Keith Sweatman to present paper for SMTAI Technical Session

Lead-free solders based on the tin-copper-nickel system are now well established in the electronics manufacturing industry as a cost-effective alternative to tin-silver-copper alloys where their particular combination of properties provides an advantage. While their compliance and stable intermetallic ensure that they have good resistance to impact loading, increasing demands for even better performance are prompting the investigation of ways in which their mechanical properties can be further enhanced. This paper reports the preliminary results of a study into the effect of trace additions of zinc, indium and gold to tin-copper and tin-copper-nickel eutectic alloys on the microstructure and the resistance to shear impact at speeds of up to 4m/sec.

The paper was written in cooperation with Takatoshi Nishimura, Nihon Superior and Dekui Mu, University of Queensland.

The paper was written in cooperation with Takatoshi Nishimura, Nihon Superior and Dekui Mu, University of Queensland.Mr Sweatman has been involved in the solder industry and soldering technology for more than 40 years. He has been an active participant in several HDPUG and iNEMI consortia projects relating to lead-free solder performance and reliability and is a regular speaker at IPC and SMTA conferences. In connection with the establishment at University of Queensland, Australia of the Nihon Superior Centre for the Manufacture of Electronic Materials, he has been appointed Adjunct Senior Fellow in the Department of Mechanical and Mining Engineering.