Theoretical prediction of thermodynamic activities of liquid Au-Sn-X (X=Bi, Sb, Zn) solder systems

Molecular interaction volume model has been theoretically used to predict the thermodynamic activities of tin in Au-Sn-Bi and Au-Sn-Sb and the thermodynamic activity of zinc in Au-Sn-Zn at experimental temperatures 800 K, 873 K and 973 K, respectively. On the premise of agreement between the predicted and experimental values, we predicted the activities of the remaining two components in each of the three systems. This prediction was extended from three cross-sections to five cross-sections, and to temperature range 400-600 K, relevant for applications. Iso-activities were plotted. Results show that addition of tin reduces the tendency for chemical short range order in both Au-Sb and Au-Zn systems, while addition of gold and bismuth, respectively, reduce the tendency for chemical short range order in Sn-Sb and Au-Sn systems. Also, we found that, in the desired high-temperature region for applications, while a combination of chemical order and miscibility of components exist in both Au-Sn-Bi and Au-Sn-Zn systems, only chemical order exist in the Au-Sn-Sb system. Results, further show that increase in temperature reduces the phase separation tendency in Au-Sn-Bi system.