Physical properties of Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu lead-free solder with the additional of SiC particles

Composite solder has gained researcher’s attention due to its promising improvement in physical and mechanical properties for lead-free solder. To improve the properties of Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu (SAC) with the promising lead-free candidate, addition of silicon carbide (SiC) as a reinforcement was used in this study. This study was carried out to identify the effect of SiC particle on microstructure evolution and physical properties of SAC based solder alloys. SAC-SiC composite solder was synthesized by powder metallurgy method (PM), which consists of several processes such as mechanical blending, compaction and sintering. Three different weight percentages of SiC particles; 0.00, 0.50, and 1.00 were mechanically blended with SAC lead-free solder. The results show that the additional of particle SiC was able to refine the microstructure and reduced the size of β-Sn.