Low-cost lead-free solder for EE industries

Recently, there has been an increasing awareness of restrictions of lead usage in electrical and electronic equipments. In this paper, materials proposed to replace SnPb solder were reviewed. This includes details of phase diagrams of chosen binary and ternary material systems, relevant microstructures and, hence, mechanical properties. Although, SnAgCu alloy seems to be the most appropriate replacement for SnPb alloy, in terms of cost, SnCu seems to be a better candidate.