A new ternary intermetallic compound Al3GaCu9 was synthesized experimentally. A high-quality powder diffraction pattern of the compound was collected by an X-ray diffractometer, and its crystal structure was determined using the Rietveld refinement method. Results show that the compound has a cubic cell with the Al4Cu9 structure type (space group $P\bar{4}3m$ and Pearson symbol cP52). The lattice parameter a = 8.7132(3) Å, unit-cell volume V = 661.52 Å3, calculated density Dcalc = 7.26 g/cm3, and Z = 4. The residual factors converge to Rp = 2.96%, Rwp = 4.06%, and Rexp = 2.57%. The experimentally obtained reference intensity ratio value is 7.04.

When a power module is under a continuous electrical load, a temperature effect is induced by the current load in the module configuration. The joint material therefore has long-term temperature and mechanical loadings under supplied power. A long-term temperature load can change the material and mechanical properties, including voiding, cracking, creeping and fracturing. Au/20Sn eutectic alloy, a highly temperature resistant material, is typically used for electric interconnections in high-power modules. The Au/20Sn is converted into AuSn and an Au5Sn intermetallic compound (IMC) by solid liquid inter-diffusion (SLID) bonding to form joints with high melting points. In this study, a test vehicle based on an actual power module was designed and fabricated to investigate and understand the material properties and mechanical behavior of Au/20Sn solder under a temperature load. The joint microstructure exhibited variation under different thermal treatment conditions such as temperature and load durations. The shear strength test was conducted to examine the mechanical strength of the joints under different thermal load conditions. The failure mode of the joint was further determined using fracture morphology after the shear test. Finally, the shear strength of Au/20Sn was identified to investigate the high temperature resistance of joints under different temperatures. The mechanical strengths of joints under different temperature loads are expressions of different mechanical characteristics and can be used to determine reliability at an intended high application temperature.

This report summarizes a recent study demonstrating simple and rapid synthesis of a new Al–Mg alloy system and ultimately synthesizing a metal matrix nanocomposite, which was achieved by processing stacked disks of the two dissimilar metals by conventional high-pressure torsion (HPT) processing. The synthesized Al–Mg alloy system exhibits exceptionally high hardness through rapid diffusion bonding and simultaneous nucleation of intermetallic phases with increased numbers of HPT turns through 20, and improved plasticity was demonstrated by increasing strain rate sensitivity in the alloy system after post-deformation annealing. An additional experiment demonstrated that the alternate stacking of high numbers of dissimilar metal disks may produce a faster metal mixture during HPT. Metal combinations of Al–Cu, Al–Fe, and Al–Ti were processed by the same HPT procedure from separate pure metals to examine the feasibility of the processing technique. The microstructural analysis confirmed the capability of HPT for the formation of heterostructures across the disk diameters in these processed alloy systems. The HPT processing demonstrates a considerable potential for the joining and bonding of dissimilar metals at room temperature and the expeditious fabrication of a wide range of new metal systems.

The study aims to estimate the stress-strain constitutive behavior of intermetallic compounds (IMCs) observed in a solder interconnect from experimental nanoindentation responses through a modified analysis procedure for improved solution robustness based on Cheng and Cheng's and Dao et al.'s models. On the basis of parametric finite element nanoindentation simulation and dimensional analysis together with the concept of representative strain, a set of universal dimensionless functions are established, by which a forward and reverse analysis algorithm are created to predict nanoindentation responses from given elastoplastic properties and vice versa, respectively. The proposed analysis procedure is validated through comparison with the experimental nanoindentation responses and limited literature data. The results show that the proposed analysis procedure is an effective means for plastic property characterization of micro/nanoscale IMCs. The representative strain is found to be 0.056, which differs from the Dao et al.'s and Giannakopoulos and Suresh's estimate. Besides, though generally brittle and hard in nature, the IMCs in a micro/nanoscale thickness show high plasticity, and comprise a yield strength surpassing most typical engineering metals.

Disks of commercial Al-1050 and ZK60A alloys were stacked together and then processed by conventional high-pressure torsion (HPT) through 1 and 5 turns at room temperature to investigate the synthesis of an Al–Mg alloy system. Measurements of microhardness and observations of the microstructures and local compositions after processing through 5 turns revealed the formation of an ultrafine multi-layered structure in the central region of the disk but with an intermetallic β-Al3Mg2 phase in the form of nano-layers in the nanostructured Al matrix near the edge of the disk. The activation energy for diffusion bonding of the Al and Mg phases was estimated and it is shown that this value is low and consistent with surface diffusion due to the very high density of vacancy-type defects introduced by HPT processing. The results demonstrate a significant potential for making use of HPT processing in the preparation of new alloy systems.

The interfacial reactions in Cu/Sn–52In/Cu interconnects during solid–solid (S–S) and liquid–solid (L–S) electromigration (EM) under a current density of 2.0 × 104 A/cm2 at 90 and 150 °C have been in situ studied using synchrotron radiation real-time imaging technology. The In atoms directionally migrate toward the cathode due to the back-stress induced by the preferential migration of the Sn atoms over the In atoms toward the anode during the S–S EM, resulting in the segregation of the Sn and In atoms at the anode and cathode, respectively. During the L–S EM, however, the In atoms directionally migrate toward the anode due to the negative effective charge number (Z*) of In rather than the back-stress. The polarity effect, i.e., the intermetallic compounds growing continuously at the anode while becoming thinner at the cathode, is more significant during the L–S EM than the S–S EM. Furthermore, the consumption rate of the cathode Cu during the L–S EM is three orders of magnitude higher than that in the case of the S–S EM because of the significantly higher EM-induced atomic flux in the liquid solder. The migrations of the Sn, In, and Cu atoms are discussed in terms of diffusion flux.

Structure and mechanical properties of binary Ti-TM (TM-other transition metals) and ternary Ti-Fe-(TM, B or Si) alloys produced in the shape of the arc-melted ingots of about 25 mm diameter and 10 mm height are studied. The formation of high-strength and ductile hypereutectic alloys was achieved in the Ti-Fe, Ti-Fe-Cu and Ti-Fe-B systems. The structures of the high-strength and ductile hypereutectic alloys studied by X-ray diffractometry and scanning electron microscopy were found to consist of the primary cubic Pm3 m intermetallic compound (TiFe-phase or a solid solution on its base) and a dispersed eutectic consisting of this Pm3m intermetallic compound + BCC Im 3 m β-Ti supersaturated solid solution phase. The hypereutectic Ti-Fe alloy showed excellent compressive mechanical properties. The addition of Cu improves its ductility. B addition increased mechanical strength. Ni, Cr and Mn additions caused embrittlement owing to the formation of alternative intermetallic compounds. The deformation behaviour and the fractography of the Ti-based alloys were studied in details. The reasons for the high strength and good ductility of the hypereutectic alloys are discussed.