder paste on copper
excess of 220°C.2 strips was examined through optical microscopy. Then,
Eutectic tin-lead (Tm = 183°C) is the predominant small amounts of eutectic Sn-Bi (Tm = 138°C) were
alloy used in the electronics industry. The properties added to eutectic Sn-Pb to determine if the rate of
of this material established the limiting temperature sintering could be increased through a process known
for mass soldering processing equipment, and board as liquid phase enhanced sintering. In this process a
materials. Industry must now consider using alterna- small amount of material with a melting temperature
tive alloys which melt at higher temperatures. Using less than the material being sintered is mixed in with
such solders which require higher processing tem- the powder. The lower melting point material melts at
peratures can result in damage to the board or compo- the sintering temperature and flows between the
nents, and the use of existing mass solder processing solid particles. The rate of mass transport between
equipment may no longer be viable. Because chang- the particles is increased as diffusion through a liquid
ing the board materials, components, and manufac- is much greater than in a solid. Only a small volume
turing equipment is not economically feasible; the fraction of liquid is needed to significantly enhance
identification of a process in which solder joints could the rate of diffusion. If the “added” material is present
be prepared using these higher melting temperature in sufficiently low quantity it can diffuse throughout
solders, without significantly raising the process tem- the sintered compact. Therefore, if the material is
perature, would be attractive. Sintering is the solid- heated to the sintering temperature after processing,
state bonding of powder particles at high homologous no liquid will form between the particles. Compacts of
temperatures.3,4 Sintering is used to manufacture eutectic tin-lead paste, and paste with small addi-
products from high melting temperature materials tions of eutectic tin-bismuth were compared through
scanning electron microscopy. Finally, the mechani-
(Received July 2, 1998; accepted March 10, 1999) cal integrity of joints prepared by sintering eutectic

912

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