Effect of Elevated Temperatures on SAC305 Solder Alloy Thermal Interface Material in a Microelectronic Assembly

In microelectronics assemblies, Thermal Interface Materials (TIMs) are vital to the reliability of the devices in operation. Some electronic devices operate in elevated temperature environments such as military and industrial applications. Hence, the need to evaluate the reliability of such devices at elevated temperatures. Tin-Silver-Copper lead-free solder TIMs have been used during the assembly process of some electronic devices operating under harsh temperature environments. In this study, the reliability of SAC305 lead-free solder TIM was considered at elevated temperatures ranging from 100 o C to 200 o C at 25 o C interval, and aged for about an hour. ANSYS finite element analysis software was employed for the design and evaluation of SAC305 lead-free solder model. The findings of the investigation demonstrated that the higher the harsh temperature environment, the lower the reliability of the SAC305 solder TIM. In addition, the highest fatigue life (36735 or 4.2 years) was recorded at 100 o C, while 200 o C recorded the lowest fatigue life (1014 or 0.12 years). The fatigue life is an indication of the lifespan of the TIM when in operation. This research will be beneficial to engineers assembling microelectronic products.  Keywords — elevated temperature; fatigue life; microelectronics; reliability; SAC305 solder