A Drop-In High-Temperature Pb-Free Solder Paste That Outperforms High-Pb Pastes in Power Discrete Applications

Sn-based high-temperature Pb-free (HTLF) solder pastes have been developed as a drop-in solution to replace high- Pb solder pastes in power discrete applications. The pastes were designed with Indium Corporation’s DurafuseVR technology, to combine the merits of two constituent powders. A SnSb-based Ag/ Cu-containing high-temperature powder, with a melting temperature above 320 degrees C, was designed to maintain high-temperature performance. A Sn-rich SnAgCu-Sb powder, with a melting temperature around 228 degrees C, was added to the paste to enhance wetting and improve joint ductility. In the design, the final joint will have the low-melting phase (the melting temperature >228 degrees C) in a controllable quantity embedded into the high-melting SnSb matrix. HTLF-1, one of the designs, maintained the bond shear strength up to 15 MPa, even around 290 degrees C. Another design, HTLF-2, has a similar bond shear strength as Pb92.5/Sn5/Ag2.5 around 290 degrees C, but exceeds substantially below 250 degrees C. The power discrete components had been built with both HTLF solder pastes for both die-attach and clip-bond through the traditional high-Pb process, which demonstrated the drop-in processing compatibility. The components survived three additional surface mounting (SMT) reflows (peak temperature upto 260 degrees C) and passed moisture sensitivity level 1 (MSL1). This confirmed that the maintained joint strength (comparable to or stronger than high-Pb), helped to keep the joint integrity within the encapsulated components in the following SMT process, even with the controlled quantity of the melting phases above 228 degrees C. Both HTLF solder pastes outperformed Pb92.5/Sn5/Ag2.5 in the resistance from drain to source when power is on (RDS(on)), even after 1,000 cycles of temperature cycling test (TCT) under 255/175 degrees C, which is attributed to the intrinsic lower electrical resistivity of Sn in both HTLF pastes. Microstructural observation had shown no corner cracks for both die-attach and clip-bond joints after TCT.