Effects of SiC nanowires on reliability of Sn58Bi-0.05GNSs/Cu solder joints

In this work, SiC nanowires (SiC NWs) reinforced SBG (Sn-58Bi-0.05GNSs) composite solder was prepared using powder metallurgy route. The effect of SiC NWs on melting temperature, wetting behavior, shear properties, microstructure of the prepared solder joints and interfacial reaction were studied in detail. Results reveal that incorporating SiC NWs can develop the wetting behavior and shear properties of solder joint but has a little effect on melting temperature. The microstructure of solder is refined markedly with the addition of SiC NWs, which is one of the reasons for the increase in the shear strength of the solder joints. Additionally, the dimension of Cu 6 Sn 5 IMC grains diminishes with the doping of SiC NWs, which resulted in the thinning of Cu 6 Sn 5 IMC layer. Thence, the addition of SiC NWs may be an effective way to improve the reliability of solder joints.