Influence of ZnO nanoparticles addition on thermal, microstructure

and tensile properties of

Sn-5.0 wt%Sb-0.5 wt%Cu (SSC505)
Lead-free solder alloy
A. N. Foudaa , El Shazly M. Duraiaa,, E. A. Eidb

(a) Physics department, Faculty of Science, Suez-Canal University, 41522 Ismailia, Egypt
(b) Basic Science Department, Higher Technological Institute, 10 th of Ramadan City, Egypt.

Abstract
For development of a lead-free composite solder for advance electronics components
connections, a group of Sn-5Sb-0.5Cu (SSC505) and Sn-5Sb-0.5Cu-0.5ZnO (SSC0.5ZnO) lead free solder alloys have been investigated. Results of differential scanning
calorimetry appear the addition of 0.50 wt.% ZnO nano particles satisfy insignificant
increasing in melting temperature [Tm = 0.89 oC]. Field emission scanning electronic
microscope (EF-SEM) images of SSC-0.5ZnO composite solder revealed a uniform
distribution and refinement -Sn grain sizes, Cu6 Sn5 and SnSb intermetallic compounds
(IMCs). Presence ZnO nano-powder in solder matrix enhanced their yield stress y
(0.2%YS) and ultimate tensile strength UTS, but their ductility reduced due to embed the
nanoparticles in grain boundaries. ZnO pinning effect obstructed the motion of
dislocations and has highly active surface area that supports the strong adsorption effect
of Cu atoms. Lastly, this study found that ZnO was very effective for reducing the
excessive growth of intermetallic compounds [IMCs] within SCC-0.5ZnO composite lead
free solder.

Introduction
Lead free solders havent long history because; the public awareness of
environmental issues and increasing knowledge of hazards toxic materials has been
weakening up lately. Recently, the strict legislations put to eliminate the use of lead-based
solders because of the healthy concerns over the toxicity of lead (Pb). In last decade great
efforts are provided an inevitable motivation force for development of lead-free solder
alloys. Further, the modern technological development in the electronic packaging
industry met challenges towards miniaturization and functional density enhancement.
These require much smaller solder joints and ne pitch interconnections for
microelectronic packaging in electronic devices. For example, portable electronic
devices, such as portable computers and mobile phones, have become thinner and smaller
with more complicated functions. Mechanical behaviors of solder alloys are active and
play an important role because of their high homologous temperatures (T/Tm> 0.5).
Moreover, the electronic assemblies are made up from materials with a wide range of
thermal expansion coefficients (CTE). During the switching on and off electronic
devices, the chips in electronic devices heat up and cool down, thus suffering from low
cycle thermo-mechanical fatigue (TMF) due to stresses that develop as a result of
mismatch between the solder, the substrate and the components []. These TMF cycles
cause plastic straining of solder. Hence, the deformation imposed on the solder joints
during their operation is time dependent in the metallurgical sense.
For instance, because of the creep of solder, time-dependent and gradual
misalignment between a solid state laser chip and a spherical lens on a bre in light guide
ocean cables will reduce the transmission intensity or even cause complete loss of the
light wave communication signals in the cables [8]. In defense applications, the
mechanical vibration of tanks, airoplanes or missiles will create high frequency
vibrational fatigue conditions for solder joints in the attached electronic components and
lead these weapons to fail. Hence, highly creep and fatigue resistant lead-free solders
must be developed to solve these problems.

The solders containing 5 percent antimony or silver are preferred for electrical
equipment because of their good electrical conductivity. The tin- and lead-based babbitts
(white metals) have the longest history [ ] but they are not adequate for most applications
in automotive engines. The correlation of the alloys structure with mechanical and
electrical properties of metallic bearing materials has been a topic of interest for several
years attracting the attention of many investigators [39]. Most of the studies have been
focused either on mechanical or electrical properties or on microstructure features.

Since many

Sn-rich

solder

alloys,

including

Sn-5%Sb and Sn-3.5%Ag,

generally have a higher melting point than that of Pb-Sn eutectic, they may not be
suitable as replacement for Pb-Sn eutectic. However, they can be candidates for the
replacement of the Pb-rich solder alloys, such as Pb-20%Sn, Pb-10%Sn, and Pb-5%Sn,
which have a liquidus temperature higher than 280 oC The Pb-rich solders have been
extensively used for flip chip connection, and solder ball connection, where either Si
chips or modules are mounted onto a ceramic substrate.
Several electronic applications of Sn-5% Sb solder have
including hermetic sealband of multichip modules,

been

reported,

bonding a semiconductor device

onto a substrate, 27 and joining of I/O pins to multilayer ceramic substrates. 2s In the
joining I/O pins, Au- 20%Sn braze alloy was replaced by Sn-5%Sb solder, thus
realizing several advantages, such as lowering the joining temperature by about 50~
and reducing the stress induced due to the joining process. In addition, Sn-5%Sb
solder joints offer good strength and creep properties for the application. In another
application, Sn-5%Sb solder was used as corrosion protection coating to a steel
plate, as well as an electrically conductive area which could be used for subsequent
grounding. A small addition of Sb to the Pb-Sn eutectic solder has been recognized for a
long time to impart several beneficial effects, such as prevention of tin pest, 3~
strength improvements, and creep resistance. Antimony addition to the pure Sn
metal generally confirms the same beneficial effects observed with the Pb-Sn eutectic
solder. In Table III, a significant increase in shear strength is noted for solder
joints made of Sn-5% Sb solder in comparison with those made of the pure Sn.

Table V also shows a better thermal fatigue life of PTH joints made with Sn-5%Sb
than those of pure Sn. However, one drawback is recognized with Sn-5%Sb solder
in terms of solderability as shown in Table IV. The solderability of Sn-5%Sb, as
measured by the percent spread of a wetting area, is lower than that of the Pb-Sn
eutectic, and it is also reduced by adding Sb to pure Sn. The addition of Sb into pure Sn
can be harmful to the mechanical properties when the Sb level approaches the
solubility limit in Sn, which is about 10% by weight at 250~ 35 This is attributed to an
excessive formation of the cubic intermetallic phase, SnSb26 Unlike the Pb-Sn system,
the Sn-Sb system exhibits a peritectic reaction whereby

the Sn-rich primary solid

solution is formed at 250~ The microstructure of the Sn- 5%Sb solder joints is,
therefore, expected to be highly dependent upon the soldering process and the thermal
exposure afterward.

Of the lead-free solders developed, only the high melting point Sn80Au alloy
can withstand high temperature service conditions. However, this alloy cannot be utilized
in a wide range of manufacturing situations due to its cost and the degradation of the
properties of electronic components by high temperature soldering.
To solve this problem, efforts have been made to develop solders with a low
melting point and high creep resistance. Hence, much research has been carried out on
the addition of a third element (Bi, Al, Cu or Ag) into the SnSb peritectic solder alloys
to improve the wetting characteristics and creep resistance[x]. Moreover, another
potentially viable and economically affordable approach is the addition of discrete
secondary particles to the solder matrix so as to form a composite solder [x].
Published literature shows that, to obtain the renement and stable microstructure
of a solder alloy an addition of discrete secondary particles was mixed to a solder matrix
to form a composite solder. These studies indicate that the addition of secondary particles
to a lead-free solder matrix, and thereby the formation of a dispersion-strengthened
solder, is a viable approach to preparing lead-free solder with enhanced mechanical
properties. The reinforcement particles used in the composite materials usually included
micro-/nano-size metallic, intermetallic, or oxide particles. Mavoori et al. [X] developed

a Pb-37Sn based solder with 10 nm Al 2O3 and 5 nm TiO2 reinforcement particles and
reported significant improvements in creep resistance and mechanical properties. Lin et
al. [x,y] studied the Sn-37Pb composite solders with the reinforcement of TiO 2 and Cu
nanopowders. Their results showed profound effects on the thermal characteristics of
solder solidification and reduction of the grain size. Zhong and Manoj [] added Al 2O3
nanopowders to Sn-4In-4.1Ag-0.5Cu lead-free solder paste, the mechanical behavior
measurements indicated significant increases in yield strength (YS), ultimate tensile
strength (UTS), and microhardness. However, the ductility decreased with increasing
amounts of nano Al2O3 particles. Nai et al. [x] reported that the mechanical properties of
the carbon nano-tubes/composite solders improved significantly. SAC alloys are
considered to be one of the best lead-free alloy systems.
The present research aimed to mixing ZnO nanoparticle into the Sn5wt%Sb0.5wt%Cu (SSC505) lead-free solder to form solder composite of Sn-5wt%Sb-0.5wt
%Cu-0.5wt%ZnO (SSC-ZnO). Therefore, ZnO ceramics particulates are
expected to be capable of forming chemical bond at the metal
reinforcement interface also Sn strengthened by Sb and Cu in solution, and -Sn
strengthened by the precipitate SbSn and Cu5Sn6 intermetallic compounds (IMCs). In the
current research, Zinc oxide (ZnO) particulates at the nanometer length scale were used.
The main advantages of ZnO are: (a) close density to Sn-5wt%Sb,(Sn-5.0Sb) = 7.360
g/cm3 and (ZnO) = 6.95 g/cm3 (b) high hardness when compared to Sn-5.0Sb matrix.
(c) low cost when compared to the most other nano particles such as TiO 2,Y2O3, SiC and
ZrO2 [24] and (d) being a n-type semiconductor. [] Since ZnO nanoparticles have proved
to be a very effective surface-active reagent and have good chemical stability, the
preparation of composite solder using such nanoparticles is likely to result in the
improvement of the mechanical properties of such composite solders by rening the
IMCs without forming brittle agglomerate. Here, we present the results of a study aimed
at mixing ZnO nanoparticles into the eutectic Sn-5wt%Sb-0.5wt%Cu [SSC505] lead-free
alloy to form a composite solder. The inuence of the incorporation of a small amount of
dispersed nanoparticles on the thermal behavior and microstructural evolution, especially
the shape and distribution of IMCs, is investigated by metallographic analysis. In

addition, the tensile properties of the SSC505 and SSC-ZnO solder is measured to
explore the potential strengthening effect of ZnO nanoparticles on the prepared solder.
2- Experimental procedures
A lead-free solder, Sn5.0 wt%Sb0.5 wt %Cu (SSC505) solder alloy, is prepared
from Sn, Sb and Cu ingots of 99.99 % purity. SSC505 lead free composite solder was
prepared by mechanically mixing 0.5 wt% of nano-sized ZnO particles into the prepared
conventional SSC505 lead free solder with subsequent remelting in a vacuum furnace at
603 K for 2 h. The ingots were fused for four times in order to obtain a homogeneous
composition, then followed by casting into a stainless steel mold followed by slowly
cooled to room temperature. The two alloys in the form of bars were cold drawn into a
0.8 mm diameter wire. A part of each alloy was rolled into a sheet of 0.4 mm for
microstructure investigations. Specimens with a gauge length of 50 mm were prepared
for tensile testing. Prior to the tensile testing, all specimens were heat-treated at a
temperature of 393 K for 2.5 h and then slowly cooled to room temperature to stabilize
microstructure and remove the residual defects produced during the cold drawn process.
For metallographic observations, as-solidified specimens were prepared initially
by mounting in cold epoxy. This was followed by an initial coarse grind for removing the
cutting layer and mechanically polished on progressively finer grades of silicon carbide
impregnated emery paper using copious amounts of water as the lubricant. The samples
were then fine polished using 1m and 3m alumina powder suspended in distilled water
as the lubricant. Final polishing to near mirror-like surface finish was achieved using
0.3m diamond paste suspended in distilled water.
The as-polished samples were chemically etched in a solution of 80 % glycerin,
10 % nitric acid and 10 % acetic acid for a few seconds. The etched surfaces of the solder
samples were observed in an optical microscope with the objective of determining the
size and morphology of the grains, and presence, distribution, and morphology of other
phases present in the microstructure. The structure and morphologies of the asprepared materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (Rigaku D/max- X-ray
diffractometer with CuK radiation (=1.54178), step size = 0.02, 10< 2<90),

field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM, SU8000 Series equipped with
energy

dispersive

X-ray

analysis

(EDX), 15

kV) and

transmission

electron

microscopy (TEM, Hitachi, JEM-2100, 200 kV), respectively.

DSC measurements were carried out under the protection of high purity nitrogen
gas atmosphere to avoid any unexpected oxidation. The applied thermal treatment
procedure in the calorimetric experiment was as follows: the specimen was first heated
from room temperature up to 543 K at a constant rate of 10 K min1.
Tensile tests were carried out by straining each specimen to fracture. Stressstrain
measurements were performed at different strain rates ranging from 1.7x10-4 to1x10-3 s-1
at different testing temperatures ranging from 298 to 373 K using a computerized tensile
testing machine described elsewhere [ ].

3- Results and Discussion:

3-1 Thermal properties
Melting Behavior
Figure 1 exhibits DSC thermograms of SCC505 and SCC-0.5Zno solder alloy, a
negligible effect for rising the melting temperature was observed between them (Tm =
0.89 oC). However, the melting temperature of the SSC505, and SSC-0.5ZnO are 237.38,
238.27 oC respectively, these results have great significance when compared with melting
temperature of Sn-5wt%Sb (Tm = 246 oC) which is considered as baseline for high
melting lead-free solders.
Pasty Range
The most distinct common features of endothermic peaks summarized in table 1. They
are initiated at solidus temperature "Tonset" (solid phase initiate to convert to a liquid phase) and
ended at liquidus temperature Tendset (solid phase completely changed to liquid phase).
Worthwhile, solidus temperature and liquidus temperature are estimated by using intersection
point between the horizontal tangent of baseline and the tangent line for each side of
endothermic peak, the difference between liquidus (TL) and solidus temperature (TS) is named
the pasty range or mushy zone

( )

. It is well known that pasty range is one of the essential

parameters for soldering process because it estimates the time required for finishing soldering

process ( ). From table (1) it is seen that, the solidus and liquidus temperatures of SSC505
solder alloy are 223.45 oC and 247.33 oC respectively, its pasty range is (TL-TS = 23.88 C)
which depends on the heating rate of heat flow of DSC instrument. A similar method is used
to estimate the pasty range of SSC-ZnO (T L-TS =21.90 C) composite solder alloy. These
results reflect that, the solidus and liquidus temperatures of two investigating solder alloys
are lowered than Sn-5wt% Sb binary solder alloys, While Sn-5wt% Sb binary solder alloys
have the smallest pasty range (TL-TS =9.0 C) and highest melting temperature 249 oC.
Table (1) Comparison of melting temperatures(T m ), solidus temperature (T S),
liquidus temperature (T L ), pasty range (T=T L -T S ) and fusion heat H for various
solder alloys

TmoC

Solder alloy
Sn-5Sb
Sn-5Sb-0.5Cu
Sn-5Sb-0.5Cu-0.5ZnO

Ts oC

TL oC

T= T L -T S o C

H (J/g)

246
240
237.38 223.45
238.27 225.56

249
247.33
247.46

9.0
23.88
21.90

125.52
88.96

Latent Heat of Fusion

Latent heat of fusion is defined as "the amount of heat energy required for changing
one kilogram of material from solid phase to liquid phase without changing in its temperature
at constant pressure"

(72)

. According to industrial view, the fusion heat is an essential

economic parameter of soldering process. The best method to calculate the fusion heat of
solder alloys depends on the estimation of the area of large endothermic peak from DSC
thermogram. The fusion heat H is calculated by using the following equation; ()
H K

A
m

(1)

Where K is a calibration coefficient depends on the shape of a crucible which regarded as a

constant in the DSC system, m, is the mass of a sample, and A, is the area of endothermic
peak. From Figure (1), the A/m of two compositions was determined as 58.47 and 41.35
J/g, for SSC-505 and SSC-0.5ZnO respectively and the calibration coefficient is "K=2.15" .
Hence, the fusion heats of SSC505 and SSC-0.5ZnO solder alloys have been determined as

125.52 and 88.97 J/g, respectively. These results reflect that, the SSC-0.5ZnO has lowered
consumed energy for melting process than SSC505 solder.
3.2 Microstructure Characterization
X-ray diffraction investigation of SSC505 solder and SSC-0.5ZnO composite
solders are illustrated by the diffraction profiles shown in Fig. 2a-b. They are exhibited
three types of phases; -Sn, SbSn and Cu6Sn5 (IMCs). The diffraction profiles of both
solders are analysis, and deduced that, they have same unit cell of body central tetragonal
(BCT) lattice features.
The diffraction peaks indexed to Sn clearly exist for both of investigating
samples, but no peaks belonging to ZnO appear. The examined XRD pattern of the
SSC505 exhibited a reduced peak intensity compared to XRD pattern of SSC-ZnO,
but the relative magnitude of the peaks remains the same. In addition, increased
peak broadening was observed with present ZnO nano sized particles. The average grain
size of the -Sn was calculated from the diffraction peak width using the Scherrer
equation. As it is well known, grain size was found to ------. The SSC-ZnO
composite solder alloy has an average grain size of 100 nm, which is significantly
smaller than the 175 nm obtained from the unreinforced Sn coating. The presence of
ZnO in a metal matrix may induce smaller grains due to a large increase of
nucleation sites. Namely, the growth of the Cu6Sn5 is a competition between nucleation
and crystal growth. The ZnO nano particles provide more nucleation sites and, hence,
slow up the crystal growth; subsequently, the corresponding Sn matrix and Sb in
the composite has nearly a similar crystal size . The defects on the SSC-ZnO provide
active nucleation sites for the Sn and produce core-shell-like structures, which were
reported to be beneficial for accommodating stresses arising from volume increase x
during intercalation.

Moreover, optical microscope Images (OM) for the microstructure of SSC505

solder alloy and SSC-0.5ZnO composite solder are shown in Fig. 3a-b. Figure 3b
exhibited a significantly reduction in the grain size of the -Sn matrix of the SSC-ZnO
composite solder when compared with those in the SSC505 solder alloy as shown in Fig.
3a. Also it can be observed that, during solidification dendritic network [-Sn, dark
regions] and interdendritic [bright regions] consisting of white dots particles [SnSb IMC]
besides irregular platelets shapes [Cu6Sn5 IMC]. These particles identified by study of Xray diffraction peaks and the energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). Figure 3a is
depicted the bright dots of SnSb particles dispersed within the Sn-rich matrix besides
irregular polygons of Cu6Sn5 intermetallic compounds (IMCs). Figure 3b revealed the
microstructure of the SSC-0.5ZnO composite solder alloy. It represents the same features
in the microstructure of the SSC505 solder. Meanwhile, the -Sn dendrites are uniformly
refined distributes as well as the IMCs particles are reduced in size,

[i.e. seem to be

small and fine compared with those in SSC505 solder alloy], this is due to ZnO nanosized play an important role to promote a great uniform nucleation seeds during
solidification. Moreover, Moreover, ZnO nano-particles have highly active surface area
that support the strong adsorption effect of Cu atoms, therefore reduced the excessive
growth of Cu6Sn5 IMC within SCC-0.5ZnO composite lead free solder. (ref.)
The presence of these IMCs is confirmed by EDX analysis that exhibited in Fig.
4a-b. The addition of 0.5 wt% nano-sized ZnO particles has great effect on microstructure
of SSC505 solder.
According to the EDX analysis illustrates in Fig. 4a-b, the investigated area of
specimens was contained Zn, O, Cu, Sn and Sb atoms. This means that, the presence of
ZnO to SSC-505 alloy suppress the formation of the -Sn dendrites, SnSb and CuSn5
(IMCs) yielding a uniform dispersion within the Sn-rich mixture that generating a fine
network microstructure with the -Sn matrix.

3-3 Mechanical properties

Fig. shows the typical tensile stressstrain curves of the lead free composite solder
specimens at a constant strain rate of 1x10 -2 s-1 at different temperatures. The average
values of tensile strength and elongation of the lead-free composite solder alloys are
given in Table 2. The lead-free SAC solder had an ultimate tensile stress (UTS) of 55.7
MPa, 0.2% offset strain (0.2YS) of 53.2 MPa, and elongation of 48.6%. Addition of ZnO
nanopowder had a significant effect on the UTS of lead-free SSC composite solders. For
example, the UTS and 0.2YS rose to 70.1 MPa and 69.3 MPa, respectively. However, the
total elongation of the lead-free SSC solder containing ZnO nanopowder was less than
that of the lead-free SSC solder (25.2% vs.48.6%). The influence of ZnO nanopowder
reinforcement on tensile properties of the SSC composite solder is also summarized in
Table2. Results reveal that the tensile properties of the composite solder rises with
increased addition of ZnO nanopowder to a lead-free SSC mixture. This indicates that if
the ZnO nanopowders addition is increased, the composite solder can be improved due to
the presence of ZnO nanopowders as reinforcement.
This could be attributed to: (1) pinning grain boundaries and thus impeding sliding of the
grain boundaries, (2) the increase of dislocation densities and obstacles to restrict the
motion of dislocation and (3) the hardening mechanism of the matrix and ZnO
nanopowders []. However, ductility decreased because of a large amount of microporosity along grain boundaries and crack nucleation sites in the form of hard and brittle
ZnO nanopowders [].
The ultimate tensile strength (UTS) is the maximum stress which a material can
withstand in tension. With the addition of 0.5wt% ZnO nano-particle, the mechanical
properties would be affected. It was shown in Section [3-2] that the microstructure was
generally refined when ZnO nano-particle was added. It is foreseen that the tensile
properties will be improved. The results of tensile tests on SSC lead-free solder alloy are
shown as Fig. 8. The tensile strengths are improved by ZnO nano-particle addition but,
the elongation to failure of the solder alloy becomes lower. This may be due to the

increase in the quantity of the hard ZnO particles [ ]. For example, as shown in Fig. 9, the
SSC505 alloy has UTS of about 30 MPa, when ZnO nano-particle was added the UTS is
increased by approximately 30% to become about 36 MPa. With the addition of ZnO
nano-particle, the elongation to failure is decreased. In particular, it is still comparable
with that of the Sn-Pb solder alloy.
It is also be noticed that, the tensile data are generally analyzed by relating the
steady-state strain rate to the stress through a power-law relation. The stress exponent "n"
and the activation energy (Qc) for tensile tests can be calculated from the Dorn equation [
where Qc represents the activation energy for creep, n the power-law stress
exponent, G the temperature-dependent shear modulus, b the Burgers vector, A
a material-dependent constant, R the universal gas constant and T is the temperature. The
values of n and Qc are representative of the dominant creep mechanism.
The tensile behavior of the Sn95Sb5 alloy has been investigated by Igoshev et al.
and they found that microcracks nucleate because of decohesion along the matrix/particle
boundaries [ ]. The SnSb and Sn6Cu5 intermetallic particles play two different roles. They
may strengthen the alloy matrix and prevent the formation of large dislocation pile-ups at
grain boundaries. On the other hand, the higher number of particles in a given matrix, the
more matrix/intermetallics interfaces it contains, leading to a higher likelihood of
microcrack nucleation that can speed up the failure process. In [], One of the major
results is confirming that the steady-state strain rate of SnSb5 is controlled by the
dislocation-pipe diffusion in the Sn matrix.[] The data of flow stress under different
temperatures and stresses of SSC505 and SSC-0.5ZnO are presented in Fig. 11. With the
addition of the ZnO nano-particles, the flow stress decreased substantially.

3.3 Tensile response

A typical set of representative stressstrain curves of the SSC505 solder and SAC0.5ZnO
composite solder are shown in Fig. 9 a and b. The sets of stressstrain curves of the
solders stretched by a constant strain rate of 7.4x10-4 s-1 at the deformation temperatures
298, 323, 348 and 373 K. From these figures, it is noted that levels of the stress strain
curves shifted towards higher values by decreasing the testing temperatures. Moreover,

addition of ZnO is noticed to increase the level of the stress strain curves at all test
conditions (Strain rate and testing temperature). In details, stressstrain characteristics
namely the ultimate tensile stress UTS, the yield stress y 0.2, fracture stress f and total
elongation f of both SSC505 solder and SSC0.5ZnO composite solder are strongly
affected by the variation of the testing temperature and the existence of the nano-sized
ZnO particles as exhibited in figure 10 a-c. For both solders at the constant strain rate,
raising the testing temperature resulting a continuous softening and lower values of UTS,
y and f were observed. But, the total elongation of SSC0.5ZnO composite solder was
less than that of SSC505 solder. The results indicate that, the presence of nano-sized ZnO
particles reinforced the tensile characteristics but also diorites the ductility of SSC505
solder. However, ductility decreased because of a large amount of micro-porosity along
grain boundaries and crack nucleation sites in the form of hard and brittle ZnO nanopowders[].
Indeed, the nano-size particles are dispersed uniformly and homogeneously
distributed in metal matrix which provide high barrier by impeding grain boundary
sliding and also dislocation movement [ ]. Furthermore, their reinforcement provides
sufficient locking of the grain boundaries to limit grain boundary gliding or sliding as
result enhance the creep resistance and mechanical characteristics. This could be
summarized the influence of the nano-size particles in : (1) pinning grain boundaries and
thus impeding sliding of the grain boundaries, (2) the increase of dislocation densities and
obstacles to restrict the motion of dislocation and (3) the dispersion hardening mechanism
of the matrix and ZnO nano-powders []
According to the WagnerLifschitzSlivoz equation for Ostwald ripening

where d(t) = particle size at time t, d 0= initial size, a = a constant, D is the diffusion
coefficient, c is the interfacial energy, and c0is the solubility of elements of which the
particles are made in the matrix. For maximum dimensional stability, the dispersed
particles should be chosen to have minimum diffusivity, a low interfacial energy, and a
low solubility in the matrix. Hence, to be effective obstacles to dislocation motion, the
particles must be sufficiently fine, stable with respect to size and inter-particle spacing,

have a higher flow resistance than the matrix, and be un-deformable and resistant to
fracture [17]. That is, nano-sized particles or fibers are seen as the best candidate as
reinforcement particles.

Figure 1

Arbitrary Units

2
Figure 2
Tables 2 summarizes the diffraction lines of the phases and d-value for SAC-0. solder
alloy

Fig. 3a OM image of (SSC505)

Fig. 3b OM image of (SSC-0.5ZnO) at room temperature (1000X)

Fig. 4 a-b

Figure 5a; FE-SEM image of SSC505

Fig. (4b) EDX analysis of Cu-Sn IMCs

Figure 6a; FE-SEM image of SSC505

Fig. (5b) EDX analysis of Cu-Sn IMCs

Figure 7a; FE-SEM image of SSC505

Fig. (7b) EDX analysis of Cu-Sn IMCs

Figure 8a; FE-SEM image of SSC-0.5ZnO

Fig. (7b) EDX analysis of eutectic region IMCs

Fig. 8 SSC-ZnO as resaved

SSC-ZnO

SSC505

Figure (9) shows the tensile properties of SSC505 and SCC0.5ZnO at different
temperatures

Figure ()