Microstructural Dependence of Constitutive Properties of Eutectic SnAg and SnAgCu Solders
Steffen Wiese, Ekkehard Meusel, Klaus-Juergen Wolter
Dresden University of Technology, Dept. Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Packaging Research Group
TU Dresden, IET, D-01062 Dresden, Germany
wiese@ihm.et.tu-dresden.de, phone: +49 351 463 33172, fax: +49 351 463 37172
Abstract
The paper presents constitutive models for eutectic SnAg
and SnAgCu solders. Experimental investigations were
carried out on specimens of different microstructures. The
three specimen types have been flip chip solder joints, pin
trough hole solder joints and standard hulk solder specimens.
The bulk solder specimen was a dog-hone type specimen
(diameter = 3 mm, length = I17 mm). The pin trough hole
solder joint consisted on a copper wire that was soldered into
a hole of a double sided printed circuit board (thickness I .5
mm, solder gap 0.1 mm). The flip chip solder joint specimen
consisted of two silicon chips which were connected by 4 flip
chip joints (one on each comer). Flip chip bumps (footprint
200 pm x 200 pm, joint height 165 ... 200 pm) were created
by printing solder paste.
Constant-load creep tests were carried out on all three
specimen types at temperatures between 5 “C and 70 “C.
Creep data was taken for strain rates between IO-’’ S K I and
IO” s-I. The specimens were tested in “as cast” condition and
after thermal storage. Beside the creep behaviour of the
solders, the time independent elastic plastic behaviour was
determined. Strain-stress-curves were recorded from the “flip
chip solder joint” specimens, using a micro shear tester.
The microstructural properties of the bulk specimens and
real solder joints were examined using metallographic
sectioning, optical microscopy techniques, and SEM-
microprobe analysis. The results of the microstructural
analysis were related to the investigated mechanical
properties of the solders. Models of SnAg3.5 and
SnAg4CuO.5, that can he used with the ANSYSTM FEM
software package, will he presented.
Introduction
FEM-Simulations have established to be an efficient tool
for analysing mechanical strains and stresses that occur in
electronic assemblies. However the accuracy of such FE-
Analysis depends strongly onto the employed material
models. Lead free solders are characterised by a non-linear
deformation behaviour that is dependent on temperature and
deformation rate, i. e. time. Such complex behaviour is caused
by the relative high temperatures, that these materials are
exposed to. Eutectic SnAg and SnAgCu solders in electronic
assemblies operate at temperatures of up to 90 % of their
melting point. At these temperatures diffusional transfer of
dislocations, i.e. creep, is a highly important deformation
mechanism. At the moment of time, there is a lot of scatter in
the creep data found in different publications [l-61. One of
the reasons for this scatter might he found in different
microstructures of the solders. A strong dependence of the
creep properties onto the microstructure has been reported for
a number of other precipitation strengthened alloys [7-IO].
02003 IEEE.
0-7803-7991-5/03/517.00
Therefore fuodamental understanding of the inicrostructural
formation in eutectic SnAg and SnAgCu solders is a
prerequisite for assessment of the investigated creep
behaviour.
Another aspect in describing the mechanical behaviour of
SnAg- and SnAgCu-solders is, that the constitutive modelling
cannot only focused onto the elastic and creep properties of
the solders. Indeed, the creep model describes the behaviour
of solder joints under thermal cycling quite properly.
However, in applications such as hand held electronic devices
or automotive products, the pure mechanical impact like
shock, bending and twisting may even matter more than sole
thermo-mechanical fatigue. Therefore, high frequency
bending and lorsion tests have been added to the traditional
thermal cycling test procedures for reliability assessment of
the packaged electronics [ I I]. In order to allow FEM analyses
of these important new load cases, knowledge of the time-
independent behaviour of solder materials is an indispensable
prerequisite.
Experiments on the microstructure of the SnAgCu system
The solidification behaviour of SnAg- and SnAgCu was
investigated experimentally. SnAg3.5 and SnAg4CuO.5 solder
paste (Degussa Deme Print and Hereaus F365) was melted in
glass-tubes o f 8 mm diameter and solidified under various
cooling conditions. In order to determine the undercooling of
the solder, a DTA was realised by inserting two glass-tubes
into a heatable aluminium block. One of the two glass tubes
was filled with the solder to be investigated (TI), the other
was filled with a reference material (lead) having an
equivalent thermal mass (T2). The temperatures in both glass
tubes were measured by thermocouples.
After slow solidification (undercooling AT = 8 K, duration
At = 1000 s) the microstructure of SnAgCu contained needle
shaped intermetallic particles with a mean length of approx.
10 pm (fig. 1). In the case of rapid solidification
(undercooling AT = 136 K, duration At = IO s) intermetallic
spheres with diameters in suhmicrometer dimensions were
found. Clusters of intermetallic spheres surrounded particle
free D-Sn areas. Within these areas a number of up to twenty
p-Sn grains were found (fig. 3).
Most of the SnAg or SnAgCu eutectic is comprised of Sn-
atoms, so that the growing of tin crystals will not he
significantly slowed down by depletion of the surrounding on
Sn-atoms. Since Ag atoms have a higher diffusion rate in the
molten solder, they can diffuse out of the way and thus allow
the Sn dendrites to grow. Particles of Ag& grow either to
spheres (as long as they are little) or to needles and platelets
(when they become larger). Since tin cannot anticipate
the shape of the Ag3Sn intermetallic particles, they have to
197 2003 Electronic Components and Technology Conference
Fig. 1: Cooling profile and microstructure of eutectic SnAgCu
after slow solidific,ation (X 1000)
grow ahead of the tin phase [12]. Beside the formation of
larger particles Ag3Sn intermetallics precipitate in the Sn
dendrites because the solubility of Ag in Sn drops from a
maximum of 0,08 wt% at 2 2 1 T to 0,004 wt% at room
temperature [13]. The size of such Ag& precipitates was
estimated to he smaller than 200 nm [ 121.
Fig. 2: Microstructure of a SnAg4Cu0,S in a flip chip joint
directly after soldering (as cast), a huge q-Cu6SnS platelet
was found in the centre of the joint (X 7000)
198
Fig. 3: Cooling profile and microstructure of eutectic SnAgCu
after rapid solidification (X 3000)
Also the intermetallics of q-Cu6SnS grow to spheres
(when they are little) or to needles and platelets (when they
become larger). Platelets of yCu6Sn5 often have a hexagonal
or trapezoidal shape [14, IS]. As with Ag& intermetallics
they need to grow ahead of tin dendrites. Precipitates of q-
Cu6SnS were also found in the tin matrix. The sizes of these
particles are between 5 nm and 50 nm [ 16, 171.
Fig. 4: Microstructure of a SnAg4Cu0,5 in a flip chip joint
after thermal storage (150°C / 1500 h); (X 3500)
2003 Electronic Components and Technology Conference
 Sigelko and co-workers [ I 81 discovered that yCu6Sn5
particles act as heterogeneous nucleation agents for Ag&
phases. Therefore the influence of the direction of the
solidification front onto the spatial arrangement of Ag&
Particles is much stronger in eutectic SnAg than in eutectic
SnAgCu.
Eutectic SnAg and SnAgCu solders undergo strong
microstructural changes when they are stored at high
temperatures, Figure 2 shows the microstructure of a
SnAg4CuO.5 joint after soldering (as cast condition). The
photograph depicts the typical microstructure in the center of
the joint, which is characterised by a high number of small
Ag,Sn and q-Cu6Sn5 intermetallic spheres surrounding P-Sn
dendrites. In contrast, figure 4 shows the microstructure of a
SnAg4CuO.5 joint after thermal storage at 150°C for 1500
hours. The photograph depicts again the microstructure in the
centre of the joint. It can he clearly seen that all tiny Ag3Sn-,
Cu6Sns-intermetallics have joint each other to form larger
intermetallics (Ostwald ripening) during the high temperature
storage. Larger intermetallics appear as platelets, smaller
intermetallics are either needles or spheres.
Mechanical Experiments
Specimen design: Microstructural variations of a metal
can be achieved in various ways. The two most popular
methods are the control of the cooling rate of during
solidification and the thermal storage of an metal ingot.
Although both methods can produce a wide range of
microstructures in a material, they are in some cases unable to
produce microstructure that can be compared to those of
materials used in real components. Particular in the case of
solder joints, there are two significant reasons, why
microstructures of laboratory specimens differ from those in
real joints.
- Cooling rates of real solder joints are not well controlled
during manufacturing of electronic assemblies. The
cooling profiles need to he considered as highly
nonlinear.
- Solder joints have very little volumes. Diffusional lengths
and thermal masses are very different to that of bulky
specimens
Because of these reasons it seemed to be reasonable to
achieve microstructural variations in an altemative way. The
idea was to use three different types of specimen:
- A hulk solder specimen (dog-hone type specimen;
diameter = 3 mm (0.12in.)/length = 117 mm (4.6in.)).
- A pin trough hole solder joint or “PCB-specimen”
(copper wire soldered into a printed circuit hoard, solder
gap thickness 0.1 mm (0.004 inch)).
- A “flip chip solder joint” specimen. (height 0.2 mm
(0,008 inch), diameter 0.2 mm (0,008 inch)
Figure 5 compares the microstructures of eutectic SnAgCu
solder, that were achieved in these 3 different specimen types.
The upper picture in fig. 5 shows the microstructure of the
PCB-specimen magnified 600 times, the two centre pictures
199
show microstructure of the hulk-specimen magnified 500 and
5000 times, the bottom picture shows the microstructure of
the flip chip specimen magnified 10000 times. It can he seen,
that the microstructure of the PCB-specimen contains rodlike
intermetallic particles, whereas the microstructure of the bulk-
and the flip chip specimen contain spherical intermetallic
particles. These spherical particles are much smaller in size
then the rodlike particles of the PCB-specimen-
microstructure. In the microstructure of the flip chip specimen
the spherical particles building thin “walls” around small p-tin
areas. These walls are often only one particle thick. Triple
points consist of a number of approx. 10 particles. In the
microstructure of bulk specimens intermetallic particles are
arranged in densely packed areas. These areas are intempted
by relatively large p-Sn inclusions (mean diameter approx. 50
pm). Uninterrupted areas contain a number of more than 1000
particles.
The hulk solder specimens (fig. 6) were fabricated froin
commercially available solder wires. SnAgCu-specimens
were prepared from Multicore Ecosol 105-96SC. SnAg-
specimens were prepared from Stannol HSIO. The solder wire
was melted in a beaker at a temperature of 250°C. The
metallic and the nonmetallic part of the solder wire were
separated by pouring the liquid solder from one beaker into
another beaker. This process was repeated 10 times. After that
the solder was poured into glass-tubes o f 8 mm diameter, in
order to receive cylindrical ingots of the solder. These ingots
were inserted into a hot aluminium mould, that was heat up to
a temperature of 250°C. Inside the mould, the specimen axis
was tilted with an angle of 30” versus the ground. The liquid
solder was solidified by cooling the specimen from the
downer part to the upper. That way liquid solder from the
upper part was able to fill cavities that were formed, because
of the enormous volumetric shrinkage of the solder during
solidification. Several tests were carried out to find optimum
cooling parameters. A cooling process of at least 10 minutes
guarantied cavity free specimens.
The pin trough hole solder joint specimens or “PCB-
specimens” (fig. 7) were fabricated from solder paste.
SnAgCu-specimens were prepared from Multicore CR32
AGS. SnAg-specimens were prepared from Hereaus Deme-
Print 500. Roth-Elektronik RE-900 test hoard were used as
printed circuit hoards. The base material is FR4, board
thickness is 1,5 mm, hole diameter is Imm, Cu (with a A m i
surface layer) was employed as metallisation for the plated
through hole. In order to prepare the specimen a Cu-wire
(diameter 0.8 mm) was put trough a hole of the PCB. The Cu-
wire was aligned with the centre of the hole by a micro
positioning fixture. Solder paste was dispensed manually into
the gap between wire and trough hole plating. Before
soldering with a standard SMT-Profile the micro positioning
fixture (including wire and PCB) was heat up to a temperature
of 150”C, because the reflow oven was unable to heat up the
massive fixture during the standard reflow soldering process.
The peak temperature of the soldering profile was 250 “C.
The “flip chip solder joint” specimen was fabricated from
solder paste. Two Types of SnAg / SnAgCu solder paste -
Hereaus F365 and Degussa Deme Print - were employed. The
2003 Electronic Components and Technology Conference

Fig 5: Microstructures of the PCB- (X600), Bulk-(X500),
BuIk-(X5000), FC-specimen (X IOOOO)
200
specimen (fig. 9) consisted of two silicon chips (4 mm X
4mm), which were connected by 4 flip chip joiuts (one on
each comer). The necessary solder bumps were created
according to the standard TU Dresden bumping procedure. In
this procedure, first a WTi-Barrier (thickness 100 nm) is
deposited (by PVD) onto the AI-track. Second a thin Cu-layer
(thickness 500 nm) is deposited onto this WTi-Barrier (by
PVD). The thickness of this Cu-layer is increased to 7 pm by
electroplating. Deposition of solder is the final step. SnAg
and SnAgCu flip chip bumps (footprint 200 pm X 200 pm;
bump height approx. 100 pm, joint height 165 __.200 pm,
centre diameter 90 _._130pm ) were created by printing solder
paste. Flip chip joints were soldered with a SET 950 bonding
machine (Karl Suss). The joint shape was hyperbolic. In
hyperbolically shaped joints all strains and stresses will
concentrate in the centre of the joint [19]. This avoids any
large deformations of the interface between solder and under
hump metallisation.
Experimental setups : Investigations on bulk-specimens
were carried out on a constant load frame (fig. 6). During
testing, the specimen was held by frictional grips consisting
of two aluminium plates with knurled surfaces. The top grip
was fixed on the frame, while the bottom grip was mounted to
a sliding load pan. The displacement of the bottom grip was
monitored with a linear variable differential transducer
(LVDT) with a displacement range of 2.5 mm (0.1 inch). The
output voltage signal was amplified and registered trough a
14-bit analogue-to-digital converter. The displacement
resolution was better than Ipm (39 pin.). Testing
temperatures were achieved through heated grips and a RSSD
20x1 17 power resistor sheathing the sample. The grip heaters
and the RSSD power resistor were controlled by
thermocouple feedback. The temperature stability was better
than +/- 1K.
For the investigations on the PCB-specimens a special test
fixture was designed (fig. 7). The basic idea of this test fixture
is to apply constant load to the Cu-wire by a hanging weight
underneath the PCB, while the displacement of the Cu-wire
versus the PCB is measwed on the upper part of the Cu-wire,
which is situated above the PCB. The advantage of this
method is, that deformations within the downer part of the
Cu-wire do not account for the displacement measurement.
The upper part of the Cu-wire is stress 6 e e and will
consequently not deform. The only erroneous displacements,
that means displacements that are not caused by the
deformation of the solder, can occur by deformations of the
PCB-itself. In order to avoid such deformations, the PCB-
sample was fixed between two aluminium plates of I O mm
thickness (0.39 in.) having conical holes of 1.5 mm (0.06 in.)
diameter on the inside and 30 mm ( I . I X in.) on the outside of
the plates. The displacement of the Cu-wire versus the PCB
was monitored with a incremental optical displacement
transducer IKF 10 from Feinmess Suhl with a displacement
range of 10 mm (0.39 inch) and a resolution of O.lpm (3.9
pin.). Testing temperatures were achieved through heating the
aluminium plates with HSC 100 power resistors and
thermocouple feedback to a microprocessor based thermal
controller. The achieved temperature stability was better than
+/- 0.5 K.
2003 Electronic Components and Technology Conference
 two neighbouring edges of the specimens silicon chips. In
order to minimise errors due to temperature changes or
vibrations, the laser interferometer heads are borne
symmetrically to the specimen. The achieved true precision of
the microtester is 20 nm for displacement and 2 mN for force.
The test setup for flip chip specimens operates in a thermal
chamber. The testing temperatures are limited to a range from
5°C .,. 50 "C because of the very temperature sensitive
instrumentation of the tester. The temperature stability within
this range provided by the thennal chamber is better than +/-
0.1K.

Fig. 6: Bulk-sample and corresponding load frame

The constitutive behaviour of flip chip solder was determined

through shear experiments on a flip chip joint. For such an
experiment with a flip chip specimen (fig. 8) a suitable test
setup needs to be designed. The loading condition in the test
setup should he simple reversal shear under isothermal
conditions with appropriate cyclic strain rates and amplitudes.
This requires well controlled movement of the two silicon
chips of the specimen against each other in such a way that all
bending moments and out of plane forces are eliminated or at
least minimised. This is achieved through a symmetric grip
configuration of two identical specimens The specimens are
fixed into the grips by an epoxy. The very low
viscosity of the epoxy (before hardening) avoids any
undesired loading of the specimen during the fixing. The load
is generated by a piezoelectric translator, which provides
smooth movement with subnanometer resolution over a wide
range of velocities. A force sensor is mounted between the
inner grip and the piezoelectric translator. The translation
direction is in line with the gravity axis, eliminating the need
for hearings, which otherwise would be required to
compensate weight. Bearings cause frictional forces of at least
150 mN, which make high resolution force measurements
extremely difficult. A high resolution displacement
measurement is achieved by the application of a dual beam
laser interferometer. Each laser beam is reflected offone of Fig. 7: PCB-sample and corresponding load frame

201 2003 Electronic Components and Technology Conference

 Specimen Design
m Si -Chip
4 mm X 4 mm
Flip Chip Joint
Flip Chip Bump
Footprint
200 pm X 200 pm
Silicon Chip 2
1 0.2mm 1 crystals, which have a very similar deformation resistance. In
Flip Chip Joint 1
‘ contrast, the bimaterial system Sn and Ag or Sn and Cu
Fig. 8: Flip chip-sample and corresponding load frame
Experimental program: Creep tests are usually carried
out as monotone tests. This means, a constant load is applied
and the specimen strains until it brakes. Such a test has
disadvantages in the case of PWB specimens and flip chip
specimens. The geometry of the joints varies from sample to
sample. Therefore performing subsequent monotone creep
tests with different specimens can lead to significant errors in
the induced stress level. For that reason all creep tests were
performed as step tests. That means each load was applied to
the sample until a steady state creep rate (deidt = const.) was
achieved. At this point the test was stopped and another load
was applied to the sample. For instance for bulk-specimens a
sequence of eight steps upward and eight steps downward
(load sequence: 7.7, 9.5, 11.2, 14.7, 16.8, 18.9, 23.1, 25.9,
28.7, 25.9, 23.1, 18.9, 16.8, 14.7, 11.2, 9.5,.7.7 MPa) were
applied to the same sample. It was verified, that the creep
rates on the upward sequence were similar to that on the
downward sequence, in order to make sure that there was no
significant damage of the sample during the test.
Results
Physics a n d modelling of creep deformation: In order
to model the creep behaviour of eutectic SnAg- or SnAgCu-
alloys many authors have used either a power law formulation
[1-4] or a sinh formulation [5,6]. Power law creep models
basing on theoretical considerations and experimental results
202
on pure metals and simple alloys, that were achieved in the
1950’s and 1960’s. Later Frost and Ashhy [20] proposed the
sinh-model, which is a development of power law model, that
enables to describe creep deformation also at very high stress
levels, where the simple power law behaviour usually breaks
down. Both the power law model and the sinh model could
have been successfully applied for the description of the creep
behaviour of eutectic SnPb solders. However, the SnPb
solders differ very much from SnAg- and SnAgCu-solders.
The bimaterial system Sn and Pb solidifies in a simple
eutectic system with limited miscibility. The SnPb eutectic
consists on solid solution strengthened Sn and Pb mixed
solidifies in a complex system forming various intermediate
phases. The two most significant phases are Ag& and
Cu6Sns. The deformation resistance of Ag,Sn or Cu& is
much higher than that of the p-Sn-matrix, thus Ag,Sn and
Cu,Sn5 phases forming hard particles in the inherently soft p-
Sn-matrix. Mobile dislocations are arrested or slowed down at
these particles. Creep deformation can not occur unless
dislocations are able to escape from the pinning particles by
one of the following mechanisms:
- Particle shearing
- Bowing between particles (Orowan bowing)
- Climb around particles
The processes of particle shearing and Orowan bowing
depend little on temperature, whereas climb around particles
involves diffusional mass transfer and will be intrinsically
slower. Consequently when Orowan bowing or particle
shearing can occur it will dominate [7]. Below the critical
Orowan stress dislocations become trapped by the Ag,Sn and
CueSni particles. Thermal activation ensures that the trapping
is temporary by enabling dislocations to climb over the
particles. The combination of the described mechanisms lead
to a break in the stress-creep rate relationship of precipitation
strengthened alloys. So far this effect has been demonstrated
in various alloys [7-101.
I
log (Stress)
Fig. 9: Schematic plot of log (creep-rate) as a function of log
(stress) showing contributions from different mechanisms of
dislocation movement in particle strengthened alloys [7]
2003 Electronic Components and Technology Conference
 iIBulk-specimen-SnAq
T=293K
/

10

Stress [MPa]

10 IM

Stress [MPal Stress [MPa]

Fig. IO: Creep data of eutectic SnAg solder, upper diagram: Fig. 11: Creep data of eutectic SnAgCu solder, upper
bulk-specimens; bottom diagram: PCB-specimens diagram: bulk-specimens; bottom diagram: PCB-specimens

[S-II [kJ/mol] [s-l] [kJkol] P I [kJ/mol] [s-'] [kJimol]

Bulk 7E-4 3 46,s 2E-4 11 93,1 Bulk 1E-6 3 34,6 IE-I2 12 61,1
PWB - 4E-5 7 70.3 PWB 4E-7 3 26.8 IE-12 12 61.4
FC I - 1-1 - I2E-21 1 1 8 1 83,l

Table 1: Parameters for double power law creep model (eq. 2)

for eutectic SnAg solder, when aN= 1 MPa
At the break the high stress-dependence of the creep rate at
high stresses is replaced by a lower stress-dependence at low
stresses (see fig. 9). In the high stress region unrealistic high
values of the stress exponent n were found for precipitation
strengthened alloys. Since the traditional models of
dislocation movement in metals were unable to explain these
high values of stress exponent n or unrealistic values of the
apparent activation energy Q, which were obtained from
creep tests on precipitation strengthened alloys a creep
strength increment alh= a - om (a:applied stress; amcreep
strength of the referring particle free metal matrix) was
introduced to theory. With the empirical value of a,,, the
steady state creep rate dependence on stress in precipitation
strengthened alloys can be expressed as
FCaged 1 - 1-I - I I
I E - l l 112 74,8
Table 2: Parameters for double power law creep model (eq. 2)
for eutectic SnAgCu solder, when aN= 1 MPa
where n is the stress exponent for steady state deformation of
the reference material having the same composition as the
matrix that the particles are dispersed in. The creep strength
increment alhis no true threshold, because it decreases with
the steady state strain rate t .
Lagneborg [IO] pointed out that during local climb the
sharp transition from the dislocation segment in the glide
plane to that profiling the particle will be unstable. Therefore
the dislocation line requires a larger segment. This creates a
back stress resisting the climhiglide sequence that is
proportional to the applied stress. Although there are many
discrepancies between experimental data and the theoretical
models of Lagneborg and others, the general creep behaviour
of precipitation strengthened alloys according to figure 9 was
experimentally shown many times. McLean [7] pointed out,
that one of the major difficulties is to detect the break

203 2003 Electronic Components and Technology Conference

between the high stress and the low stress region, because it 150°C for 1500 h (presented in [22]) differs only little (higher
occurs at very I O W creep rates ( I 0.' - IO-'" s-' for supera~loys). activation energy) from that found on the two larger
specimens. However, the creep behaviour of as cast flip-chip
specimens (presented in [23]) appears to be very different.
Summarising the creep data it comes out that the
microstructural dependence of creep in eutectic SnAg and
SnAgCu solders is not as strong as expected. This is little
surprising, since the creep data in literature [I-61 shows a
remarkable scatter. However, it is still very difficult to
characterise the microstructure o f SnAg and SnAgCu solders
by a technical parameter, e.g. particle size, because it changes
not only the size of the particles but also their spatial
arrangement (see fig. 5). This Inakes it difficult to compare
the results of different investigations with each other.
I
10 rm
Stress [MPa]

Fig. 12: Creep data of eutectic SnAgCu solder in flip chip

joints before and after thermal storage (1 5OoC/l500h)

Creep-model: The results of the creep tests are shown in

the diagrams in the figures 10 - 12. The steady state creep rate
is plotted vs. the applied stress. According to the qualitative
creep behaviour of precipitation strengthened alloys shown in
fig. 9, the steady state creep rate is expressed as the sum of
two power law terms (eq.2). The first term corresponds to the
creep behaviour at low stresses, where co-operative climb
processes are dominant, and the second term corresponds to E, E2 10%
the creep behaviour at high stresses, where combined
glideklimb processes dominate [7]. Fig. 13: Elastic-plastic model for ANSYSTM

Linear Elastic-Plastic-Model: The time independent elastic

plastic behaviour was experimentally determined (see [24]).
Strain-stress-curves were recorded from the "flip chip solder
The assumed double power law behaviour could be well joint" specimens, using a micro shear tester. In order to
shown in the eutectic SnAgCu bulk-specimens. Also the describe the time-independent constitutive behaviour, the
eutectic SnAg bulk specimens and the eutectic SnAgCu PCB-
specimens seem to show the double power law creep
behaviour. Only simple power law creep behaviour was found
in eutectic SnAg PCB-specimens. Also the experiments on
as cast
flip-chip joints [21] have always shown simple power law
creep behaviour. It is supposed that in both cases the low 700
stress behaviour could not been detected, because the creep
rates achieved during the creep testing were too high.
Table 3: Elastic-plastic model of SnAg3.5
Particular in the case of flip chip specimens it is difficult to
determine such low creep rates, because of limited resolution
of the test setup.
Table 1 summarises the creep properties of eutectic SnAg T[Kl [MPa] [MPa] [MPal
found on the different specimens and Table 2 summarises the as cast
equivalent data for eutectic SnAgCu. No data is given for A,, 278 1.4E- 4E-3 57.4 2500
n,, Q, when only a simple power law creep behaviour could
be found in the results of the creep tests. In the case of SnAg
solder, the creep properties of bulk and flip chip specimens
are very similar. PCB-specimens showed a lower stress
exponent and lower activation energy. However, at the
current state of research only a small number of samples were
tested. In the case of SnAgCu solder, the creep properties of
EzEl stored at T = 150°C for 1500 h

3
323 6E-4 ISE- 22.8 32 1500
bulk and PCB-specimens show good agreement. The creep 3
data of flip chip specimens that have been thermally stored at

204 2003 Electronic Components and Technology Conference

multilinear elastic-plastic model of ANSYSTM was used
together with a kinematic hardening rule. The best fit
capability was found with a three-linear-formulation (fig. 13)
characterised by 5 parameters (E,, E ~ E. ~ crl,
, m2). The first line
(0, 0, E,, al) characterises the elastic material behaviour, the
second line (E,, el. E ~ . 02) describes initial plasticity
(sequential activation of glide in different grains of the
polycrystal), the third line (E?, cr2, loo%, aj) refers to
satumted plasticity. The parameters for the time independent
elastic-plastic model for SnAg3.5, SnAg4Cu0.5 are given in
Tables 3, 4.
Discussion about model capability: Considering the
creep data of the various specimens it comes out, that the
proposed double power law. that was developed on the basis
of creep data of other precipitation strengthened alloys, shows
good fitting capabilities on the creep behaviour of SnAg and
SnAgCu. solders. The creep behaviour of flip chip joints at
very low stresses need further investigations. But the results
on bulk specimens indicate, that there is no true threshold for
creep in the SnAg- and SnAgCu eutectic.
A big advantage of the proposed double power is, that it
fits into the modelling potentials of ANSYSm and can be
used together with the time independent elastic-plastic
models. However one should stay with the explicit creep
routines even when ANSYSTM made implicit routines
available. The two power laws can be realised by using the
provided models for primary and secondary creep
simultaneously.
The combination of the creep model with a time
independent elastic-plastic models is necessary, when fast
mechanical cycles (f > 0,l H z ) are simulated. A case study of
bending tests, showing the advantage of the combined creep +
elastic-plastic model over the creep + elastic model, is
presented in [22, 241. Figure 14 shows two curves that were
calculated by the FE-simulation of the shear experiments and
compares this couple with the hysteresis that was actually
gained from the shear experiments on flip chip joints. One of
the simulated curves was calculated using a constitutive
model composed of a elastic and a creep model. The
Displacement fpm].
Fig. 14: Comparison between actual shear experiment and the
FE-simulation of the experiment [24]
205
other was calculated with a constitutive model composed of
an elastic, a time-independent plastic and a creep (time
dependent) model. It shows that the later formulation bas a
much higher capability to follow the true path of the
experimental hysteresis. At the hysteresis tuming points (E =
1%) both models show the same force amplitude. But the
parameter strain energy density (area within the hysteresis)
predicted by the later formulation is somewhat lower than that
by the first formulation.
Conclusions
MicrostNctura~ analysis on eutectic SnAg and SnAgCu
solders show a strong dependence of the formation of
microstructure from the cooling conditions during
solidification.
Constant load creep tests were conducted on three
different specimen types Bulk, PCB, Flip Chip. Although
~
the microstructures of these specimens differed significantly
from each other, a fairly good agreement in creep behaviour
could be found for eutectic SnAgCu (n = 12). As cast eutectic
SnAgCu solder in flip chip joints still represents an exception
with n = 18. The creep behaviour of eutectic SnAg found on
the different specimens, showed a larger scatter then that
found on eutectic SnAgCu (n = 7...11). The results of the
creep tests indicate, that the general creep behaviour of
eutectic SnAgISnAgCu solder follows a double power law,
with a low stress exponent at low stresses and a high stress
exponent at high stresses. This behaviour is in agreement with
that of other precipitation strengthened alloys.
The proposed double power fits well into the modelling
potentials of ANSYSTM and can be used together with the
time independent elastic-plastic models. The combination of
the creep model with a time independent elastic-plastic
models gives accurate model for the simulation of fast
mechanical cycles, e.g. bending tests.
Acknowledgments
The authors would acknowledge the fruitful discussions with
R.Dudek and A. Schubert (Fraunhofer IZM, Berlin), the
sustainable help by A. Diessner (TU Dresden, IHM)
preparing cross sections of the samples and the financial
support by the DFG (W12030/1).
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