The Effect of Increased Cu Content on Microstructure and Melting of Utilized Sn-0.3Ag-0.7Cu Solder

The influence of increased Cu and Ag contents on the microstructure evolution in the utilized Sn-0.3Ag-0.7Cu (wt. %) solder was studied. The utilized solder was exploited in the wave soldering process at the temperatures of about 260 °C for several days. The samples investigation involved the differential scanning calorimetry, the scanning electron microscopy including the energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and the X-ray diffraction techniques. To predict phase equilibria at various temperatures and temperature dependences of heat capacity, the Thermo-Calc software and the COST531 lead-free solder database were used. The original and the utilized solders were found to be very similar regarding the phase occurrence, but slightly differ from one another in microstructure evolution due to higher bulk contents of Cu in the latter solder. The obtained results contribute to both the better understanding of the microstructure evolution in low-silver Sn-Ag-Cu solders and the determination of compositional limits for those solders used in the wave soldering process.