{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T17:53:19Z","timestamp":1785433999586,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,22]],"date-time":"2026-05-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1779408000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003725","name":"National Research Foundation of Korea","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["RS-2019-NR040077"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RS-2019-NR040077"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003725","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003725","name":"National Research Foundation of Korea","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["RS-2023-00247545"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RS-2023-00247545"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003725","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["RS-2019-NR040077"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RS-2019-NR040077"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/013aysd81","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["RS-2023-00247545"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RS-2023-00247545"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/013aysd81","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100014188","name":"Korea government","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["RS-2024-00433633"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RS-2024-00433633"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100014188","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Materials"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The rapid advancement of microelectronic packaging has created a critical need for lead-free solder joints with enhanced mechanical and thermal reliability. This study introduces a novel approach to improve Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu (SAC 305) solder joints by incorporating Sn-decorated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). To address the poor wettability and agglomeration of carbon nanotubes in molten solder, MWCNTs were functionalized and uniformly coated with ~70 nm Sn nanoparticles via electroless plating. Soldering was conducted using intense pulsed light (IPL), a rapid, energy-efficient heat source, and was compared with conventional reflow soldering. The study systematically investigated the influence of MWCNT content (0, 0.05, 0.1, and 0.2 wt.%) and IPL soldering conditions with pulse numbers: 27\u201336 for shear tests, and 30\u201342 for drop impact tests. IPL processing produced thinner Cu6Sn5 IMC layers than reflow soldering due to its shorter duration. The composite solder with 0.1 wt.% Sn-decorated MWCNTs achieved the highest density, superior thermal dissipation in LED packages, and maximum shear strength and drop impact resistance. These results demonstrate that optimizing Sn-MWCNT content, especially at 0.1 wt.%, and precisely controlling IPL energy can yield highly reliable, mechanically robust, and thermally efficient lead-free solder joints for advanced electronic packaging.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ma19112188","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,22]],"date-time":"2026-05-22T13:12:08Z","timestamp":1779455528000},"page":"2188","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Fabrication and Bonding Strength of Sn-Decorated MWCNT-Reinforced Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu Composite Solder Joints: Reflow vs. IPL Soldering"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"given":"DongGil","family":"Kang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Advanced Materials Science & Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, 2066 Seobu-ro, Jangan-gu, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"HoGyeong","family":"Seong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Semiconductor Convergence Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, 2066 Seobu-ro, Jangan-gu, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"JaeJun","family":"Yoon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Semiconductor Convergence Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, 2066 Seobu-ro, Jangan-gu, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"MinJae","family":"Sung","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Semiconductor Convergence Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, 2066 Seobu-ro, Jangan-gu, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"JinHo","family":"Joo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Advanced Materials Science & Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, 2066 Seobu-ro, Jangan-gu, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8708-542X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"JeongWon","family":"Yoon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Advanced Materials Science & Engineering, Chungbuk University, Chungdae-ro, Seowon-gu, Cheongju-si 28644, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"SeungBoo","family":"Jung","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Advanced Materials Science & Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, 2066 Seobu-ro, Jangan-gu, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Department of Semiconductor Convergence Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, 2066 Seobu-ro, Jangan-gu, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7091","DOI":"10.1007\/s10853-025-10882-x","article-title":"Performance and reliability of nanoparticle-reinforced lead-free solder composite joints","volume":"60","author":"Liang","year":"2025","journal-title":"J. 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