Jie Geng, Ph.D., Indium Corporation
While SnAgCu has been the prevailing choice for SMT assembly solder alloy at electronic industry, the adaptability toward automotive LED application is challenged due to questionable service temperature range capability. For automotive LED applications, high reliability is a MUST not only under moderate temperature, but also under high service temperature condition. A number of new solder alloys have been attempted by the industry, with major emphasis on enhancing the high temperature capability. However, only limited success has been achieved up to this point, except for one novel solder alloy, with high reliability demonstrated on both moderate and high service temperature conditions. In this work, this new alloy was characterized on its physical properties, mechanical properties, and its soldering performance including wetting and voiding. The reliability performance in TCT, TS, and thermal aging tests will be discussed.