Low-Temperature Polyol Synthesis of AuCuSn2 and AuNiSn2: Using Solution Chemistry to Access Ternary Intermetallic Compounds as Nanocrystals.

The article cites a study which states that low-temperature solution routes originally developed for the synthesis of nanocrystals and nanocrystalline powders can be exploited to access new ordered intermetallics with ternary compositions. While ternary phase diagrams are difficult to map out, the gold-copper-tin system has been studied in detail. Intermetallics that form at the solder/metal interface are responsible for the brittleness and fracture of solder joints, and the gold-copper-tin system is among the most important for understanding interfacial phase formation in microelectronic devices.