Microstructure of Solder Joint Interconnect in Used Mobile Phone

A tin-lead solder is generally used to mount an electronic package on to a printed circuit board (PCB) of an electronic devices. In this study, we investigated the microstructure of the solder joint from a four years old used mobile phone. Microstructure and morphology of the joint was obtained using optical and scanning electron microscopy (OM and SEM) respectively. Cracks and voids can clearly be seen in the solder area for the most of the sample observed. Crack up to 10 μm wide appeared to be propagating along the solder line between Cu lead and Cu substrate. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis revealed that cracks occurred at the richer tin content. It was not clear the exact mechanism that leads to the existence of the crack. However we believe that thermomechanical cause such as thermal fatigue, void formation and the thicker layer of intermetallic compound contributed to the failure of the solder joint.