Voids found in lead-free solder joints

June 26, 2009

According to an article in Electronics Weekly, a UK-based sister publication of Design News, a researcher at the UK’s University of Leicester has discovered detrimental voids in lead-free solder joints. The article quotes researcher Sergey Belyokov as noting that he “discovered a process which has not been described yet: the formation of crystallographically-faceted voids in the bulk of lead-free solders.”

The results are new and Belyakov only has preliminary results. “They are constantly observed. This is very undesirable effect which needs to be terminated,” says Belyakov. “At the moment I am trying to investigate the nature of this phenomenon to propose possible ways of avoiding it.”

Posted by Rob Spiegel on June 26, 2009 | Comments (1)

July 2, 2009

In response to: Voids found in lead-free solder joints
john h klinger commented:

I can not speak to lead-free solders, but encountered the growth of voids in copper and copper/platinum/gold brazing alloys when the product assemblies were subjected to elevated temperatures (~460 C) for extended periods, resulting in premature product failure. The phenomenon is called Kirkendall Void formation, the result of differential diffusion between the braze alloy constituents and substrate alloys. I solved our problem by changing brazing alloys. I think there is a lot more about this on the web these days.

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