The Nucleation of Sn in Undercooled Melts: The Effect of Metal Impurities

The dependence of the solidification temperature on the concentration x of impurity atoms, M, of Sn-M x alloys after cooling from the melt was measured separately for M = Co, Ni, Ag, and Cu. For a comparison, similar measurements were performed on SAC305-Ni x alloys. Large variations in undercooling were observed. It was found that the Ag atoms dissolved in the Sn-Ag melt significantly lowered undercooling, although the presence of Ag3Sn intermetallic compounds did not. While Cu6Sn5 intermetallic compounds in Sn-Cu melts did not significantly lower undercooling, the undercooling of a Sn-Cu melt in contact with a Cu interface was significantly reduced. The addition of Ni to Pb-free solder SAC305 caused a factor of two reduction in the undercooling, similar to that observed after the addition of Ni to high-purity Sn.