Abstract
It is observed that the interfacial reactions in Sn/Co couples are different at the anode and cathode sides as a result of temperature differences caused by the Peltier effect. The Sn/Co interfacial reactions were examined at 180°C with the passage of an electric current of 5000 A/cm 2 . The reaction phase was CoSn 3 . The reaction layer at the Co/Sn anode interface in which the electrons moved from Co to Sn was thicker than that at the Sn/Co cathode interface, but this phenomenon could not be reasonably accounted for using the electromigration effect. The temperature of Sn at the Co/Sn anode interface was 4.5°C higher than that at the Sn/Co cathode interface with the passage of 5000 A/cm 2 electric current at 180°C. Temperature differences were determined with a carefully designed cathode-anode switching experiment using thermocouples, and the results were confirmed with thermal infrared microscope measurements and calculated results based on heat transfer models. © 2009 TMS.