Properties of ternary Sn-Ag-Bi solder alloys: Part II—Wettability and mechanical properties analyses

Bismuth additions of 1% to 10% were made to the 96.5Sn-3.5Ag (wt.%) alloy in a study to develop a Sn-Ag-Bi ternary composition. Thermal properties and microstructural analyses of selected alloy compositions were reported in Part I. Wettability and mechanical properties are described in this paper. Contact angle measurements demonstrated that Bi additions improved wetting/spreading performance on Cu; a minimum contact angle of 31±4° was observed with 4.83 wt.% Bi addition. Increasing the Bi content of the ternary alloy raised the Cu/solder/Cu solder joint shear strength to 81 MPa as determined by the ring-and-plug tests. TEM analysis of the 91.84Sn-3.33Ag-4.83Bi composition presented in Part I indicated that the strength improvement was attributed to solid-solution and precipitation strengthening effects by the Bi addition residing in the Sn-rich phase. Microhardness measurements of the Sn-Ag-Bi alloy, as a function of Bi content, reached maximum values of 30 (Knoop, 50 g) and 110 (Knoop, 5 g) for Bi contents greater than approximately 4–5 wt.%.