Process for chemically and mechanically enhancing solder surface properties

A process for altering surface properties of a functional mass of metal alloy solder comprising a first metal and a second metal, said functional mass having a bulk ratio of said first metal to said second metal, and said first metal having a sputtering yield greater than said second metal, the process comprising:

• depositing said functional mass of metal alloy solder on a surface of an organic substrate;
• exposing the functional mass to energized ions of a sputtering gas including a noble gas and a reactive gas;
• exposing said substrate to said energized ions enabling ions of said reactive gas to roughen said substrate surface;
• and
• forming a surface layer having a desired depth on said functional mass and having a surface layer ratio of said first metal to said second metal that is less than said bulk ratio.

A process for altering surface properties of a functional mass of metal alloy solder comprising a first metal and a second metal, said functional mass having a bulk ratio of said first metal to said second metal, and said first metal having a sputtering yield greater than said second metal, the process comprising:

• depositing said functional mass of metal alloy solder on a surface of a substrate;
• depositing on said substrate a process control mass of solder having a bulk ratio of said first metal to said second metal similar to the bulk ratio in said functional mass of solder, but having a surface geometry conducive to performance of a desired surface analytical technique;
• exposing the functional mass to energized ions of a sputtering gas;
• exposing the process control mass to said energized ions of said sputtering gas;
• forming a surface layer having a desired depth on said functional mass and having a surface layer ratio of said first metal to said second metal that is less than said bulk ratio;
• forming a surface layer having a desired depth on said process control mass and having a surface layer ratio of said first metal to said second metal that is less than said bulk ratio and representative of the surface layer ratio of said functional mass surface layer after said exposing step;
• and
• analyzing said process control mass using said desired surface analytical technique.