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Review
. 2025 Mar 3;16(3):300.
doi: 10.3390/mi16030300.

Applications and Recent Advances of Low-Temperature Multicomponent Solders in Electronic Packaging: A Review

Guodong Wu  1   2 , Jingfang Shen  3 , Ding Zhou  1 , Muhammad Khairi Faiz  1 , Yew Hoong Wong  1
Affiliations
Review

Applications and Recent Advances of Low-Temperature Multicomponent Solders in Electronic Packaging: A Review

Guodong Wu et al. Micromachines (Basel). .

Abstract

Flexible wearable devices and solar flexible units often use thermally sensitive organic materials as substrates, which are prone to thermal damage during the bonding process in 3D packaging, leading to chip deformation or failure. Multicomponent solders, with well-designed multicomponent metallic elements, exhibit unique low-melting-point characteristics. The application of low-temperature multicomponent solders in electronic packaging can significantly reduce bonding temperatures and minimize thermal damage to chips. This paper reviews the wettability and preparation methods of low-temperature multicomponent solders, and concludes the effect of different metallic elements on the solders. Additionally, this paper discusses the research on interfacial reactions, mechanical properties of low-temperature multicomponent solder joints, providing valuable insights for future research and development in this field.

Keywords: HEA; IMC; low-temperature; multicomponent solder; shear strength; wettability.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Illustrations of (a) a perfect BCC lattice in pure metals and (b) a distorted BCC lattice in multicomponent alloys. (The different colors in the diagram represent different types of elements).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Strengthening effect of Al addition on the cast hardness of AlxCoCrCuFeNi alloys. A, B and C refer to the hardness of FCC, FCC + BCC, and BCC lattice constant, respectively.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Corrosion parameters of various metals and alloys.
Figure 4
Figure 4
(a,b) Wetting behavior of SnBi solder on glass and Cu/Ni substrate entropy; (c) no-reaction interface and reaction interface; (d) interfacial reaction and IMC.
Figure 5
Figure 5
(a) Wetting sample preparation, (b) wetting spread area, (c) schematic diagram for the calculation of the contact angle.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Preparation of multicomponent solder by melting method.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Preparation of multicomponent solder by powder metallurgy.
Figure 8
Figure 8
The microstructure of SnBiIn-2Zn after reflowing on Cu substrate for 10 min at 120 °C. (a) Needle-like Zn-rich phase, (b) Bi-rich phase and InBi phase in the solder matrix, (c) Microstructure of IMC at the interface.
Figure 9
Figure 9
The SEM images showing the top view of IMC grains formed in the SnBiIn-2Zn/Cu interface after reflow at 140 °C for 1 min (a), 10 min (b), 30 min (c); (d–f) the frequency distribution of the grain size for the corresponding top view.
Figure 10
Figure 10
SEM-BSE images and corresponding EDS mapping of (Sn1−xZnx)57(In0.78Bi0.22)43 solder alloy: (a) x = 0.10, (b) x = 0.15, (c) x = 0.20. (d) XRD patterns of (Sn1−xZnx)57(In0.78Bi0.22)43 solder alloy. (e) SEM-BSE image and corresponding EDS mapping of (Sn0.85Zn0.5)57(In0.78Bi0.22)43/Cu.
Figure 11
Figure 11
(a) SEM images of the original multicomponent solders. (b) The XRD results of the original multicomponent solders. (c) FIB image of the multicomponent solders reflowed at 160 °C for 5 min. (d) Shear stress of the multicomponent solders after reflowing on Cu substrate.
Figure 12
Figure 12
(a) SEM images of the original multicomponent solders. (b) The XRD results of the original multicomponent material. (c) SEM image of the multicomponent solder/Cu. (d) Schematic diagram showing the shear test of the solder joint. (e) Shear stress of the multicomponent solder after reflowing on Cu substrate.
Figure 13
Figure 13
(a) SEM images of Sn-Bi-In-xGa solder. (b) The elemental mapping of Sn-Bi-In-xGa solder. (c) SEM image of the solder/Cu interface. (d) Shear stress of the multicomponent solder after reflowing on Cu substrate.
Figure 14
Figure 14
The phase constituents and microstructure of the GaInSnZn multicomponent solder. (a) XRD pattern. (b) Low-magnification BSE image and (c) high-magnification BSE image and corresponding elemental mappings of Ga, In, Sn and Zn elements.
Figure 15
Figure 15
(a) The phase constituents and microstructure of Sn26.67Bi26.66In26.66Zn10Cu10; (b) XRD pattern; (c) BSE image of solder/Cu; (d) shear stress plot of the joints; (e) EDS mappings of the joint.
Figure 16
Figure 16
Microstructural comparison of (a) Bi-Sn-Ga-In, (b) Bi-Sn-Ga-Ag, (c) Bi-Sn-In-Ga-Al, and (d) Bi-Sn-In-Ga-Zn. (e) XRD analysis results of four kinds of solders.
Figure 17
Figure 17
TEM images of micro- and nano-InSnBiZnAg particles. (a) Micro-InSnBiZnAg particles, (b) nano-InSnBiZnAg particles, (c) nanoparticles in glassy multicomponent solders, (d) EDS mapping of nano-InSnBiZnAg particles, (e) composition of nanoparticles.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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