For long time, Sn-Pb solder alloys have been used extensively as the main interconnection materials in the soldering. It is no doubt that Sn-Pb offers many advantages including good electrical conductivity, mechanical properties as well as low melting temperature. However, Pb is very toxic and Pb usage poses risk to human health and environments. Owing to this, the usage of Pb in the electronic industry was banned and restricted by the legislation. These factors accelerate the efforts in finding suitable replacement for solder alloy and thus lead-free solder was introduced. The major problems associated with lead-free solder is the formation of large and brittle intermetallic compound which have given a rise to the reliability issues. Micro alloying with Sb seems to be advantageous in improving the properties of existing lead-free solder alloy. Thus, this paper reviews the influence of Sb addition to the lead-free solder alloy in terms of microstructure formations and thermal properties.

To fabricate a lead-free solder with better properties, a surface-modified precipitate calcium carbonate (PCC) was added as a reinforcement phase to tin-zinc (Sn-9Zn) solder. The surface modification of PCC was done by using electroless plating to deposit nickel (Ni) layer on the PCC. Based on microstructure analysis, a thin layer of Ni was detected on the reinforcement particle, indicating the Ni-coated PCC was successfully formed. Next, composite solder of Sn-9Zn-xNi-coated PCC (x = 0, 0.25, 0.50, 1.00 wt.%) was prepared. The morphology and phase changes of the composite solder were evaluated by using optical microscope and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Significant refinement on the grain size of Zn was seen with the additions of Ni-coated PCC, with a new phase of Ni3Sn4 was detected along with the phases of Sn and Zn. The wettability of Sn-9Zn was also improved with the presence of Ni-coated PCC, where the wetting angle decreased from 28.3° to 19.4-23.2°. Brinell hardness test revealed up to 27.9% increase in hardness for the composite solder than the pristine Sn-9Zn solder. This phenomenon contributed by the increased in dislocation resistance through Zener pinning effect and Zn grain refinement within the composite solder which enhanced the overall properties of the composite solder.