Many electronic products are subjected to heat for long periods, depending on their operations. Thus, it is expected that the physical and mechanical properties of electronic elements, including the soldering joints, will be affected. In this study, the impact of thermal aging time and temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties of 96.5Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu (SAC305) was investigated. The samples used were SAC305 solder balls attached to copper pads. The research began by examining the microstructure of the aged samples at 150 °C for 100 and 1000 h. Then, this was compared to the microstructure of the same samples without thermal aging. Then, five groups of 10 samples were prepared from a shear stress-shear stain experiment. The first group was as produced, the second group was aged for 2 h, the third group was aged for 10 h, the fourth group was aged for 100 h, and the fifth group was aged for 1000 h. All groups were aged at a temperature of 150 °C. An Instron testing machine was used to plot a shear stress-shear stain curve until the ball was completely sheared off the pad. The mechanical properties, including the ultimate shear strength, the ultimate energy used to shear the ball, and the total energy used to shear the ball at all thermal aging times were then estimated. The results of this study indicated the formation of a layer of Cu6Sn5 over the copper pad, which thickened with thermal aging time. Furthermore, the ultimate and total shear strengths decreased with thermal aging time. The same procedure was repeated to assess the ultimate shear strength at 100 °C. The decrease in ultimate shear strength was more severe with increasing thermal aging temperature.
Keywords: Ag3Sn; Cu6Sn5; SAC305; mechanical properties; solder joint; thermal aging; β-Sn.