Insights into the dual-roles of alloying elements in the growth of Sn whiskers

doi:10.1016/j.jmst.2021.11.043

Abstract

Abstract:

The growth of Sn whiskers from Ti₂SnC/Sn-X (X = Sn, Bi, Pb, Ga) samples was studied in this work to understand the effect of alloying elements on whiskering behaviors. The mobility of source Sn atoms relating with the formation and migration of defects was found to be the critical factor dominating the growth rate, with the gathering of which to grow whiskers on the surface acts as an effective means to lower the enthalpy. As a result, the source Sn atoms would migrate to whisker root spontaneously, making the growth of whiskers the nature of materials, and external factors like compressive stress or oxidation are no more necessary but facilitate the whiskering process by promoting the mobility of source Sn atoms.

Key words: Whisker, MAX phase, DFT, Positron annihilation, Defects

Yan Zhang, Chengjie Lu, Yun Dong, Min Zhou, Jiandang Liu, Hongjun Zhang, Bangjiao Ye, ZhengMing Sun. Insights into the dual-roles of alloying elements in the growth of Sn whiskers[J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2022, 117: 65-71.

Figures/Tables 8

Fig. 1. Surface morphologies of the Ti2SnC/Sn-X samples after cultivated at specific parameters: (a) Ti2SnC/Sn, 40 °C/1 h; (b) Ti2SnC/Sn-X (X = Bi, Pb, Ga), 40 °C/1 day; (c) Ti2SnC/Sn, 200 °C/1 h; (d) Ti2SnC/Sn-Bi, 200 °C/1 h; (e) Ti2SnC/Sn-Ga, 200 °C/1 h; (f) Ti2SnC/Sn-Pb, 200 °C/1 day.

Fig. 2. Characterization of the whiskers grown from Ti2SnC: (a) morphology observation and microstructure characterization; (b) statistical results of whisker density from Ti2SnC/Sn-X.

Fig. 3. Microstructure characterization of the whisker root: (a) cross-section morphology of the whisker root excavated by FIB technique; (b) fabricated TEM samples of the whisker root, showing the distribution morphology of Sn whisker (red), excess Sn-Bi alloy (blue) and TiC impurity phase (green), together with the distribution morphology of Ti, Sn and Bi elements.

Fig. 4. Microstructure characterization of the interface observed in the TEM sample: (a) TEM image of the interface between the extruded Sn whisker and Ti2SnC substrate; (b) TEM image of the interface between the excess Sn-Bi alloy and Ti2SnC substrate; (c, d) corresponding HRTEM images of the two interfaces, respectively.

Fig. 5. Whiskering behaviors of [Sn-X] samples after cultivated at 25 °C for 1 h: (a) cross-section microstructure; (b) surface of the reference sample (thin Ti2SnC/Sn); (c) whiskers on Ti2SnC/Sn; (d) whiskers on [Sn-Bi]; (e) whiskers on [Sn-Pb]; (f) whiskers on [Sn-Ga].

Fig. 6. In-situ observation of Sn whiskers grown from Ti2SnC/Sn-xBi (x = 0, 3, 6, 9) samples: (a) initial morphology of the observed whisker on Ti2SnC/Sn; (b) initial morphology of the observed whisker on Ti2SnC/Sn-6Bi; (c) final morphology after holding at 90 °C for 60 s on Ti2SnC/Sn; (d) final morphology after holding at 90 °C for 60 s on Ti2SnC/Sn-6Bi; (e) in-situ statistical results of the whiskers grown from Ti2SnC/Sn-xBi (x = 0, 3, 6, 9) samples.

Fig. 7. Mobility analysis of source Sn atoms: (a) positron annihilation lifetime spectra collected for Sn-X alloys; (b) positron trapping rate κ (left in red) and average positron lifetime parameters τav (right in blue); (c) calculated formation energy of a Sn vacancy in Sn-X supercells; (d) migration energy.

Fig. 8. Driving force analysis of source Sn atoms: (a) relationship between stress and vacancy formation energy; (b) effect of defect types on the formation enthalpy of β-Sn phase.

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