A study on the reaction between Cu and Sn3.5Ag solder doped with small amounts of Ni

The reaction between Cu and the Sn-Ag solders doped with different amounts of Ni is studied. Four different solders with the Ag concentration fixed at 3.5 wt.% and Ni concentrations varied between 0.0 wt.% and 1.0 wt.% are used. In contrast to the reaction between Ni and the Sn-Ag solders doped with different amounts of Cu, the type of intermetallic compound formed does not depend on the Ni concentration. The compound Cu6Sn5 forms for all the Ni concentrations used. For the Ni-doped solders, the Cu6Sn5 phase contains a small amount of Ni. The compound Cu3Sn appears subsequently between Cu6Sn5 and Cu as the reaction time increases. The addition of Ni has the effect of substantially increasing the amount of intermetallic compound at the interface. The addition of Ni also produces two distinct Cu6Sn5 regions at the interface. The outer region contains more Ni, and the inner region contains less Ni. This study also finds that, during solid-state aging, the growth of Cu3Sn becomes slower when Ni is added to the solder. The findings of this study are rationalized using the Cu-Ni-Sn isotherm.