Solid–state diffusion–controlled growth of the phases in the Au–Sn system

Abstract

The solid state diffusion-controlled growth of the phases is studied for the Au–Sn system in the range of room temperature to 200 °C using bulk and electroplated diffusion couples. The number of product phases in the interdiffusion zone decreases with the decrease in annealing temperature. These phases grow with significantly high rates even at the room temperature. The growth rate of the AuSn₄ phase is observed to be higher in the case of electroplated diffusion couple because of the relatively small grains and hence high contribution of the grain boundary diffusion when compared to the bulk diffusion couple. The diffraction pattern analysis indicates the same equilibrium crystal structure of the phases in these two types of diffusion couples. The analysis in the AuSn₄ phase relating the estimated tracer diffusion coefficients with grain size, crystal structure, the homologous temperature of experiments and the concept of the sublattice diffusion mechanism in the intermetallic compounds indicate that Au diffuses mainly via the grain boundaries, whereas Sn diffuses via both the grain boundaries and the lattice.

Keywords:

• The Au–Sn system
• diffusion
• grain size
• room temperature ageing
• crystal structure

Acknowledgements

Authors would like to acknowledge the support of staff members in MNCF (Micro Nano Characterization Facility) and AFMM (Advanced Facility for Microscopy and Microanalysis) facilities at Indian Institute of Science Bangalore for providing the usage of FIB and TEM, respectively, for this study.