Perspectives and directions of the development of new generation lead-free soldering alloys and their application possibilities in the consumer electronics lead-free soldering technology

The new technological challenges and the high economical and commercial potential connected with the development of new generation soldering alloys used in the consumer electronics lead-free soldering technology is a subject which is gaining increasing interest both on the side of the electronics industry and the academic community. This study constitutes a review and analysis of the literature in the scope of investigations of new generation advanced lead-free soldering alloys which could potentially replace the currently applied, expensive, lead-free solders based on the Sn-Ag-Cu (SAC) system. On the basis of the literature analysis, the authors determined and characterized the main system groups which are within the focus of interest as new potential replacements for the SAC-type lead-free solders. The study constitutes a compilation of the current knowledge of the broad spectrum of properties of the presently applied lead-free solders of the SAC type as well as their potential replacements from the Sn-Zn and Bi-Sn systems. The work presents a comparative analysis of the effect of selected alloy additions, fluxes and temperatures on the solderability and wettability of soldering alloys in contact with selected types of substrates, as well as change in the microstructure, mechanical properties and reliability of the produced joints. The review is summed up by the description of the perspectives and new trends in the development of new generation lead-free soldering alloys which could be implemented into the consumer electronics lead-free soldering technology as replacements for the currently applied SAC-type solders.

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