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Sn-Ag-Cu (SAC) alloy is currently recognized as the standard lead-free solder alloy for packaging of interconnects in the electronics industry, and high- Ag-content SAC alloys are the most popular choice. However, this choice has been encumbered by the fragility of the solder joints that has been observed in drop testing as well as the high cost of the Ag itself. Therefore, low-Ag-content SAC alloy was considered as a solution for both issues. However, this approach may compromise the thermal-cycling performance of the solders. Therefore, to enhance the thermal-cycling reliability of low-Ag-content SAC alloys without sacrificing their drop-impact performance, alloying elements such as Mn, Ce, Ti, Bi, In, Sb, Ni, Zn, Al, Fe, and Co were selected as additions to these alloys. However, research reports related to these modified SAC alloys are limited. To address this paucity, the present study reviews the effect of these minor alloying elements on the solder joint reliability of low-Ag-content SAC alloys in terms of thermal cycling and drop impact.

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Dr. Dhafer received PhD in the field of electronic packaging materials from the University of Malaya, Malaysia in 2013. His main research area is on solder alloy. He has published over 20 scientific articles and filed 1 patent on such research topic. Dr. Dhafer is also reviewer of several international journals.

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