
96 Green Electronics Manufacturing
5.2.2 Lead-Free (Sn–Ag–Cu) Solder
At present, Sn–Ag–Cu appears to be the leading Pb-free solder in the elect-
ronics industry. Driven by miniaturization, decreasing the component size
leads to a stronger inuence of microstructure on the observed lifetime proper-
ties. Research has concentrated on the thermal fatigue response of a near-eutec-
tic Sn–Ag–Cu solder alloy with the objective of correlating damage mechanisms
with the underlying microstructure, on the basis of which a thermomechanical
fatigue damage evolution model is characterized. Bulk Sn-4Ag-0.5Cu speci-
mens are thermally cycled between 40°C and 1 ...