A review of geopolymer ceramic as a potential reinforcement material in solder alloys

Abstract

Nowadays, lead-free solder has been currently used in electronic packaging technology as part of soldering material. Since SnPb was detected to produce toxicity and might harm the consumers, the usage of Pb solder has been banned by WEE and RoHS. Therefore, various studies have been developed as alternatives to replace the usage of SnPb. Since lead-free solder might not perform as well as their traditional SnPb, researchers suggested to add some elemental reinforcement particles in matrix alloy. Previously, addition of ceramic reinforcement has been widely known in enhancing the properties of solder-substrate. This paper reviews about the presence studies of ceramic as solder reinforcement, the characteristics of geopolymer ceramic as potential solder reinforcement, and their properties in providing a superior solder joint. In this review, the characterization is divided into two stages; 1) characterization of geopolymers in terms of microstructural and crystallographic; 2) characterization of solder properties in terms of intermetallic layer growth (IMC), wettability, and its mechanical properties