Journal
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS
Volume 93, Issue 20, Pages -Publisher
AMER PHYSICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.206104
Keywords
-
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The room temperature spontaneous growth of low melting point metal whiskers, such as Sn, poses a serious reliability problem in the semiconducting industry; a problem that has become acute with the introduction of Pb-free technology. To date, this 50+ year old problem has resisted interpretation. Herein we show that the driving force is essentially a reaction between oxygen and the sprouting metal. The resulting volume expansion creates a compressive stress that pushes the whiskers up. The model proposed explains our observations on In and Sn whiskers and many past observations. The solution is in principle simple: diffusion of oxygen into the metal must be prevented or slowed down. This was demonstrated by coating the active surfaces with a polymer coating.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available