Thermal ageing induces drastic changes on mechanical and damage behavior of Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu alloy

For the SnAgCu alloys, previous hardness test results suggested that high temperature thermal ageing causes a quick and significant drop in the mechanical properties. However, to date, the acceleration law of thermal ageing and the relationship between thermal ageing and fatigue mechanical behavior of SnAgCu alloys are still unknown. The aim of this paper is to understand the mechanical changes during thermal ageing of Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu alloy and their impact on solder joint reliability under mechanical stresses. In a first part, influence of thermal ageing on mechanical behavior is analyzed by means of hardness tests, reversed tensile tests on dog-bone specimens and compression test on solder balls used for electronic components. In the second part, the impact of thermal ageing on the solder joint reliability is analyzed thanks to torsion tests on assembled boards. The results show systematically a decrease of 20-60% of the mechanical properties or of the number of cycles to failure (in the case of torsion test). These results lead to enlarge tests conditions in order to define the fields where the influence of thermal ageing cannot be neglected.