Growth kinetics of intermetallic layer in lead-free Sn–5Sb solder reinforced with multi-walled carbon nanotubes

In this study, the effects of multi-walled carbon nanotubes reinforcement on the thickness and growth kinetics of interfacial intermetallic compound (IMC) layer in Sn–5Sb solder system are investigated. In the typical study, plain Sn–5Sb solder system and carbon nanotubes reinforced solder systems (Sn–5Sb−xCNT; x = 0.01, 0.05 and 0.1 wt%) were developed via the powder metallurgy approach. The solder/Cu joints subjected to the as-reflow and isothermal aging (170 °C) conditions were systematically characterised to evaluate the growth of the IMC layer. Results suggest that the composite solders showed better results for all subjected conditions compared with the plain solder. In particular, 0.05 wt % CNTs reinforced solder system exhibited the most appreciable IMC layer suppression and diffusion coefficient among all the samples analysed in this study.