https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-022-00613-7
Regular Article
Microstructure effects on thermal and electrical conductivities in the intermetallic compound Ag
Sn-based materials, sintered by SPS in view of die-attachment applications
1
Laboratoire des Sciences des Procédés et des Matériaux (UPR3407), CNRS-USPN, Villetaneuse, France
2
GREMAN UMR7347 – CNRS, Université de Tours, Parc, 37200, Grandmont, TOURS, France
3
Valeo Equipements Electriques Moteurs SAS, BP 150, 2 Rue André Boulle, 94017, Créteil, France
Received:
8
February
2022
Accepted:
17
May
2022
Published online:
28
May
2022
Sintered intermetallic 
powders by spark plasma sintering (SPS) have been studied in order to analyse the effect of the microstructure on the transport properties at room temperature. Firstly, we synthesized 
submicronic particles by polyol process. Then, we sintered them by SPS at different temperature (473, 573 and 663 K) and pressure (20 and 100 MPa) using fixed dwelling time of 5 min. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) show that all sintered samples remained single-phased according to the orthorhombic crystal structure. Their corresponding grain size (
0.65 to 1.75 
m) and relative density ( 88–98%) were calculated and show similar evolution respect to the sintering parameters. As a matter of fact, sintering temperature remains the key factor to affect the microstructure of the sintered material s. Finally, the thermal conductivity and the electrical resistivity were investigated at room temperature by using the Flash Laser technique and the Physical Property Measurement System (PPMS) respectively. The obtained values were highly dependent on densitiy and grain showing the key role of the microstructure and thereby confirming the fact that 
compound is a good candidate for a lead-free die-attach material in power module devices.
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2022
