Mitigation of whisker growth in tin coatings by alloying with indium

1. A method comprising:

incorporating indium into an entire electroplated Sn film for preventing growth of whiskers from the Sn film, wherein the Sn film is applied to a copper lead-frame, the indium is present in the entire Sn film in an amount of 3 to 20 wt %, based on a total weight of the film, the Sn film is Pb-free, and the Sn film has a thickness of 0.5 to 25 μm.

2. The method of claim 1 , comprising providing a Sn layer having a bottom, middle and top and forming an indium layer at the bottom of, near the middle of, or near the top of the Sn layer resulting in a layered structure, and subsequently heat-treating the layered structure to incorporate the indium into an entire thickness of the Sn layer by diffusion.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the Sn film into which the indium is incorporated is an alloy selected from Sn—Cu alloy, Sn—Ag alloy, or Sn, Cu and Ag alloy.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein whisker growth is substantially reduced from the Sn film by incorporating In into an entire thickness of the Sn film.

5. The method of claim 1 , where growth of short protrusions on the Sn film is substantially reduced by incorporating In into an entire thickness of the Sn film.

6. The method of claim 1 , where the In is introduced into the entire Sn film during initial deposition, forming an indium-containing Sn film layer in direct contact with the copper lead-frame.

7. The method of claim 1 , where the In is introduced into the Sn film via a post-deposition process, and then diffusing the In into an entire thickness of the Sn film via a heat-treatment.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indium-containing Sn film is in direct contact with the copper lead-frame.

9. The method of claim 1 , comprising forming a substantially pure indium layer in direct contact with the copper lead-frame, forming a Sn layer in contact with the pure indium layer resulting in a layered structure, and subsequently heat treating the layered structure to incorporate the indium into an entire thickness of the Sn film by diffusion.

10. The method of claim 1 , comprising forming a Sn layer in direct contact with the copper lead-frame, forming a substantially pure indium layer in contact with the Sn layer resulting in a layered structure, and subsequently heat treating the layered structure to incorporate the indium into an entire thickness of the Sn film by diffusion.

11. The method of claim 1 , comprising forming a first Sn layer in direct contact with the copper lead-frame, forming a substantially pure indium layer in contact with the first Sn layer, forming a second Sn layer on top of the substantially pure indium layer resulting in a layered structure, and subsequently heat treating the layered structure to incorporate the indium into an entire thickness of the Sn film by diffusion.

12. The method of claim 2 , wherein the heat treatment may range from 125 to 200° C. for a sufficient time to incorporate the In into the entire thickness of the Sn film.

13. The method of claim 7 , wherein the heat-treatment may range from 125 to 200° C. for a sufficient time to incorporate the In into the entire thickness of the Sn film.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the heat treatment may range from 125 to 200° C. for a sufficient time to incorporate the In into an entire thickness of the Sn film.

15. A method comprising:

incorporating indium into an entire electroplated Sn film for preventing growth of whiskers from the Sn film, wherein the Sn film is applied to a copper substrate and the Sn film into which the indium is incorporated is an alloy containing greater than 90 wt % Sn and the indium is present in an amount of 5 to 10 wt %, based on the total weight of the indium-containing Sn film, and the Sn film has a thickness of 0.5 to 25 μm.

16. A method comprising:

incorporating indium into an entire electroplated Sn film for preventing growth of whiskers from the Sn film, wherein the Sn film is applied to a copper lead frame, the Sn film is Pb-free, and the Sn film has a thickness of 0.1 to 20 μm.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indium is present in the entire Sn film in an amount of 5 to 10 wt %, based on a total weight of the film.

18. The method of claim 3 , wherein the indium is present in the entire Sn film in an amount of 5 to 10 wt %, based on a total weight of the film.

19. The lead-frame of claim 16 , wherein the indium is present throughout the entire thickness of the Sn film in an amount of 5 to 10 wt %, based on a total weight of the indium-containing Sn film.

20. A method comprising:

incorporating indium into an entire Sn film for preventing growth of whiskers from the Sn film, wherein the Sn film is an electroplated film applied to a metallic substrate, the indium is present in the entire Sn film in an amount of 3 to 20 wt %, based on a total weight of the film, and the Sn film is Pb-free.

21. The method of claim 1 , further comprising soldering onto the electroplated Sn film.