Micro-fracture toughness of Au_XSn_Y intermetallic compounds

Au-Sn based soldering materials are among the most promising replacement materials of lead-containing materials applied at high temperature range. Their fracture toughness is of great importance for the reliability of electronic chips during service.

The project aims at obtaining the micro-fracture toughness of Au_XSn_Y intermetallic compounds as they tend to fracture more than other constituents of the chips. Free-standing cantilevers with notches are fabricated by focused ion beam (Fig. 1) and tested in-situ with an indenter inside a scanning electron microscope. The results of the experiments will offer a guideline for the industry to design better Au-Sn based soldering materials.