Phase equilibria of the Sn-Ag-Ni ternary system and interfacial reactions at the Sn-Ag/Ni joints

Abstract There are no previous phase equilibria studies of the Sn–Ag–Ni ternary system, even though the phase equilibria information is important for the electronic industry. The isothermal section of the Sn–Ag–Ni ternary system at 240 °C has been determined in this study both by experimental examination and thermodynamic calculation. Experimental results show no existence of ternary compounds in the Sn–Ag–Ni system, and all the constituent binary compounds have very limited solubilities of the ternary elements. The binary Ni 3 Sn 2 phase is very stable and is in equilibrium with most of the phases, Ag 3 Sn, ζ-Ag 4 Sn, Ag, Ni 3 Sn 4 and Ni 3 Sn phases. A preliminary thermodynamic model of the ternary system is developed based on the models of the three binary constituent systems without introducing any ternary interaction parameters. This ternary thermodynamic model is used with a commercial software Pandat to calculate the Sn–Ag–Ni 240 °C isothermal section. The phase relationships determined by calculation are consistent with those determined experimentally. Besides phase equilibria determination, the interfacial reactions between the Sn–Ag alloys with Ni substrate are investigated at 240, 300 and 400 °C, respectively. It is found that the phase formations in the Sn–3.5wt%Ag/Ni couples are very similar to those in the Sn/Ni couples.